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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've just started contributing to an RRSP this year. I would like to implement an indexing strategy for the most part since I wont be using the money for 30+ years. I've only looked at vanguard so far: VOO, VFV, VSP and maybe VOOG. My question is, would it be better to use a canadian fund etf that tracks the s&p 500 like vfv, or would it be better to use one in american dollars like voo. If I do go with Canadian, should I go with a hedged one such as VSP? Or perhaps a mixture?

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Danielle on March 12, 2019
Q: I hold VSP Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) in my RRIF. I am confused by the following comments in the February 2019 ETF & Mutual Fund Update under the title Exchange-Traded Funds for Your RRSP – “When it comes to Canadian-listed funds that hold U.S. equities or hold U.S. listed ETFs it is best to avoid them because U.S. dividend income is taxed on your behalf.” I had thought that VSP was appropriate for RRIF’s. Please advise.
Read Answer Asked by Nadine on March 05, 2019
Q: My RRSP - I was comparing Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF VOOG to Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO.
Warren Buffett is suggesting the index - so VOO, but VOOG Growth has performed better since inception with the same risk of 4 out of 5 - as defined by Vanguard.
VOOG has a higher turnover rate of it's stocks -at 17.6% vs 3% and it still outperformed after taxes on the higher turnover. It has 294 of the 508 stocks that VOO has.
Wondering your thoughts on one over the other. Since it is in an RRSP and I don't need the money for 25 years.

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/vanguard/compare?navigatingFrom=4
Read Answer Asked by Terry on February 27, 2019
Q: I am wondering about the appropriateness of your Balanced ETF fund being held in either RRSP or TFSA from a tax perspective.
Read Answer Asked by Steven on February 14, 2019
Q: Greetings 5i team,

For people who invest in a US market index ETF, are there significant differences between IVV, VOO and SPY ?

Are there any other similar US market index ETFs?

Thank you.

Milan
Read Answer Asked by Milan on January 22, 2019
Q: Regarding the question on equal weighting, you say that a better case can be made in Canada than in the US for it. One of the reasons that I would probably go for equal weighting in the US rather than market weighting is the high preponderance of FAANG stocks in say, VOO. if they go down en masse , which as you say they haven<t recently, you have problems.
Read Answer Asked by joseph on January 16, 2019
Q: Good morning 5i,
I want an etf to cover the US market in an easy to manage way. Given that objective, which of the above etf's would you choose and why? I noted in an earlier question that Vanguard had switched from VOO to VTI for its own pension plans, I presume because of the wider market: large caps, medium caps and small. Then we have RSP, which is similar to VOO but weighted differently. Once again, thanks for the great service
Read Answer Asked by joseph on January 16, 2019
Q: In an earlier answer you suggested that ryt might be more interesting than qqq, as it was an equal weight fund. I do notice, though that the top five holdings are quite different. But, that is beside the point--which is whether there would be n equal weight offering corresponding to voo? I searched but couldn't find any. Although i did come across the interestng information that Vanguard has switched its own employees pension funds ti vig, from voo.
Thanks and may you have the assorted blessings of the season
Read Answer Asked by joseph on December 21, 2018
Q: Hi 5i,

Knowing that the US is not your focus, I would still value your opinion.

I have 30% of my portfolio in cash sitting in a USD margin account and I would like to invest in etfs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100; could you please suggest etfs that do not pay any yield? I am also looking at IPAY and IWO for some diversification, would you be okay with this? Would there be any significant overlap in all these etfs? What percentage weighting would you have for more growth, medium to high risk tolerance and long term hold ?

Thanks as always. Please deduct as many credits as you see fit.
Read Answer Asked by K on November 12, 2018
Q: salut 5i! I have just sold my WEED holdings (at a nice profit .. also own small amounts of APHA and HEXO) and am contemplating buying either STZ or VOO .. with the general objective of further diversifying an already quite well diversified portfolio (stocks and etfs) .. I also hold VGG, VDU, FDN, XHY, and ZUH .. your thoughts? thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Patrik on November 08, 2018
Q: We are thinking of moving our US holdings to etf's rather than individual companies. Currently we own some VOO but notice that you recommend SPY often because of its volume and liquidity, i think.

The first question is whether there is a lot of differnece between the two and whether it is worth getting SPY as well as VOO?

Secondly, we notice that the top ten holdings for both etf's contain a lot of FANG stocks. So we were wondering if we needed other etf's to balance this weighting?
Do you think a total market etf like this is enough to cover the US market?
thanks again for great advice
Read Answer Asked by joseph on September 26, 2018
Q: I've held this ETF for 2-1/2 years, its up about 40%. I purchased it initially as a US dollar holding not subject to US estate tax exposure. With Trump doubling the estate value amount before those taxes kick in, for now, thats no longer a concern. For future buys, is there a better US dollar ETF you'd recommend - lower MER and/or better growth, safety?
Read Answer Asked by Lloyd on July 26, 2018
Q: Hello,

1) As an investor, is there any benefit to holding BRK.A vs BRK.B
2) Would holding BRK.B provide diversification? I assume BRK.B owns underlying stock such American Express, Coke, Wells Fargo etc ?
3) What is the advantage or disadvantage of holding BRK.B vs a S&P 500 ETF?

Please deduct as many credits as appropriate.
Read Answer Asked by Vir on July 26, 2018
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