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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: Hi team,

Several years ago, I started moving money to the U.S. side for greater growth opportunities. I am now at 80% U.S. and with the weak Canadian dollar outlook, I won’t be going back soon. So, I appreciate your advice on the U.S. side, which I find to be very insightful, even though it is not your primary focus area.

To offset my tech risks, I like big cap and/or Dow stocks. DIS intrigues me for their many growth arms. I was not following closely all the wheeling and dealing among DIS, Comcast and others last year for Fox and other companies. DIS bought FOX and/or its entertainment assets and the deal closes early Wednesday morning. DIS was the worst Dow performer today (aside from BA). Did DIS overpay for FOX or is this just arbitrage on the stock before deal closes? DIS has a ton of content already so what does Fox add? I believe DIS now gets a bigger share of Hulu. Will Hulu become their primary streaming service or is something else planned by DIS to compete with NFLX?

I am just trying to better understand the outlook for DIS once the FOX deal closes.
Thanks for the insight.

Dave
Read Answer Asked by Dave on March 19, 2019
Q: Do you know of an ETF that mimics the S&P/TSX Venture (CDNX) Composite Index?
Read Answer Asked by Edgar on March 19, 2019
Q: What is your detailed opinion of Maxar "surviving". I have a massive position that is under water to over 100k. There is at least 10 USA law firms initiating class actions. I do not see any listed in Canada? Is their a Canadian firm representing shareholders? Should I participate in this, since the USA law firms advise on participation status as 100k. My book value is around $50.00 per share. I know the company will never see this price. However, my focus is on their ability to survive and muster up some kind of low $20-$30s pricing on their assets. Or, accept defeat, and try to recoup through class action, or sell. How valid is the class action? The cost of defending against 10+ suits must be intense, and will not go away. If you can peer down into this well of doom, please provide some comments. Thank you
Read Answer Asked by william on March 19, 2019
Q: Could I get your thoughts on how HHL might behave in a recession. I understand Healthcare as a sector would be a Defensive sector however I also understand 5i is not to crazy about the cover call aspect, believing it would not protect again the down side. So how would HHL behave? Would the price fall greater than the average defensive share price, or would investors still consider it a defensive play and hold steady the price. Or would the cover call aspect cease to work and the dividends reduce? If it's more an impact on the dividends, is there a way of telling how much the
cover calling is adding to the dividends and therefore what dividends could be expected in times of a recession. Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Phil on March 19, 2019
Q: I am currently considering the purchase of the ZDH ETF for a non-registered account. I would appreciate your advice about the tax implications, especially given that this ETF has a high yield and is invested primarily in European and Asian equities.

Where can I find out how different ETFs compare for tax in Canada? The Morningstar site offers a "tax analysis" section, but it does not make sense to me. For example, using the site's "since inception" returns, the ratio of "tax-adjusted return" to "pre-tax" return for XIC (Canada) is 86%, and for DGRO (US) is 94%. This would seem to imply that a Canadian investor would pay less in taxes buying a US ETF than a Canadian ETF. The same ratio for ZDH is 76%.

I would like to understand (1) is there a better site other than Morningstar, where I can find out the tax implications of buying ETFs which hold foreign equities; and (2) how much of an impact do the taxes have on the investment returns when one buys ETFs with foreign equities (i.e. if the pretax return for a foreign ETF is 8%, what return would I need from a Canadian ETF to keep the same after-tax amount?).

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Dale on March 18, 2019
Q: Dear 5i..I am still struggling with the fixed income portion of my portfolio and I am ok with a low but stable, steady income stream (age 68) but I don't wish to see erosion of my capital..my question is-over a period of 15 to 20 years(or longer) as I begin the deaccumulation process do you see any significant difference between bonds and laddered GIC's knowing in fact that both options are yielding peanuts. I would appreciate your comments and alternate strategy...regards. gary
Read Answer Asked by Gary on March 18, 2019
Q: Hey there guys. Wondering about appropriate allocation for my rrsp for longterm holdings (using etfs). Focused on low cost, and good diversification, geographically especially. Keeping in mind my tfsa will be almost exclusively Canadian stocks and ETFs. So for the rrsp 50% VTI, 40% SPDW, 10% HXT. I know spdw holds a bit of Canada too. Thanks for your amazing work, it is very much appreciated,
Jer in Ottawa
Read Answer Asked by Jeremy on March 18, 2019