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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: I have a large (for me) holdings in these two Mawer funds.
I can either keep paying the management fees and the annual capital gain, or sell MAW150 at a loss, or sell both, get hit by a large capital gain (MAW107) and buy Canadian ETF's holding small and mid US stocks.
What'd you do?
Thanks Jerry
Read Answer Asked by jery on January 22, 2024
Q: Hi Everyone at 5i!!
I own Maw global small cap and have rode it up and down. I am given to understand that it is a good fund but the MER is high. Is there an ETF of a similar nature that I could reinvest my money in??

Cheers,
Tamara
Read Answer Asked by Tamara on January 24, 2023
Q: Hi Guys
I'm looking to purchase a Small Cap Mutual Fund in the next 12 Months.
It can include US companies also. Can you give me your favorite Small Cap Mutual Fund Company and Symbol that's available to retail investors.
Thanks Gord
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on July 06, 2022
Q: Can you please comment about the Mawer funds Which are the top 3 or four? Which are better for a non-registered account, and is there one you recommend for a TFSA? I don't have a long time horizon, being 76, but am open to some risk (and reward), Is there another mutual fund company in Canada you can recommend that sells diversified holdings in Europe and the US? I'd like some holdings that aren't usually found in ETFs that are good value. Thanks for all your help.
Read Answer Asked by Elizabeth on August 18, 2021
Q: I am interested in adding more international exposure. Over time, in a haphazard fashion I developed portfolio weights of 4% in ZEM, 2.5% in MAW150; and 1.5% in DXG. To my untrained eye they offer diversity, for growth & stability, to different markets, etc What is your view of these 3 holdings? Would you add to each? Delete any? Due to political risks from trade tensions etc, I am inclined to avoid too much of an exposure to China. Thank you for your excellent service.
Read Answer Asked by Leonard on April 09, 2021
Q: To get some exposure to small caps, I invested in MAW150 late last year; I wonder if XSU has done better in the same time frame. If so, any idea why? And if so, would you switch to XSU? I intend to hold for what I see as the medium term, 2-3 years. Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Leonard on February 11, 2021
Q: Hello,

Can I get a couple of your recommendations for the best balanced growth ETF and/or mutual fund as well as a pure growth recommendation. Sector & Geographic allocation not a huge concern.

Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Chris on February 04, 2021
Q: Helping my son with his investments which are as follows: MAW 106 24%,MAW 106 20%. VUS 21%, VEF 18%, VEE 8%, ZJG 6% and XQQ 3%.Feeling there is a bit of an overlap with some of these investments eg XQQ and VUS also with MAW 150 and VEF to a degree. Any advice is welcome ,stay as is , reduce holdings or increase some..He prefers ETF's and Mutual Funds (Mawer) and is a bit risk adverse but does realize markets go up and down though and is young( mid 30's ) enough to handle declines. ! Thanks.Paul
Read Answer Asked by Paul on January 11, 2021
Q: Thx for mentioning these 2 actively global managed mutual funds in March for my RSP. I am looking for 1 more that 5i likes. I prefer a global mutual fund with a reasonable MER. Thx
Read Answer Asked by blake on January 06, 2021
Q: My wife and I both have DC pension plans with our respective employers (with company matching), and generally buy into low-cost index funds that are available to us.

We each also have LIRAs (with pension funds from our previous employers), and for these buckets of funds we would like to buy mutual funds to benefit from good quality active management. MAW150 and DYN245 are two funds that have jumped out to us - if we were to buy these two funds alone, would a 50/50 split in each of our LIRAs be reasonable, in terms of diversification (both sector and geographic allocation)? We would be looking to buy and hold for a long period of time (~20 years).
Read Answer Asked by Keith on December 03, 2020
Q: Good morning,
My grandson is 9 years old and I've set up for him a Non Registered Informal Trust account in which I contribute a few thousand dollars every year.
This Informal Trust non registered account is comprised of a selection of Horizon Corporate Class TRI ETFs that do not distribute any income or dividends that could otherwise be attributed back to the contributor. That being said, this informal trust account also holds one mutual fund (MAW 150) that does make distributions at the end of the year and that I would like to sell and invest the proceeds with another Horizon Corporate Class TRI ETF.
My question is regarding the best time to sell this MAW 150 and more specifically whether there is any advantage in replacing the fund immediately with a Horizon TRI ETF or waiting until the end of the year after Mawer makes its annual distribution (disregard the effect of attribution in your response).
Thank you and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and recommendation.
Francesco
Read Answer Asked by Francesco on October 22, 2020
Q: First, I wanted to thank you for your Canadian portfolio suggestions, especially for the balanced and growth ones. I've been very lucky on timing, still I am extremely happy with the service, advices and the gains this year. On another note, I am looking to allocate 10%-15% of my locked-in RSP in either an international or global well managed portfolio composed of small cap and/or mid cap stocks. Looking for intelligent high risk. I have a long time horizon (I am 30 years old). I would prefer actively managed or an ETF you strongly believe in, diversified and with a strong track record. I had MAW150 in mind, but when I look at the top 10 positions individually... They are pretty much all at their all time high and I'm not sure if they have a lot more room for growth ahead this year or next year factoring all the risk that remains. I know it's almost impossible to time the market, but if I can dodge a speculative correction like there was for tech this week, I would be more than happy. All that said, which one(s) would you recommend considering the most for September 2020 based on your expertise.
Thank you again.
Read Answer Asked by Michael on September 14, 2020
Q: Hello,
I have Mawer Balanced Fund fund and Mawer Global Small Cap funds in my RRIF and RLIF to provide some diversification to the individual stocks that I also have. I am happy enough with these 2 funds, and woud like to add Mower Global Balanced Fund, to provide some further foreign diversification , but I do not wish to sell any thing right now to free up the cash, so I am considering
replacing the Balanced fund with the Global Balanced Fund. This might help my foreign diversification problem, but I am wondering if there is a disadvantage to making this swap that I cannot see. the resrt of my portolio is canadian and us stock and fixed income. Please let me know if you think that this is worth doing at this time.
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Leonard on June 24, 2020
Q: Hello 5i: Thank you for holding our hands during this difficult time, it is much appreciated. I ask about the Mawer funds, in particular 104, 150, 102. I hold these funds in a RRIF and as all above purchase price I ask if you would keep these funds or are there vehicles that have more potential upside? Thank you Barb
Read Answer Asked by Barbara on April 27, 2020