Investment Q&A

Q: To several members, you've suggested an S&P500 etf. Among those are ZSP, XUS, VFV and HXS, all trading on the TSX in Canadian $. They all appear similar, except that HXS pays no dividend (why?). Then there's SPY, trading on the US exchange. It has dropped considerably more than the Canadian versions, and consequently has a higher dividend yield. Can you explain the discrepancy, please? Don't they all hold the same stocks? And there must be other S&P500 ETFs trading on US exchanges, besides SPY - could you please name some? Which version of these ETFs would you choose?

Q: I hold the above equities. I have additional funds to allocate. Your suggestions please. Take this opportunity to thank Peter for a great job, very reliable.
I would not want to add to my positions in ECN.PR.A , ENB, PNG ,& LSPD because of weighting’s and/or risk.

Q: The vanguard ETFs make up 13% of my portfolio. In the tech space I own PNG & LSPD.
A little bit overweight in both due to increase in value . If I were to buy another tech stock which would you suggest. My portfolio contains mostly dividend stocks with some Growth. My biggest risk would be if interest rates were to rise.

Q: Which do you prefer currently - VOO or VTI - and why? Thank you.

Q: I hold vgg in in TFSA and RRIF accounts , 5 % of my total portfolio. VIG in non registered US account 5% of total portfolio. I’m gradually moving from individual stocks to ETFs to reduce the time required to monitor my investments. Getting up in years .As an aside I’m an experienced investor, previously worked in the investment business. Right now I’m looking at reducing my position in vet and investing in vfv or convert C$ to US$ and buy VOO.
Your thoughts Peter on this or should I look elsewhere?

Q: I am looking to add an ETF that tracks the s and p 500 that has to go in my Tfsa. Can you give me some etf recommendations and your rationale? Thank you.

Q: Which Top 3 ETF's do your recommend to track the S&P 500.

Q: For eft’s. v f v and v g g , what are the advantages/disadvantages of holding in a
r r s p , t f s a , or a non registered account?

Thank you for your help,
Michael

Q: Hi Peter & 5i,
I have these US ETF's in an RRSP, is there any duplication here, if so, could you suggest an alternative. As always
I do appreciate your input.
Thanks
Ivan

Q: I am continuing to try and "perfect" my portfolio allocations. Your Portfolio Analytics program has been a huge asset, and has caused me to really re-think things. I am close to retirement, and can accept some risk but not looking to create an above-average risk portfolio.

For equity investments, I am aiming for about 35% US, and 35% international. I would like safety and growth, and am willing to have some risk. Once I am happy with the final portfolio, I hope to be able to "walk away" for the next few years and let it grow. I have a preference for the "dividend growers" strategy.

Does this allocation make sense to you, for both international and US equities? Are there any changes you would recommend?:

US Dividend growers (e.g. DGRO, VIG): 20% of equity portfolio
US Quality: 10% (e.g. VOO)
US SME: 5% (e.g. IWO)

International dividend growers (e.g. VIGI, iGRO, ZDI): 20% of equity portfolio
International Quality: 10% (e.g. XEF)
Emerging markets: 5% (e.g. VEE, ZEM)

Thank you so much for this amazing service!

Q: Would you buy the S&P 500 on this dip? Seems like a buying opportunity to me just curious what your thoughts are. Cheers

Q: Can you please give me your recommendations for ETFS in the following categories?

US S&P 500
US Total Market
US Dividend

Thanks

Q: Hi 5i team,
I am wondering if you can compare VOO to SPY. Which is better to add to my portfolio? Are them similar? Are them both tax efficient in RRSP and TFSA accounts?

Thanks,
Alice Liu

Q: i currently hold rsp and voo in my rif account. Is this too much of an overlap and should I consolidate or just keep them as they are? If I keep them as they are and am planning to add more money which one should it be? I know that you have often mentionned that you like a market weighted approach. Thanks for a wonderful service

Q: In reading Jason Heath's article in the Moneysaver he comments that there is no US withholding tax on US ETF's held in an RRSP, but there is withholding tax on the Canadian equivalent. I am in the process of rearranging our RRIFS and have been switching to more ETFs, including US based ones. Many ETFs have both a Canadian dollar and a US dollar version of the same fund. For convenience, to avoid opening a US dollar RRIF component, I elected to go with the Canadian equivalent.

Does the withholding tax also apply to RRIFs as well as RRSPs. If so it follows that perhaps I should convert a portion of our RRIF to US dollars and then purchase the US based ETFs in that account. It is not difficult to do, just a bit inconvenient.
Your thoughts please.
Russell

Q: For the purpose of simplicity I would like your opinion on these 3 ETF portfolios.
My idea is to rebalance 1 / year.
non registered: VFV 30% VDU 30% VAB 40%
TFSA: VFV 50% VDU 50%
RRSP: VOO 30% VIG 30% IWO 30% VAB 10%
Any suggestions as to changing the etf's used for better tax purposes ?
Are there better etf's that you would recommend using?
Thanks for your help .
Victoria

Q: Morning
Quick follow up question for clarification
If I hold VFV in a RRSP , will it be subject to the 15% withholding tax?
Holding VGG in a non registered account, is there a way to get this tax back?
Thank you

Q: Hi...In your opinion where is the best region in the world to invest right now with a 5 year outlook? Could you recommend a couple of ETF’s? Thanks

Q: I've read that total market ETF's such as ITOT include a component of unprofitable small caps that can cause a drag on performance. It was recommended instead to go with an S&P 500 ETF suchs as VOO, and supplement this with a mid/small cap ETF that follows an index that screens out low profitability, such as IJS or IUSV. What's your opinion of this strategy?

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