Investment Q&A

Q: What are your thoughts on diversifying your portfolio with ex-USA international ETFs? Are there any European or developing markets focused ETFs that you would recommend or consider including in a portfolio?

Q: I am looking to put my money into 2-5 stocks/Mutual funds.
Investment Horizon is 10 Yrs, i am a high risk taker, looking for High growth.
But, I am not very active in the stockmarket, I want to put my money in 2-5 holdings and then forget about it..... and then sell them after 10-15 years.

Please suggest 2-5 stocks/Mutualfunds etc...
I friend suggested BAM, BRK.B and Mauer Mutual funds.....Please advice

Q: Happy holidays to Peter and Ryan and the team!

In addition to the BE portfolio, I'm trying to ensure we have good international exposure. To cover that need, we so far have positions in OUSA, ZWE, and ZZZD (was really just parking cash here to get some yield without too much risk so happy to move out of this). I am thinking that exposure to the big internet names might be a good idea and was looking at OGIG. Of course, I worry adding this now will be buying the top. Any thoughts on the sector and the ETF? Any other thoughts for better international exposure?

Q: ETFs
Can you suggest your top 1-2-3 ETFs traded on the TSX for Canadian, USA and International markets that should perform well (after fees) over the next 1-2 years and have good trade volumes? Also, would this be a good time to purchase hedge or unhedged ETFs?

Q: Hi,
I wanted to increase international equity exposure by adding ETFs. I currently own VWO (about 3%). What is your view on VIGI and VEU? Could you suggest 2-3 other names? Thanks,

Martin

Q: I need to increase my non-NA allocation. Could you suggest your favorite etf's to serve this purpose? What % would you assign to developed and emerging markets? Would prefer Cdn. dollar, non-hedged products. Thanks Ron

Q: Which currently available Canadian EFT/s with would you recommend for purchase to increase international companies content in a portfolio?
Thank you,
Miroslaw

Q: Hi 5i - I recently sold the last of my mutual funds, Capital Group Global Balanced. Can you suggest alternative investments that provide similar total returns and provide international (non-US) exposure? Thanks.

Q: In your opinion, would now be the time to invest in VXUS? Or would you prefer sticking with the Canadian and U.S. markets?
Ed in Montreal

Q: If one were to invest in VXUS to cover off international equity exposure in a registered & TFSA portfolio; is it better (taxation purposes for eg) to place this in registered or tfsa?

Q: How would you rank these ETFs. Would you hold all three or is there to much overlap between them. If not these do have another suggestion for international exposure.
Thanks

Q: My Daughter and Son in law have some funds in savings and want to start investing, for a couple starting out with over 100k what percentage and what etfs would you suggest, when I started I was XIC 30% , XSP 40%, VEE 5% and XBB 25%. That was a long time ago and Im sure things have changed.

Q: Need income, Like to convert from equity to ETF's with a dividend of 5-7% for the next 10-12 years ...15 Etf's... 5Can.5 US and 5 International. or close to that. Cover call ETF's OK, Dividend Growth always good. Leaning towards income first.
Many thanks for your excellent service.
Cec

Q: Last year, I purchased ZDH in my mother's retirement account. She is close to 80. It has been a very poor performer, significantly underperforming the international indexes. Performance seemed to be reasonable prior to the market drop in the last few months. Morningstar now rates both ZDI (unhedged) and ZDH (hedged) as two stars, and it now falls to the 4th quartile for most time periods.

I would appreciate your views about ZDH. Would you continue to hold this ETF expecting that it will start to outperform the market, or would you sell it? Do you feel that it has dropped a lot since January due to its sector composition, and will bounce back? If you would sell it, what would you recommend? Dividends are not a priority, but looking for low to medium risk.

Thanks for your excellent advice.

Q: Good morning,

Roku has dropped from approx $140 back to $106. Would you be adding to your position (If light) at current levels or are there any changes in your long term thesis?

Yesterday you mentioned XWD as a good ETF option for international exposure but stated that it had 65 percent NA. Is there a good option for international equity with a value bent without NA companies?

Thanks for being a calming voice during volatility.

Q: Do you have one ETF or mutual fund pick for international coverage? If you were trying for international (non US and CDN) including Emerging, what would you do please? More than one is fine, but minimal please.

Q: International ETF overlap query. I have the first four above now (more or less equal amounts) constituting 9.72% of total portfolio. Considering adding some more international exposure for geographic and currency diversification objectives, i.e. either VXUS or VIGI but wondering about the overlap with current holdings or should I just increase current holdings. Generally attempting to increase sector holdings in USA (fdn, ihi, hack, fivg, ipay, vbk), under-represented in Canada and more international geographic exposure. All are/will be in CDN & USD non registered accounts. Views?Suggestions?

Q: Hi 5i
Thanks for your sage advice during this pandemic period, I have found it very helpful.
My portfolio is pretty well balanced with a good mix of primarily Canadian stocks ( 5i) plus Cdn & US ETF's. I would like to add some exposure to the global markets, can you suggest a couple of ETF's that I should consider - either Cdn or US...

Q: I would like your help putting together a yield portfolio of between 15 and 20 names.
This would be the entire investments for my wife and I. We are both retired and now live full-time in the U.S. And at some point I expect my Canadian newspaper pension to disappear, so I am looking to replace that money.
I would like your opinion of the above names with regard to safety of the income and overall diversification.
I would also appreciate some additional ideas and would like to know if I`m off base on any or all of these names.
I am currently only invested in CM, BNS and BMO and DIR.UN.
Please take 20 credits (or more).
Thank you in advance for your invaluable assistance.

Q: what would be your top few picks for an ETF to ad global and US exposure to a portfolio that is lacking that? interested more in tech, industrial, basic materials and consumer defence/cyclical but would be ok looking into any sector if you think they would be a better choice.
thanks