Investment Q&A

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 own VUN and VGG, plus several other US companies which make up my US portfolio. I'm looking for more growth - would you recommend IWO? Would you drop either of the Vanguard ETFs?
Thanks

Q: In your response this morning you stated: "we think adding a bit of unhedged exposure (VUN) is still worthwhile from a diversification perspective." Does this mean you are recommending the hedged ETF as the largest purchase? I understood from your past responses that for long term investments you favour unhedged ETFs.

Q: I would like to move to a portfolio with at least 30% exposure to the US. I already own VFV and VUN which comprise 10% of my portfolio. Rather than attempt to buy individual US stocks, it makes sense to me to continue to buy these very low cost ETFs, both of which provide significant diversification into the US. With VFV there is the added diversification bonus that almost 50% of the companies listed have business outside the US. I would appreciate your opinion of this strategy.

Q: I currently have 8% of my portfolio in VFV and VUN to achieve direct US exposure. Would you agree that I should aim at 30% US equities? Is VFV and VUN a good way to achieve this goal?

Q: Hi 5I Team,
My question is regarding US ETFs. Could you list some well balanced US ETFs that could do well under a Trump presidency? And if you had to only pick 1 of these ETFs to invest in, which would it be?

Thank you.

Q: With 17% of my portfolio invested in these US ETFs, I'm thinking about adding another 5-10%. However, I'm wary of the Trump implications. All of the above are near 52-week highs. As a long term investor, should I not worry about timing the market, or is it advisable to wait a bit before investing in the US? Is XUS worth buying or am I fine sticking with VUN, if I go ahead and invest in the US?

Q: I am thinking of investing in U.S. large cap companies more specifically an ETF. Are you better off to invest in a fund like SPY (U.S. dollars) or in the other canadian fund base companies like HXS,VUN or XUS. I noticed that the ytd. return is approx. 14% for SPY versus the others at %7% for this current year.

Q: My portfolio closely matches you balanced equity portfolio. As it looks like the US will outperform Canada over the next year I am thinking of picking up some US ETF's for about 20% of my portfolio. What do you think of this strategy and if you agree, what ETF's would you suggest?

Ray

Q: Hi Team, In my RRSP, I'm Currently holding 30% weight in U.S.market with 20% in VUN (Vanguard Total U.S. Market ETF.) and 10% ZDY (BMO U.S. Dividend ETF) given the potential of rising rates, would I need to get rid of ZDY which has performed well and replace it with VGG.Is there something else you would recommend. Thanks-you! Sam

Q: Hi Peter and Team

What Canadian listed ETF would you recommend today for US market exposure for the TFSA of a thirty year old with a long term time horizon? Would your answer be any different if it was for an RRSP where the 15% US withholding tax was not an issue? There seem to be hedged and nonhedged versions of all of them so would you recommend a hedged version now with the USD so strong?

Thank you!

Q: Hello 5i Team,
Could suggest an ETF for each Canada, USA and international that would as closely as possble mirror the methodology used to contruct the balanced equity portfolio?
Thanks
Dave

Q: I'm currently 50% in cash (although understandably I shouldn't be). I am contemplating allocating 70% of my entire portfolio to the Balanced equity model to represent Canada and the remainder (30%) to Vanguard's total market US market ETF - VUN.TO. In the past I have tried to stock pick myself using some suggestions from this site and have not come anywhere close to the performance you have achieved with the Balanced Equity model. What is your opinion on the 70% CAD market and 30% US market allocation? Thanks!

Q: I have about 50K US to invest. Which do you think best MSFT or... HON or... should I just buy XSP Can hedged OR.... SDY the S&P div ETF.?
Any other suggestion welcome. I want growth without crazy risk. Helen

Q: I have just recieved some new money to invest and woukd like to increase my expsosure outside Canada. Im thinking of a US index fund. Can you please tell me the difference between VUN/VUS, HXS and SPY? Which one is better? Do you think this is a good time to invest in the S&P with it at all time highs?
As always your advice is greatly appreciated.
Nancy

Q: Hi 5i,
I have 200K invested on these ETFs as follows:
XEC: 10% VUN: 25% XQB: 35% XEF: 10% XIC: 20%

My time horizon is 5 years, How can I change my current setup to make it more rewarding, These are outside RRSP.

thanks
Fernando

Q: my teenage daughter has just registered her tfsa. She has a small amount of $ (4000) to start. she is thinking for simplicity and risk sake at this point in her life to go with the global couch potato. Which 4 ETFs would you recommend for her. she needs a CAN equity, US equity, INTER equity and a bond ETF.
Do you think this is a good idea or would you recommend she stick to specific company stocks instead?
thanks
michele

Q: Hi 5i!

New member and I have found your wealth of knowledge very helpful in providing guidance for a relatively new do-it-myself “Core & Explore investor” and have prompted me to make some changes to my investment strategies and portfolio. My question is “Core Portfolio” management based and specifically regarding switching to Index ETFs from Index Mutual funds. I’ve been a regular monthly contributor to my RRSP built up and directing most of my funds towards a TD Canadian Index Fund TDB900 – e series and a lesser amount to the same e series TD International Index Fund TDB911 as they have very low MERs of 0.31% and 0.51% approximately. My strategy, since I dollar cost average into the indexes, is to continue to contribute to these TD mutual funds monthly but then funnel from them to ETF index funds so I can take advantage of the lower MERs of the ETF. Could you recommend ETFs to replace my current TD mutual funds? Would you also recommend adding a DOW Jones Index or another US index? What ratios would you consider appropriate for a portfolio? Any other thoughts are welcome and I’ll save my “Explore portfolio” questions for a later date.

Cheers!

Q: Can I hold VUN in my TFSA without tax implications or do I need to hold it in my non registered account?

Q: I am looking to invest about $200K (non registered) for a minimum of 5 years into a moderate growth couch potato type portfolio. I am 5 years from retirement. I am considering the following portfolio and would like to know if you would agree with these ETFs and distribution.
XIC or VCN 25%, VUN 25%, XEF 20%, XEC 5%, VAB 15%, CBO 10%