Investment Q&A

Q: Good morning,

HHL is a core holding for me, and has been for some time, mainly for income (~10% yield).

I understand the pros/cons of covered call strategies. But given that this ETF is equally balanced with the largest 20 health care companies in the US, I am generally comfortable with it as a holding.

My question is this - what is your macro view of large-cap US health care stocks right now? On the one hand I get excited about the sector when factoring longer-term AI and how this will impact the space. And then I easily get caught up in the headlines that we are all seeing right now from the current administration, and the generally negative impact this is having on the individual stocks in HHL.

Curious for your views on the sector.

Thanks as always.

Q: There are two questions here, the first relates to the abandonment of science, a policy issue. I note that HHL has recovered significantly and reportedly follows the prospects of leaders in medical science, in which Crisper also participates, that issue is now lagging and down. While this appears to be an extraordinarily cruel hit to an essential industry, question I have - is there a reason which might be ordinarily attributed to each of these related issues, and how do you perceive the outcome?



The second question relates to the price of Lithium. It is my understanding that China has closed a major supplier of Lithium and that this briefly sent the price soaring. It is my guess that this has occurred because salt has replaced Lithium as an energy storage mechanism for major - grid related - energy storage facilities, despite its lower energy density and because of its availability and cost to produce, but that Lithium is expected to be used in cars, bikes, and hand held devices because of its higher energy density/ capacity. Does this coincide with your view of the lithium industry's prospects and do you have an opinion for the trajectory for the price of Lithium?

Q: I hold HHL in my RRIF which is primarily focused on income. I am considering switching HHL to
HHLE. This would increase my income by approximately 30% on this money and allow me to keep the same list of healthcare stocks. Does this make sense; any downsides ; am I missing anything?

As an aside , I am at breakeven with HHL as the sector is under pressure from Trump and also United Healthcare has dampened the sector. But with Trump wanting lower drug prices , the companies will be going overseas to compensate for lower US revenue as witnessed by Eli Lilly raising international prices for Mounjaro.
Thanks .Derek

Q: I have been buying HHL ETF over the last number of months, but it continues to struggle. Would say this is just sector weakness and if so how do you see the sector - will it eventually recover? My only other Healthcare stock is is ABBV so I am not overly exposed but this ETF is close to a full position, for income. Are there any issues with the ETF, and are you cautious? Thanks so much.

Q: Seems the whole Healthcare sector stocks are depressed right now. Aside from ISRG (owned) which five are the most compelling to own and at what entry price are they wotth it? Canadian would be best, or ADRs. But I'll take US or world suggestions also.
Thank you!

Q: I currently hold Life and HHL ETFs for their dividends.

How would you compare HHIS to these 2 ETFs? Hhis has a yearly of +20%, payable monthly . Does HHIS return capital as part of their monthly payment? Are those payments taxable as interest only?

If I am comfortable holding Life and HHL, should be comfortable holding HHIS?

Q: Non-resident tax, I'm considering to reduce my percentage of U.S. contents gradually, since nobody knows what to expect from donald...
Hopefully, this eventual new tariff policy wouldn't affect RSSP .
As you notice, some of the ETF posted are all U.S, companies in the case of XHY and NHYB, they both are mainly Bonds or gvt.Bonds,how tariff could affect the two.?

Thanks again to the team

Dan

Q: I have created a Healthcare sector in my portfolio. It includes LIFE (5.17) and HHL (1.69). This is 6.86% of my Portfolio. Could I have your words of wisdom on this?
Thank You.

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I've been building a position in HHL for the last 6 months and am ready to add the final 10% tranche.

So, for asset allocation purposes, I can convince myself to go ahead. Add to that, the prices paid in the past (averaging $7.97) have all been higher than now ($7.18)....if I liked it at $8/share, then I should really like it at $7...right?

On the flip side, I don't trust what the USA admin is doing now. I can easily convince myself to leave things as they are now and pause buying more. Then it becomes a market timing question...sort of.

I am leaning towards sitting on my hands for a few more months. Your thoughts....thanks. Steve

Q: I am 77 years old, Dividend, Interest and Distribution investor. I do not worry about market corrections. I would like to know if you would hold LIFE.CA and HHL.CA as your only Healthcare holdings, at 5% of the portfolio?

Thank you. William

Q: In a recent question on LLY, you said "President Trump is about to sign an executive order that would likely slash the cost of drugs (and hence the profits for maker) on a slew of popular, expensive products".

What effect will this have on the price and dividends paid by HHL.to and LIFE.to ?

Q: I'm looking to invest in the healthcare sector for income and am considering HHL or LIFE. Which one would you recommend and why?

Q: Are these Canadian income ETFs a good place to sidestep potential Trump tariffs? Do you have other recommendations?

Q: I own HHL and LIFE (two separate accounts). They aren't looking too healthy lately. What are the likely reasons? Trump, cover calls, interest rates, time of year, etc?
Thank You, Merry Christmas

Q: Could you recommend a few ETFs trading in CAD that would provide exposure to healthcare. A couple of ETFs for growth and a couple for Income using covered calls.

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. Sitting on roughly 5-6% cash for topping up existing positions to, over time, hit Asset Allocation targets.

Candidates = BCE, GSY, HHL, HMAX, XST, ZUT. If I was deciding to deploy funds to create the largest total return over the next year or two, from their existing valuation, a) in what order would you deploy the funds and b) a short qualifier for each position?

My view = buy in this order:
ZUT = good momentum, room to run before hitting earlier peak
GSY = good value, $150-155 should be excellent value
XST = graph against 50 and 200mda...very tight chart....could buy anytime
HMAX = good value, banks should run
HHL = healthcare stocks should get over their fear of their new boss in a few months....or not. Give it some time.
BCE = last on the list. Just rebought after cap loss capture. Give it even more time.

Thanks for your help....Steve

Q: If I understand correctly, HHL is a Canadian ETF that holds US or maybe global Health Care stocks, and HHL.U is the same fund in US$.
For US$ Health Care covered call ETF, would you recommend the HHL.U or would some other similar ETF be more suitable?
Thank you
jerry

Q: Retired (70 yrs old), dividend-income investor. Been meaning to ask this question for a long time. We run a concentrated portfolio of roughly 10 ETFs and 10 stocks, plus fixed income on top. Our pro-rated MER for the equity ETFs is 0.64 and for the entire portfolio is 0.38.

I use the ETFs above that are sector ETFs (like HHL, NNRG, XIT) as my proxy for the sector and am ok with the trade off of paying fees for a sector ETF instead of having lots of stocks.

I then add my individual stock selections to achieve my targeted Asset Allocation for the entire portfolio (like AD, BCE, FTS, GSY, RY, NWC, PBH, TRP, WSP, etc). I weight each of these relative to my risk tolerance.

Does this make sense to you? Does my "sector ETF" make sense, especially with a potentially large weighting in one ETF. Virtually all of my ETFs are capped at around 7% of the equity portfolio and the stocks are capped at 5% max.

Your thoughts on my strategy and on my MER....thanks...Steve

Q: Hello 5I, could you give me your view on owning ETF HHL given that the upcoming US administration is not supportive on vaccines and has little faith in scientific medical research? Thank You

Q: Two questions - Could I have your take on SGML recent earnings please, and (2) HHL has diverged vigorously from its past consistent performance, presumably on the Trump policy on health care, appointees etc. I assume other sector participants will likewise take a hit but would appreciate your take on the matter. The issues affecting the sector appear to relate to policy, not politics.