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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: How do you see the real estate sector performing over the next 12-18 months? In an otherwise balanced portfolio, I currently have no real estate holdings. Would you suggest I add here and - if yes - would you opt for RIT or DIR.UN? It would be a 3% total weighting. Alternatively, I could purchase either OTEX, EIF or PRMW. Looking for a combination of growth with a fair-sized dividend and moderate risk. What would recommend - and in what order (strongest first)? Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Maureen on April 05, 2023
Q: Hi 5i, I started my stock market investing in March 2020 in order to get 'skin in the game'. I am a daily learner whose investing personality is that of an 'individualist'. I have determined my investing goal to be for income (mostly through dividends) and growth (for capital appreciation). I have found lately that my risk tolerance feels lower due to increasing volatility, talk of market decline/crash, increasing inflation, shortages, rising rates etc. As a result I would like to cash in the individual stocks I own that have given me good capital appreciation and replace them with ETF's and/or Index Funds. Income and growth plus diversification to my portfolio is my objective here. Since I hold more than enough physical precious metals and an emergency stash in US dollars I feel I have enough insurance/hedge against a worst case scenario happening in the economy. Please comment on these following ETF's. I am also open to other suggestions you might have as well. Please note that my entire TFSA is in my brokerage account so taxes are not an issue for me. Thanks

ZCN BMO S&P/TSX Composite Index
CIC CI First Asset Canadian Bank Income Class
ZWB BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks
RIT CI First Asset Canadian Banks
ZDV BMO Canadian Dividend
CDZ iShares Canadian Aristorcrats
XRE iShares Capped REIT
XEC Emerging Markets ETF

P.S. I assign an equal dollar amount for each investment in my portfolio. The ETF part of my portfolio are for long term holds.
Read Answer Asked by Lucy on November 02, 2021
Q: Hi Team,
Could you suggest Canadian ETFs of the following sectors for Senior incomes :
1 /Reit 2/ Utility 3/Prefer 4/Bank/Financial 5/Energy.
Please deduct as many question credit as needed.
Thanks as always,
Tak
Read Answer Asked by Tak on October 12, 2021
Q: Hi gang, can you please help me look deep in this
Accounts:
Mfc5786
Dyn3361
Nbn1120s
Eqp107
Che.in
Are this funds good to hold for2-3 years in rrsp accounts. Are this company strong and are dividends safe. Should I keep them. Thanks
Alnoor
Read Answer Asked by Alnoor on April 29, 2021
Q: Hi Team,

Like many I am trying to figure out what to do with cash on hand with interest rates near zero. I am trying to generate income while managing risk/volatility for this "low risk" part of my portfolio.

After some research I have come up with what may be three "best of breed" places to put some cash to work: REITs (e.g., RIT), preferred shares (e.g., HPR) and real return bonds (e.g., XRB).

What are your overall thoughts please on these securities at this time? Do you see any better alternatives in this market and interest rate cycle? What are the main downside risks you see for each security? Would you consider blue chip, high yield common shares more attractive or is there a diversification benefit here?

(Please deduct as many credits as appropriate for this compound question.)

Thank you so much, Michael
Read Answer Asked by Michael on January 07, 2021
Q: Given that RIT holds nearly all the REITs [including the two mentioned here] and their dividend is higher, does it make sense to simply hold RIT [even if their fees are higher]?
Read Answer Asked by steve on September 22, 2020
Q: REITs are beaten down. For a long term investor who wants real estate exposure, is this a time to get in? Can you suggest (1) two or three REITs or other entities and (2) an ETF for this? Thank you!
Read Answer Asked by Chris on September 08, 2020
Q: If you were to choose between the 3 above. How would you rank them in terms of security (first and foremost) and total performance for a 3-5 year hold?

Thanks to all for your fantastic service and a very successful year in all your endeavour.
Y
Read Answer Asked by Yves on January 06, 2020
Q: I'm interested in REITs in general (looking for income as a new retiree), but would rather invest in an ETF than try to pick winners and losers myself. RIT appears to have a good track record and yield of 4.68%, yet net assets are just under $400M. Is this relatively small asset base cause for concern? Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Maureen on February 22, 2019
Q: I own RIT for exposure to the Canadian REIT market. Please rank these four holdings as a long term hold in a growth portfolio. Also, I am considering adding one (or two) individual REITs to add a bit of up side to the general REIT market exposure of RIT. Would you advise this and, if so, which of these three, or any other, would you recommend?
Read Answer Asked by Ross on January 24, 2019
Q: Despite higher fees, RIT.UN seems to have substantially outperformed over the long haul. (I don't mind paying if management brings a demonstrable advantage.) Your thoughts on this being a good diversified choice within the sector? Basically, what is a solid REIT to add in CAD if adding a single ETF (or stocks) to a portfolio to get sector exposure? Thank you!
Read Answer Asked by Marilou on December 06, 2018
Q: Further to my Aug 2 question, I did consider XRE but RIT seems the better choice as it has superior returns for all time periods, admittedly at more than double the MER. In case I decide that increasing my company count is OK would you please recommend your top 5 choices for direct company investment.
Read Answer Asked by Ross on August 08, 2017
Q: My real estate exposure consists of CAR.UN. To increase diversity I am considering selling CAR and buying RIT. The MER is on the high side but the short and long term performance, relative to other REIT ETFs or mutual funds, seems justified. Volatility is also relatively low. What is your opinion on my plan and on RIT as a long term hold? Are there any other mutual Funds or ETFs I should consider. The percentage of my portfolio devoted to REITs is not high enough to obtain the diversity I seek by direct investments. I also do not wish to increase my security count by 3 or 4.
Read Answer Asked by Ross on August 02, 2017