Investment Q&A

Q: I'm overweight financials and thinking of selling my US holding BAC and ORI and switching to a US dividend ETF such as DGRO. Any other suggestions?

Q: I currently hold WMT in my us non registered account. I like WMT as a defensive stock . Do you think selling WMT and buy VIG would reduce risk and still be defensive. At the same time WMT provides more leverage. Your thoughts.

Q: Good day team ,looking for advice on dividend fund or etf for rsp.i have agf series q interpipeline and sentry energy funds for longer timeframe i have 10 g to ad not sure on what ,thanks for all the great help my investments choices are better since joining your team

Q: Good morning. My daughter is working in the US and is looking for low to moderate risk, low fee, ETF funds or fund families in which to invest her 401k monies. What would you recommend. 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: Could I get your opinion on the potential for VIGI. I am looking for safety with modest growth in my RIF. Is it dependent on Brexit or mainly just the European economy? I also hold MAW102 and VIG which have both performed better than VIGI. I have considered selling VIGI and investing the proceeds 50/50 in the other two. Comment and suggestions appreciated

Q: Hello Peter and Team
my question pertains to my US trading account invested in all stocks. I have done well so far. Now I want to switch to all ETFs portfolio for more stability and less maintenance in the medium and long terms. I intend to buy the above for 20% each.
Please let me know if my strategy and choices make sens and do not hesitate to provide suggestions and adjustments.
I value your opinion as always.
Raouf

Q: Hi,
I want to increase my US and International equity exposure by using $US ETFs (VIG and VXUS respectively) but the Canadian dollar is pretty weak right now (improving slightly lately). Does it make sense to convert to $US for this investment (long-term horizon) when there could well be significant headwinds if the Canadian dollar continues to strengthen. Also, valuations are higher in the US than in Canada, but International looks to be relatively cheap. Thoughts on how to proceed?
Regards, Michael

Q: Could you give me your top picks for US dividend ETF's?

Thanks,

Joe

Q: Hi,
I am struggling with a decision and would appreciate your opinion please. I would like to increase my US and International equity exposure using ETFs in US dollars that I already own (VIG and VXUS).
The Canadian dollar is obviously very weak right now. Does it make sense to convert Canadian dollars to US and adding to US dollar ETFs right now, or should I be using equivalents that trade in Canadian dollars? If the latter, would you kindly suggest the two ETFs that I should consider?
I know you like foreign currency as another form of diversification and I agree. I realize there is a FX prediction inherent in this question: if the CDN dollar strengthens, that creates headwinds for US-denominated investments.
What do you suggest?
Thank you. Michael

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan and team,
Could you provide me with your top 3 ETF's for the US, listed in Canada as well as the US for an RRSP & LIRA accounts as well as 3 International/World ETF's for the same accounts, taking into consideration any withholding taxes that may apply or not.
Thanks as always for your great service, much appreciated
Ivan

Q: I'm rebalancing my RESP holding. As far as A US etf would you prefer purchasing VIG or is there a Canadian listed etf similar to vig that you would prefer?

Q: I am a new retiree and interested in income, with some growth. What ETF or ETFs would you recommend for a non-registered account? Thank you.

Q: Investing in companies who have been paying dividends for a long time and regularly increase dividends is a good idea.
Where can I find such information about a company?

Q: Hi there,

In the process of transitioning my US 401K from a balanced portfolio to an income portfolio as i get ready to transition to retirement. If you could recommend 5 US stocks or low cost ETFs for income what would they be.

Q: I currently have some cash in RRSP USD and RRSP CAD accounts. I also have some US cash for Non-Reg USD account.

I am wondering how to allocate VIG/VGG/ZDY amongst these accounts to minimize FX fees while also minimizing taxes.

For e.g. if I put VGG or ZDY in RRSP CAD, I believe a 15 per cent withholding tax applies to dividends if US stocks are held via a TSX-listed ETF (yes, even within RRSP account)!

If I put VIG in RRSP USD, I will have to pay the 15-percent withholding taxes on the US dividends.

Please do you have any recommendations on how to avoid paying these taxes?

Also given that VGG is listed in TSX and tracks the VIG ETF in the US, I am wondering whether there is any difference in putting VGG in RRSP CAD account or should I prefer putting VIG in the RRSP USD account (given smaller MER).

Thanks!

Q: What's your view of continuing to hold VIG in the near to medium term? I'm thinking there could be an increasing amount of pressure on it and its constituent companies as higher bond yields are actually materializing and are making VIG's 1.84% dividend look anemic by comparison. Is there an alternative holding/strategy you might recommend in its place during this period?

Q: What is the next ex date for the dividend for both VIG & VXUS ?
Thanks
Dave

Q: I am a conservative investor who would appreciate your recommendations as to the best 5 US stocks/ETFs to own over the next 2-3 years. Dividends are not necessary, however preference is for low risk stock recommendations.

Q: Transitioning my mutual funds to a self managed ETF portfolio of near equal weighting of ve, vee, spy,vig and iwo for all USA and international exposure. I am due for another block of buying. Which of the 5 above would be best to add now. VE and VEE are down so average out my loss? On weighting I was due to add mostly VEE and IWO. Just starting the transition so can add pretty much any of them.