Investment Q&A

Q: Good morning,

I recently started selling puts and put credit spreads in SPY, QQQ, IWM and AAPL, these being among the most liquid underlyings with very tight bid-ask spreads. Things have worked out well, so far, as the market has been moving higher and higher.

I'm told that my positions are highly correlated and should consider underlyings that are not as correlated to the broad markets. Could you suggest some underlyings that I can consider? I prefer liquid underlyings so that I can exit them quickly in the event the trade goes against me.

Thank you

Q: My husband and I are in our early 60’s. We do not have a company income. The bulk of our assets are in my RRSP and LIRA accounts.
We are converting his RRSP to a RRIF and my LIRA to a LIF this year and waiting until I am 65 to convert my RRSP so we can take advantage of pension splitting.
We are conservative investors and just want to keep up with inflation.
Would you please suggest a few ETF’s for diversification and a few income ETF’s for our LIF, RRIF and my RRSP accounts. If there are stocks you would would like to include that would be appreciated. Thank you.

Q: My 31 year old daughter has $50,000 cash in her US TFSA account. What investments would you recommend for a mid to long term hold.

Thanks

Q: I am looking to invest in an ETF for a period of 5 to 10 years and have a medium to high risk tolerance. Can you suggest 5 to 10 ETFs that should be considered? Thank you very much

Q: My question has to do with technical indicators that may signal bearishness. In particular, I'm looking at the "unusual short interest" in the mentioned ETFs. Some popular "influencers" indicate they hedge when a market turns downwards by shorting these ETFs. This, the logic goes, is a way to protect the downside without liquidating high growth holdings.

Right now, my intution is that there is a "de-risking" going on in the markets (away from high growth and speculative cyclicals to blue chips and large cap tech).

My questions: Do you see unusual short activity going on in these ETFs, is it a fair indicator of broader bearishness, and do you think the strategy of hedging by temporarily shorting these ETFs is sound?

Q: Please recommend 4 index etf's Canadian for my TFSA and 4 US for my RRSP. If you recommend Bonds make it number 5 Looking at 15-20 year DRIP and hold.
Thanks
Cec

Q: A bit of USD cash to deploy in an unregistered account. Hit for the average with SPY, pick the safer large cap div payers with VIG or growth is the next big thing with IWO. Not a large sum so just topping up one of my 3 USA focused etfs I already hold. Which is the best buy right now, +5 year hold.

Q: I have balanced stocks in RRSP (mainly from your BE portfolio) and growth companies in TFSA (mostly our picks). Its very well diversified in different sectors. Thank you for your help

I still have ~50 K Cash (from recent clean up) in RRSP which I would be investing in this summer. Since majority of my stocks are Canadian, to balance out I am looking to add mostly US ETFs.

These are the ETFs have got my attentions from your questions answers. I am looking for maximum growth and also a hold and forget for 10 + years. This question applies to RRSP

Please provide me with 3-5 suggestions from below. Would you add anything else here or suggest otherwise?

IWO, IWM, VB, VUG, VFV, VGRO, QQQ, ARKK, ARKG,SPY

Thank you for your excellent service!

Q: I am looking for a US etf with long term growth. This in order to balance out the over-weighted Canadian portfolio of blue chip dividend stocks. This investment is long term, no short term plans for this allocation and do not want dividends for tax efficiency. This question applies to both RRSP and non registered accounts. Could you provide me with 3 suggestions please.

Q: SPY, QQQ, and IWM HAve what seem to be historically (and ridiculously) attenuated charts especially viewed from a 20 year perspective. Short of using trailing stop loss orders with each of my largely dividend-oriented equity positions, what would you recommend as a defensive strategy? E.G. gradually adding to a laddered IWM put and/or LEAP put position(s)?

Q: Am I missing any major sectors with these stock investments?
Where should I focus if I would like to ensure a diverse portfolio?
Are there any stocks that I should dump?

Q: Hi all @ 5i,

I recently change job and I need to transfer my work/pension (200K$) into myself manage account. I have been self-trading for 1+ year now and manage to make 22% on my stock YOY on a small investment(TFSA 20k$). I am looking to put 100K$ in the 5i GROWTH portfolio but wonder how to organize my purchase of stock to get the best results possible. (I will be keeping this for 15+ years in my RRSP so my investment perspective is long term). Should I simply split 100k in the number of stocks in the GROWTH portfolio and round up to the next numbers of share or looking to a more dynamic approach since some of those stocks are more matures since inceptions…

For the second half of my investment, I was looking into putting them in to EFT and was wondering if you had favorite from a US perspective (since I can get the pulse on the Canadian one here already)

Any help and guidance would be appreciated,

Thanks

Fred

Q: I'm looking for suggestions for an RESP account for an eight month child. Much appreciated guys.
Dave

Q: Can you recommend your top one or two ETFs for S&P500 exposure. Do you recommend CAD-hedged or unhedged?

Q: Hello,
Do you think the trend of SPY outperforming Nasdaq will continue for the next 6 months or so? Also I am seeing IWM outperforming IWO..I am considering moving portions of my tech holdings to IWM and SPY for the next little while..What are your thoughts? Thanks.

Regards,

Shyam

Q: As a follow-up to my question last week on interest rates up/down, please also advise which funds/ETFs perform best when interest rates move in either direction.

Thanks again.

Q: If you had to pick 5 ETFs to fill an RRSP, for an investor with a 20+ year timeframe, which would you choose? To add a little context, mid 30's with a TFSA geared towards growth and I am comfortable with risk in that account. I also have a business account where I hold blue chip dividend paying stocks. Comfortable with risk in the RRSP as well but trying to find the sweet spot in between these two accounts.

Q: I have a target allocation of 40-45% for total portfolio US exposure. Which ETFs would you suggest (either currency) to form the core of this allocation? Could you also please provide a handful of individual US picks to supplement. Aiming for long term growth with 20+ yr time horizon. Thanks!

Q: I want to hold IWO and SPY etf's, I am a canadian resident.
Are there any tax, exchange rate implications for me in holding these ( or any other US stocks )?

If yes, then suggest a equivalent Canadian ETF.

Q: First a big thank you for the terrific returns we received in 2020 thanks to your stellar guidance (our largest holdings we first discovered through 5i -hello LSPD,XBC and WELL!). We gifted our kids memberships in December and praise your service to everyone. This is truly an invaluable service.
Now to the question, my brother is tired of paying high fees for his CIBC pension holdings. When I looked into this for him last year, some pools had MER in the 2% range! He’s moved the following into cash and is looking for lower fee/higher return alternatives in the following areas of his pension account:
-Imperial Canadian Dividend Income Pool
-Imperial Canadian Equity High Income Pool
-Imperial US Equity Pool
-Imperial International Equity Pool
-Imperial Short Term Bond Pool
-Imperial Long Term Bond Pool
Please charge as many questions as required.