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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: Hi Guys,

Inside my portfolio, my consumer cyclical weighting is over 20%, please rate best to worst;
GIL, MG, BYD.UN, TOY, AYA, CCL & NFI and on the U.S.A. side we have GPC, DIS & HD.
I would like to lower the % to 15%.
thanks,

Jim
Read Answer Asked by jim on June 26, 2017
Q: I am puzzled about the fact that some mortgage lenders offer as low as 1.9 to 2.1% mortgage rates. Why would someone lend money as such a low rate, when you can get more (and garanteed) investing it with a CDIC backed GIC. If the amount is huge and not covered by a set of CDIC accounts, such a lender could get the same yield from a short-term bond ETF like ZCS. My theory is that those lenders hope that a small percentage of their borrowers fail to carry the mortgage, in which case, they somehow profit from re-possessing a house that has appreciated in price. If that is not something a lender can do, what am I missing? Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Matt on June 26, 2017
Q: Doc as many questions as required....

I am looking at moving out of a managed portfolio for which I pay about 1.5% management fee plus the fees for the products in the fund ( averages about 0.29% for a net of about 1.79%). The managed fund has not beat its benchmark net of fees in last 5 years so I am giving my manager and the product the boot.

Main reasons are:
1. I am paying for an "actively" managed fund that really is performing like a index fund ( I can buy the fund benchmark as ETFs for %0.23 mer)
2. I dont really need it to be balanced due to my other investments. It was useful when I had less money, less time and less knowledge.
3. I have the time, temperament and knowledge to move it all to be self managed

My plan is:

1. Not have any fixed income holdings as my wife's federal government pension counts for all required fixed income/bond. It is also the anchor that allow me to be more aggressive with our other investments

2. All Canadian exposure will be via stocks loosely following your balanced equity portfolio.

3. For the US-global exposure I am considering adopting the US/global portion of the CME ETF portfolio with the following weighting: 10% VEE, 10% VE, 20% SPY, 25% VIG, 25% IWO, 10% ZWU. ( ie cut out most CAD and bond stuff and kept the same weighting as CMS portfolio for the rest)
4. Simplify the number of products I have across multiple account. In other words balance globally vs balancing within each individual account.

So my questions are:
1. At a high level what if any changes would you suggest to this approach
2. My portfolio is a mess with multiple products across TFSA, RSP, RESP, and unregistered accounts for both me and my wife. Very generally can you remind me which products should be in which account for tax efficiency.
3. Any suggestions on how best to transition...general plan is all new money goes to ETFs, move 1/3 each year out of managed fund to ETF portfolio.

Tom
Read Answer Asked by Tom on June 26, 2017
Q: Hi 5i, I own IPL since March 2005 in my RIF at cost of $9.63 so I have seen its ups and down for long time but now I am not so sure if I want to keep it, I am thinking of switching to CPX, similar price and dividend, what do you think of the idea or do you have any other suggestions for me. Thank you for your valuable service. M
Read Answer Asked by Motoi on June 26, 2017
Q: for my sons RESP can I get your opinion of the 3.25% 5 year GIC being offered by Home Capital? The amount is far below the $100,000 threshold.

Is a safe 3.25% a reasonable rate of return for an RESP that I need in 5 years time? Alternatively, would I be better to off with the investment strategy your team outlined which would have a higher potential yield but principle risk.

Your thoughts are appreciated,

Don
Read Answer Asked by Don on June 23, 2017
Q: Hi, I am looking to pick either ENB or ALA for utility sector. from dividend and valuation perspective, ALA looks far more attractive.
I would appreciate if you can provide a comparison of the two and your preference.
Read Answer Asked by Harpinder on June 23, 2017
Q: Hi 5i team,

Costco has been taking a beating ever since Amazon announced its bid for Whole Foods Market (WFM) three days ago. At the time, it was selling at a premium but today it dropped well below its 200 MA. How much lower would it have to go before you would consider it an attractive buy?
Somehow, I don't see an Amazon-WFM tie up as being particularly threatening to Costco. I would appreciate you view on what the impact might be?
Robert
Read Answer Asked by Robert on June 23, 2017
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