Investment Q&A

Q: Is there any daylight between XAW and VXC? Any difference in hedging? I see the fees are similar and XAW has slightly higher distributions.

Q: I would like to add some Int’l diversification to my TFSA by way of a CAD listed ETF. Could you recommend a couple of ETFs that would exclude Canada? Also another option that would exclude Canada and USA? Priority would be growth and if possible tax efficiency.

Q: My husband mainly holds ETF's in his TFSA - ZLB, VXC, ZNQ, and some BRK. ZNQ accounts for around 5% with the others split about evenly. Which one would you add new cash to today? Another option we have been looking at is adding VUG. I think there is a lot of overlap between VXC, ZNQ, and VUG. Of the three, which one or two do you like best? Thanks!

Q: I am presently over invested inthe Technology Sector in the following,
IYW has 90% in Tech - own 150 shares
QQQ has 52% in Tech - own 25 shares
ZSP has 32% in Tech - own 480 shares
XWD has 26% in Tech - own 300 shares
VXC has 26% in Tech - own 200 shares
What is the best way to sell (all or part of) the above to reduce this category to 7% as suggested by your Potfolio Tracker?
Thanks for your great service.

Q: My son is 25 years old and saving to buy a house in the near future. Which is a better TFSA investment strategy for him, investing his savings in a balanced ETF Vanguard Growth ETF portfolio (VGRO.TO) vs. allocating 25% of savings to Vanguard Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF (VAB), 25% to Vanguard FTSE Canada All Cap Index ETF (VCN), and 50% to Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap ex Canada Index ETF(VXC)?

Q: Is there an ex-Canada ETF "acceptable to 5i Research" similar to VXC, but perhaps a bit less U.S. exposure. I already have IQLT, so I don't need an ETF that is necessarily ex-North America.

Q: Could you recommend a US and a global mid cap ETF that trades in CAD
thanks

Q: According to portfolio tracking and analysis, I am short on basic materials, consumer cyclical, consumer defensive, health care and industrials. I’m also significantly short on international equities. With this in mind, can you provide your top 3 to 5 companies for each sector to increase my holdings in basic materials, consumer cyclical, consumer defensive, health care and industrials. To increase my exposure in international equities, I will be investing in ETFs. Please provide and rank the top 5 ETFs with international exposure. Thank you.

Q: What do you think about these funds?

Q: I would like to understand the tax implications of holding VXC in a TFSA.
According to my readings, I retain that the witholding tax is 0.48%. Is it correct?
Is an ETF you recommend? If not, do you have a suggestion?

Q: Are you aware if there are mounting pressures on ETF providers (Vanguard, Black Rock, etc...) to exit the Russian equity markets? I own VEE, VXC and VEQT for my international exposure, and realized I own about 1500$ worth of Russian stocks. I am not morally confortable anymore with that exposure even though it's a very small weighting. I would gladly write it off of my portfolio... I know this is personal to every investor and that's OK, but some principles come before returns for me...
If it's unlikely Vanguard would make any move towards ETF ex-Russia, I am seriously thinking of selling all (fortunately my exposure is mostly in registered accounts) and buying international alternatives.

What ETFs would you then suggest to get similar international exposure ex-Russia?

Thank you

Q: Just did a revue of my PORTFOLIO ANALYTICS and have a couple of questions as follows:
Under Fixed Income Defensive I have CBO, VGG & ZDI in my TFSA. Are these okay here or can be added to or any deleted?
Under International Allocations I have VXC, XAW, XEF, VEU & XWD in the TFSA. Are these okay as they are or shoud I be considering some changes?
Best wishes for the New Year and thanks for your great service!

Q: I have CIF 843 in my RRSP - it comprises 8% of the RRSP. What is your opinion of it's performance & costs. Also- could you provide 3 or 4 alternates each of both Mutual Funds and ETF, in the same asset class.

Q: Hi guys, thanks for the excellent service. Generally TFSA is the place for high growth but my highest growth has been in my RRSP. Is there any compelling reason I should sell anything in RRSP and rebuy in TFSA (e.g., NVDA)? I realize I will be taxed on RRSP withdrawals while TFSA withdrawals are tax-free - but - my RRSP has a lot more cash than my TFSA so there isn't room to move all my growthy stuff over. Because of the relative size of RRSP to TFSA, if I were to do equal weighting of all stocks, I'd only have 4 different stocks in my TFSA, which perhaps is fine? Are there any obvious adjustments that you would make to the following:

RRSP:
XQQ 13.68%
VXC 12.03%
NVDA 7.64%
AAPL 6.70%
JPM 4.73%
BNS 4.52%
GOOG 4.32%
ENB 4.13%
MSFT 3.98%
AMZN 3.86%
RTX 3.51%
COST 3.42%
PG 3.11%
DIS 2.82%
CASH 1.32%

TFSA:
GSY 5.28%
CRWD 3.31%
VEEV 2.50%
ROKU 2.44%
SHOP 2.26%
WELL 0.85%
XBC 1.08%

RESP:
LSPD 0.79%
BYD 0.76%

NON-REG:
SLF 0.51%
T 0.42%

thanks,

Q: Long term investment of +20 years. Undecided between ETF vs mutual fund. Should Canadian allocation be 30% or 5%? Which would you suggest from the 3 listed above? Thank you

Q: I am thinking of investing in VXC (or maybe XAW) in my RRSP. I understand that since this is a fund of funds and some of the underlying ETFs are US based, that there will be foreign withholding tax of some amount. To avoid the tax, am I better off to invest in the underlying ETFs (Canadian versions only) specifically VFV, VIU and VEE? (small cap I could not find). How much of an issue is the foreign withholding tax? Is it small enough to not bother buying all these underlying ETFs directly? Your thoughts please.

Q: First a comment, I went through the paper on fantom distributions, have invested for 25 years and never heard of it before? If you do your own taxes like me, I would just say the CRA is getting double tax on my etf’s.
On that note could you advise on a couple of global etf with small or no exposure to Canada, as I would like to diversify to USA and other countries. Dividends would be nice but not necessary. Would be for 7+ years and may add to yearly as funds are available.
Thanks

Q: I am helping a grandson (age 22 in medical school) set up a TFSA with a small initial investment in one ETF. I am trying to choose between an international ETF (XAW or VXC) or a Canadian ETF (XIU). What would you suggest?
Many thanks.
Judith

Q: Hello, I need to liquidate some of the stocks listed. Disregarding sector diversification, in what order should I do this? Thanks for your help.

Q: Hi,
I'm looking at XAW for US and International exposure in my TFSA account. Retired income investor for 8 to 10 year hold. Can I get your opinion on this ETF or if you can recommend some other names.
Thanks