Investment Q&A

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

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.

Q: further to question by Terry Feb 27/19
voo vs voog with timeline now rather than the 25 years Terry referenced

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

Q: you renently answered a question regarding a comparison between Bershire and the S&P. Am I right in concluding from that answer that you do not see an advantage in owning Brkb.us over say, VOO?
thanks

Q: I am wondering about the appropriateness of your Balanced ETF fund being held in either RRSP or TFSA from a tax perspective.

Q: Which of the etf ZDY or VOO would you pick for RRSP (20 yrs time frame) or maybe
other better choice. In Canadian securities option we selected MAW106 or maybe other fund or etf, same time frame.

Q: Same question as Yvonne today however asking for top US ETF that doesn't have Apple as top 2 holding.

Q: Which US$ denominated ETF would you recommend today for US exposure ? Do you recommend a Midcap or Large cap ETF?

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

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.

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