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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,

My portfolio is low in materials.
What would be your suggestions for individual stocks and/or an ETFs.
Long term hold
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Josette on April 21, 2026
Q: Can you share your top US ETF picks for each sector? Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Patricia on January 29, 2026
Q: Good evening,


1) I feel that the materials sector will do well in 2026, do you agree?

2) If yes, which of the above etf's do you think would do the best given market conditions, their holdings, etc?

Do you have any individual stocks you would recommend in the materials sector that you think would outperform the etf's?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.


Sheldon
Read Answer Asked by Sheldon on January 19, 2026
Q: Hi 5i, I am thinking of buying this ETF but I don’t mind buying six companies in the materials sector to get diversification and possibly a better dividend. Can you name 6 material companies that act like proxy with dividends in mind that are ex Canada.
Read Answer Asked by Mark on June 16, 2025
Q: With inflation in Canada edging up, and concerns that tarriffs are inflationary, is it a good time to move to shorter duration bonds? The counter is that if a recession hits interst rates may decrease. What is your take on the timing of all this, and how best to position a bond portfolio?
Read Answer Asked by Kel on March 20, 2025
Q: Based on today’s environment is NTR a sell? The materials sector is pretty diverse, are there two or three CDN companies that you would have a high degree of confidence would outperform just holding XMA for materials exposure? Or would you steer clear of Canada altogether, and if so, applying the same criteria suggest two or three U.S companies that could outperform XLB in the near term.
Read Answer Asked by Stephen R. on February 07, 2025
Q: Hello

I have been accumulating short term bonds ETFs and ladder ETFs. Now in a new cycle should one focus on accumulating long binds such as XLB. Also do you have a active bond
ETF name you recommend?

Thank you

Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Stephane on January 08, 2025
Q: Which sector ETFs would you recommend. Please give 1-2 for each sector and reasons why you would like them.

Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Federico on November 18, 2024
Q: What is you opinion on the expected performance of the materials sector for the next 3-5 years? What is your recommended portfolio allocation (as % of total) for materials? I am 58 years old with 7 years before retirement and have $2+ mln well diversified taxable portfolio mainly consisting of sector and market ETFs. Medium tolerance to risk. I am currently at 10% in materials, thinking about adding 1.5-2% by buying XLB. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Morena on June 26, 2024
Q: What would be your top ETF picks in the materials sector, either US or Canada?

Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Tony on March 05, 2024
Q: Hi Peter and 5iresearch
In my recent question about investing in basic materials I mentioned in my question XBM. In your response your comment was on XLB SPDR fund. Just want to be clear that you meant to recommend XLB SPDR fund and not XBM.

What do you think of XBM?
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Ahmed on March 05, 2024
Q: Could you pls provide ETFs for dividend and capital growth over the next 12 months for each of:
Communications Services, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Financial, Health Care, Industrials, Information Technology, Materials, Real Estate, and Utilities?
Read Answer Asked by Ron on June 19, 2023
Q: Apparently, there are 11 major sectors in the S&P (Global Industry Classification Standard). Could you please list one ETF to best represent EACH major sector of the S&P? For example, would IUIT best represent the entire Info Tech sector of the S&P? It seems the SPDR funds are much more specific than the 11 GICS sectors:
Information Technology
Health Care
Financials
Consumer Discretionary
Communication Services
Industrials
Consumer Staples
Energy
Utilities
Real Estate
Materials

Thank you very much.
Read Answer Asked by Toge on January 19, 2023
Q: Hi Peter,
Further to my question posted previously on investing in basic materials in ETFs, do you have any Canadian ETFs similar to XLB you would recommend?

Many Thanks,
Roger
Read Answer Asked by Roger on November 30, 2022
Q: Hi Peter,
I do not have any basic materials in my portfolio and have very little knowledge in this category. Do you recommend looking into having a few EFTs to cover this or dive directly into some stocks?

With whichever suggestion you have, would you please provide me a list of your perferred EFTs or companies to invest and rank them from your very best to best in terms of security (less voltility) and returns.

Many thanks,
Roger
Read Answer Asked by Roger on November 28, 2022
Q: Dear 5i team.
Given the current market backdrop, if one was to take 100K and build an ETF portfolio for min 10 year timeframe, which sectors would you be comfortable buying into before year end and which ETFs would you choose to accomplish this.

Thanks for your help.
Read Answer Asked by Arthur on November 18, 2022
Q: Hi,

What do you think of these 3 ETFS (XME,XLB, XLI) for the next 2 years and, hopefully much longer? I'm hoping for a 7% position.
Would you invest in any of them?
Is there another ETF you like better?
Read Answer Asked by Graeme on November 04, 2022
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