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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Hello 5i Team

I am reviewing global infrastructure / real asset closed end funds as a means to diversify into US/Global infrastructure companies. Two examples I could find on the Canadian Market are Brookfield Global Infrastructure Securities Income Fund (BGI.UN) and Middlefield Global Real Asset Fund (RA.UN).
Questions are:

1 - Which is the better choice BGI.UN or RA.UN?
2 - Any Canadian or US listed ETFs that I should be looking at?
3 - Any other Canadian Closed End Funds I should be looking at?
4 - Any US listed Closed End Funds I should be looking at?
5 - What is a reasonable MER for these products (BGI.UN is 1.25 % and RA.UN is 1.10 %)?
6 - What is the minimum assets under management (AUM) I should be looking at ( BGI.UN is +/- $102M and RA.UN is +/- $100M)?
7 - Any other items to review?
Thanks


Read Answer Asked by Stephen on June 05, 2020
Q: May I have your overview of the significance in terms of dividend security, market risk and general health of the Big 5 Cdn. banks now that they have all finished reporting. Were there any issues that you saw as alarming, or even concerning in terms of the short term future -- say 1 year or so. Clearly, a lot depends upon the outcome of Covid, but assuming a vaccine by mid to late 2021, what is your take? Thanks, Don
Read Answer Asked by Donald on June 05, 2020
Q: Looking for some guidance on my International equity holdings. All of my Int’l holdings are in the above ETFs and are in my RRSP accounts. The Int’l portion represents 10% of my total investment portfolio. Generally I look for a balance between income and growth with dividends used to supplement my pension income. I have 9 years before I have to RIF.
I have only recently added ZEM for its emerging markets exposure and tax friendly structure. While the other holdings have provided good yield I have not been happy with the lack of growth even before the latest correction. I am generally comparing the lack of growth to the US market which may not be a fair comparison.
Could I have your opinion on my holdings and any suggestions for improvements and why. I am looking for good diversification across the world, ex North America, with a view to a balance between income and growth. Would like to keep my holdings in CAD.
Read Answer Asked by Bruce on June 05, 2020
Q: Hello 5i,
Just wondering your solid opinion on EDOG as opposed to some of the other DoD’s out there like IDOG and SDOG?
Cheers,
Rick
Read Answer Asked by Rick on June 05, 2020
Q: Hello 5i team. I am starting an investment accounts for my daughter who has started working. She & I are interested in, for her TFSA, co's such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and other tech consumer names. Is there a Cdn dollar ETF with distributions, that invests in this space. I am additionally considering ZWH & CDZ to round off as a starting base.
Read Answer Asked by Harry on June 05, 2020
Q: Looking for some guidance on my US equity holdings. All of my US holdings are in the above ETFs in my RRSP accounts. The US portion represents 21% of my total investment portfolio. Generally I look for a balance between income and growth with dividends used to supplement my pension income. I have 9 years before I have to RIF.
I had held VGG and VUN until recently when, based on one of your answers to another persons question, I switched to ZSP as it has a slightly better return, lower MER and higher Tech weighting. Also more friendly tax structure. I also picked up ZUP at that time for more yield but might be ready to sacrifice that holding for one with more growth or simply add it to the other holdings to keep it simple.
Could I have your opinion on my holdings and any suggestions for improvements and why. I am looking for good overall diversification across the US market with a view to a balance between income and growth. Would like to keep my holdings in CAD.
Read Answer Asked by Bruce on June 04, 2020