Investment Q&A

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

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

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.

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!

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

Q: I'm looking for some US exposure. Is this ETF suitable for a RRSP account. Other US ETF's suggestions ? Thanks

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?

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.

Q: What is your top ranked large U.S. index tracking fund (includes the FANG stocks)
How would you rank the 4 listed ETF’S compared to your top choice?
Thanks once again. RAM

Q: Good Morning 5i team,
I have been looking into cleaning up my portfolio. On the US side i was thinking of taking Buffet's advice and just buy VOO. When I look at the top ten holdings of that fund, though, I note that I already hold three of the top ten in the portfolio in at a pretty good percentage: Goog, jnj, jpmorgan. I also own as well another large selection: 3M, mdt, pepsi, and proctor and gamble.

The question arises whether I should just buy two or three of the top ten and run a ETF myself?

Another question; the concentration of teck names in VOO/s top ten is quite low, Apple at 3.5% and Amazon a little less. It seem like these are the main stocks I am missing and the question then becomes, "Should I go for QQQ, which has apple at 11 % and Amazon at 9%? Although all the rest is technology as well, which I don<t want that much of. The problem is that I would like to have more teck but probably not as much as QQQ. Any other choices?
thanks

Q: I'm thinking about increasing my US exposure and buying VOO in my RRSP. I don't need the money for at least 10 years...
When to buy is always a bit perplexing...with the US markets at all time highs one would think that this is not a great time to be buying and it might be smarter to wait for an inevitable correction.
But at the same time, with the tax cuts that have recently gone through down south, as well as the overall improvement in the business environment, I can't see how that isn't going to drive the markets even higher.
Thoughts?

Q: Hi All at 5i! Could you tell me what the difference in holdings are in these broad ETF S ..which would be the better to hold for the best broad exposure ? And a second question ..could you suggest a Us Money Market ETF. Thanks, Tamara

Q: Greetings 5i,

I realize that you do not technically cover American stocks, but would value your opinion on this matter if possible.

I currently hold TPU.TO (slightly more than a half position), as well as a larger position (slightly more than my other "full positions") in BRK.B (held in US dollars). I am 36 years old, conservative, and greatly prefer long term holds.

My question is two-fold, so please deduct two credits if you deem it appropriate. First, given the enormity of BRK, as well as its ability to often outperform the S&P 500, do you feel as if both should be owned for broad American exposure, or would a single, consolidated position in BRK be more appropriate (I essentially look at BRK as a very low cost mutual fund)?

Second, if you feel that owning both BRK and an S&P 500 ETF is beneficial, would you recommend holding the ETF in Canadian or American dollars? If the latter, could you suggest a suitable US dollar replacement for TPU?

At present, these two holdings are my only direct exposure to US Equity (I also have XHY for US bond exposure), although I am planning to add a few single positions over the next year or so.

Thank you.

Q: Hello,

Over the past several years I have put together an adhoc portfolio with the following allocation:

ZEO (oil) %4
GIB.A %36
GILD %11
VOO %27
VSP %9
VIG %13

My goal overall is to build a long term growth portfolio (25-30 years) with some stocks mixed in. Any recommendations on how or if I should re-balance this? In your opinion is there anything I should move away from or that may be missing from this portfolio that I should add for long term growth? (ex. emerging markets or a global equity market index ETF).

If so, you could please provide a couple I should consider? I have a lump sum that I plan to contribute to the portfolio over the next 60 days.

Thank-you very much in advance!
Ryan