Investment Q&A

Q: Hello 5i,
Could you please give your choice on diversifying into the European and emerging markets.
Thank you
Rick

Q: How are the dividends from VE and VEE treated from a tax perspective in a cash account, TFSA and a RRSP account.
Many thanks.

Q: Hi 5i:
For a first time investor with $25,000 to deploy and this is their only investments. What would your opinion be on the above etfs basically equally split between them. Time frame is long term and they would be in a TFSA.
Additional future investments would then be in individual stocks.
Thanks so much.

Q: Hi team, I am looking to diversify a bit more out of North America and was wondering what you think of the above ETF's. What do you think of AIA for Asia or do you recommend a different ETF for this area. Also, at this time which European ETF would you recommend, currency isn't an issue.
As always thanks for your advice.

Q: I have diversified my portfolio to include US stocks. Would now like to diversify into European and emerging markets. What ETF's would you recommend? The majority of my stocks are based on your Balanced Equity Portfolio.

Q: Good day, I would like to know if you think RPD(RBC Quant European Dividend Leaders) would be a good choice for European exposure, would there be, in your opinion, a better choice (I also look at VE).
Regards

Q: I'm interested in VGK, VWO and VPL. They've all been doing quite well for some time now. Would you wait for some weakness before buying, or do you expect that all these funds will continue to outperform? I notice that the first two funds are doing a bit better than their Canadian-dollar counterparts, VE and VEE. Would you attribute that mainly to the composition of the funds? Thanks very much for your advice.

Q: Hi,
What do you think are currently the best ETFs to get exposure to Europe?
Also what is your outlook on Europe?
Thanks

Q: For coverage of Developed Europe, which of these two ETF's is preferred.

VE has a better dividend than ZEA , your comments please

Q: Hi 5i. In an answer to Joel today you said "to make sure he has his US PF in place." I have 25.5% of my well balanced PFs in US and am interested in VXUS or VEU. However I have 4.85% in US financials, 9% in US I.T, 4.7% in US Cyclicals and 7% in US Industrials. Should I have all US sectors? before I buy International? Must i go to 5% in one of these ETFs? I have no International. I;m looking to hold for a long time in my RRIF. I am a young 67. Please deduct credits as you see fit. I've been a member since April 2014 and still "lovin it". Thanks so much!

Q: Hello again. I’m interested to know how to consider currency when deciding between hedged, unhedged, and US dollar ETFs. In your answer to my last question, you mentioned that you prefer VPL over VAH; how was currency a factor in your judgment? Also wondering if you would approach European ETFs similarly, with respect to fluctuations between the Euro, USD and CAD (e.g. VEH, VE, VGK). Are there separate currency considerations I should take into account for each region, including EM? (e.g. VEE vs VWO)

When I hear professionals recommend CAD-hedged ETFs when the USD is falling, it sounds tactical but what if an investor has a long time horizon in mind? I’ve heard that unhedged ETFs yield better returns over time, say for a period of 15 years, but I’m wondering if US dollar ETFs are even more preferable, considering that I’ve already got some US cash ready to deploy.

Thanks for clearing up my confusion!

Q: I'm considering various ETFs (mostly from Vanguard) for global exposure and I just wanted to get your thoughts:

Asia/Pacific - VPL or VAH
Europe - VEH or ZWE
EM - VEE or VE
USA - VUN or VIG or VGG
Global - VT, VIGI, VYMI, VXC (would it make sense to buy all of these, or is there too much overlap?)

These would all be held for many years. I don't need the income from dividends, but a decent yield is always nice. Currently wondering about things like hedged vs unhedged, fund size, growth potential. Thanks for the advice.

Q: I presently have no exposure to Europe in my portfolio and wish to add a 5% position by buying a ETF. Should I buy edge or not edge ETF, seeing the weakness in the currencies? Income is not the primary goal but I want good total return of course. I prefer good quality companies, participating in the recovery as opposed to momentum plays or startups. Could you suggest one or two Canadian ETF.

Q: If memory serves me well, at one time you were recommending the FEZ ETF for European exposure. I bought some two years ago. More recently you have been recommending VE. What I like about FEZ in the current environment is that it has no direct exposure to the UK, a country that seems to have a cloudy economic future these days. VE, in contrast, has 29% of its assets in the UK. FEZ’s MER is a bit higher, but not by much, and its yield (before withholding tax) is also higher. FEZ has 50 holdings while VE has 1262. Are you leaning more toward VE these days because it can be bought directly in Canada while FEZ must be bought in the US market? Or is it the (modest) small cap exposure in VE that you like? Or the much greater number of holdings? Or something else?

Q: Hi 5i team,
I currently have the above ETFs. I find that the dividend are a bit low (~2%). I was wondering if there are alternatives to the above in the 4-5% dividend range for income?

Andrew

Q: Now that Europe's economic ship appears to be turing around, ( Do you agree with this thesis?) can you suggest a few ways to play Europe? ---I recognize this isn't your bailiwick, but respect an light you can bring to the subject. Thank you.

Q: What ETF would you recommend for exposure to Europe? My portfolio is mostly from your balanced equity and income portfolios. I currently hold VEE.

Q: Hello 5i
When i look at the yield for both VE and ZDM in both Morningstar and in the ETF Newsletter i`m getting significantly different values . The ETF newsletter says Yield while in Morningstar it always gives the 12 month yield . Shouldn't`t the figures be the same ? Isen`t any stated yield generally refer to a 12 month time period ?
Thanks
Bill C.

Q: Hi 5i;
!`m wanting to diversify my Portfolio and have ETF investments that include Europe and Asia . !`m considering ZDM which has a 35% Asia component but of that 35% its mostly Japan . So if one is expecting Japans economy to do well then this could be good but other wise the Asia component is in itself not very diversified throughout the rest of Asia .
That being said is Japan a good place to invest in over the next couple years or am i best to go with VE or ZWE for Europe exposure and VEE for Asia exposure separately ?
Thanks
Bill C

Q: My only exposure to equities outside of Canada is through the etf VUN. Would it be appropriate now to invest in emerging markets, Europe or world etf's? Could you please make some suggestions to compliment my Canadian and US holdings.
Thanks for your wonderful service.