Investment Q&A

Q: Always looking for the best of all worlds - but find myself thinking "safety first" right now given global circumstances - and the US election.

So the above ETFs all yielding over 14% right now - too good to be true or a legitimate and safer way to go given their use of options - and 5i has clearly made us aware of the pros and cons of options (Thank you) .... but how about this combination of ETF's

As always Thank you.

Q: With a long term view, what proportion would you allocate to each of the above to make a balanced portfolio?

Thank you

Q: This is a similar question to Craig’s question on August 8, regarding several mawer funds
I have held the above funds for a few years, and they are all positive still
Do you see underperformace of these funds in the past five years and if so would you advise replacing them with an ETF?
can you recommend etf replacements in Canadian dollar
Much appreciated

Q: Question about discrepancy in price action between these two SP500 index ETFs.

As of 10:50 AM, SPY is up 1.45% while VFV is up 1.23%, lagging SPY by 22 basis points.

What explains the discrepancy in price action between these two very liquid funds? For index funds such as these, is there a mechanism that exists to correct and adjust these funds to the actual price movement of their indexes? Especially when it comes to VFV.

Thank you for your excellent service.

Q: Hello Team,
What would your favourite etfs for this security be, both market weighted and equal weighted?
Thank You,
Barry

Q: CRTC NYSE Arca/US Xtrackers US National Critical Technologies ETF.

What's your opinion on this one buy or not?

Holdings seem similar to other ETF's I hold.

Thank you.

Q: I am looking for income and some growth,but income is more important. With that in mind what are favorite ETFs in the following areas ?
International ,excluding North America
US small cap.
India
US large cap.
Thank you,
Philip

Q: What would be your top thee picks for US Market ETFs today and why? (10+ year hold)

Q: What is the main difference between SPY and VOO?

What are your top 3 ETFs for buy and long term hold (10+ year) today?

Q: HI Everyone,

My portfolios (Non-Registered, RRIF, TFSA) consist of only 100% Canadian equities and Cash. I am retired and would finally like to add some excitement and diversity to my holdings. Can you please suggest some Global/International or US ETF's and/or other funds that I could consider.

In my current mish-mash of holdings; I presently own: BCE, T, ENB, AP.un,H&R-un,BN, CSU, TOI, LMN, EDV, K, VET, WSP, LSPD, Anergia, Copperleaf, Softchoice, ATD, and WSP, etc.

Thanks very much,

Dean

Q: I will be providing some funds for my grandson to invest in the market. My grandson is 15 years old and is interested in investing some funds for his retirement years (40+ year time frame). He has indicated that he has a moderate to aggressive investment risk level. Please provide your top 5 large cap ETFs and top 5 small cap ETFs with a comment on each ETF. Please provide your top 5 large cap companies and top 5 small cap companies with a comment on each company. Please include general comments on the anticipated returns for the ETFs and companies. Thank you. We

Q: I will be providing some funds for my grandson to invest in the market. My grandson is 13 years old and has indicated that he has a moderate to aggressive investment risk level. He would like to invest funds and hold the investments for approximately 10 years. For a 10 year hold, would you recommend moderate to high risk companies/ETFs over low risk companies/ETFs? My grandson is considering investing in ETFs and/or individual companies. Please provide your top 5 moderate risk ETFs, top 5 high risk ETFs, top 5 moderate risk companies and top 5 high risk companies with a brief comment on each investment. Please provide a general comment on the typical performance of ETFs vs individual companies. Thank you

Q: Hi,
Brian asked about private equity on June 25. In your response you mention that private equity is not correlated to other assets. I am looking at the 10 year performance of PSP vs. SPY and their charts move up and down in almost perfect parallel (pre-COVID run ups, COVID crashes, post-COVID run ups, etc.), with PSP returning 93% and SPY 234%. On a 4-5 year time scale, PSP/SPY/NGPE move up and down in parallel as well. I am struggling to find a reason to invest in a private equity ETF based on this. Is it because an ETF, regardless of what it is investing in, is in fact correlated since it is traded like any other equity?
Thank you for all the great information your provide, Michael

Q: Crystal ball question: Would you buy XUS now or wait a little? Any other ETF or stocks you would suggest for US exposure in RIF? Much Thanks for your comments.

Q: Good afternoon, Please recommend your 3 favourite international equity ETFs (without US holdings) and your 3 favourite US market ETFs. I already own QQQ which represents approx. 10% of my RRSP (in US dollars). Further, what are your thoughts on investing in the US market in US dollars (converted using Norbert Gambit) vs. Cnd. dollars? Is there an approach which has generated better results? Thank you.

Q: If using your balanced portfolio as my canadian content for an equity portfolio could you please recommend some equity etfs for ex canadian content and what % would be canadian of the total portfolio? I was thinking 40% and 60% outside canada

Thx

Q: Hi there - between these 2 etfs, which would you consider the better buy hold forever etf? Is there a better buy a hold forever etf other than these 2?

Thanks!

Q: a sunlife life insurance policy was purchased for grandchildren as an investment for them on the advice of a financial planner- I am embarrassed to say so far $9000 in annual premiums has been paid, with 11 more remaining before the policy is paid in full. If I cancel this policy it will be a loss. However; the dollars which would have gone to sunlife could be used for a better investment. Your suggestions would be welcomed. Thank you- (P.S.- I submitted this ? a moment ago-but my screen went black so I don't no if the ? was sent the first time)

Q: XSP is the CDN hedged version of the S&P 500 which should match the performance of SPY (the S&P 500 in US dollars) over the same time period. However XSP has significantly underperformed SPY eg the compounded annual performance of XSP for the period ending April 30/24 for 3 years, 5 years and 10 years is 6.71%. 11.45% and 10.98% respectively. The corresponding nos for SPY are 7.94%, 13.09% and 12.30% ie XSP has underpermed by 1.23%/year for 3ys, 1.64%/year for 5 years and 1.32% for 10 years. Both ETFS have the same MER of 0.09%- Blackrock indicates that the cost of hedging is included in their MER but this cannot be the case. Is the real cost of hedging with XSP as high as 1.23-1.64%/year? There should a small tracking error but these differnces in performance are siginficant and consistently in favour of SPY

Q: Hi guys,

Is it better to purchase SPY etf in u.s dollars or a Canadian version of that eft in Canadian dollars?

Thanks

Jim