Investment Q&A

Q: I have the above securities, as well as RBC Cdn Equity Inc, Sentry Cdn Inc, Sentry Global REIT, and fixed income via Fisgard Capital, Annuities, a company pension, CPP and soon-to-be OAS.

I really focus on asset allocation and am a little light on Consumer stocks, holding CGX, PBH and TCL (although some consider TCL to be in the Industrial sector). I am normally a buy-and-hold investor who trims-adds around core positions.

Question 1 = I am looking to add 1 more consumer stock and am looking for a dividend ideally > 3%. Based on my stock-ETF-MF mix, are there a few stocks you could suggest that would fit in my above set of securities.

Q2 = if I was to consider ideas from the Income Portfolio, is there an issue with having multiple food stocks....like PBH and A&W and NWC. Why have more than one food stock?

Q# = because A&W is a ".UN" company, how are their dividends treated for tax purposes? Are they eligible for the dividend tax credit?

Deduct as many credits as you deem appropriate....got loads and will never use them all up.

Thanks as always...Steve

Q: Hi 5I,
I am retired and living off my RIF. With the current volatility and market downturn, I am thinking of getting more defensive. My current holdings of ZWC, VVL, VUN and VEE are each about 8% of my RIF. I am thinking of switching ZWC for ZLB, switching VVL for VVO, switching VUN for VGG and switching VEE for VXC. What do you think of this strategy? Should I hold some and do nothing? Please explain your reasoning.
Thanks for your help and have a happy holiday season.
Dick

Q: Are these etf's better to be held in registered accounts for tax purposes. Since there will be ROC when sold, how difficult is it to calculate or are tax forms supplied with that info upon sale. I'd like yo add it to my non registered account to collect the nice dividends but worried about how to handle after a sale. Thanks

Q: Do you think recent pullback in ETF price is an opportunity for income investor? Thanks. Peter

Q: In reviewing ZWC distribution tax information for 2017, $.664 of the $1.12 distribution was deemed ROC with the remainder being eligible dividend. How is this possible? The ETF holds dividend paying companies. There is no operating business carried out that would have non cash items like depreciation that would constitute ROC. Gains realized on call writing would be capital gains. Where is this ROC coming from and is it cause for concern?

Q: I have the above securities as well as RBC Cdn Equity Inc-D shares, Sentry Cdn Income, Sentry Global REIT. I am a retired conservative dividend income investor with a company pension, CPP, annuities and Fisgard Capital for fixed income.

I currently own ECI and will sell and look for a Consumer stock to replace it (not interested in BIP...I have a full slate of Utilities). I filtered several candidates using fundamental metrics (P/E, beta, P/BV, P/CF, P/S) and technical metrics (200 dma, etc), as well as yield and price targets (for what they are worth).

I will keep my CGX and PBH. I'm looking for a long term hold (conservative, liquid stock with a good and growing dividend). My short list of candidates include CLIQ, CTC.a, PLC, TCL.A. I already flushed ADW.A, KBL, RSI and since I already have 1 food stock, I flushed L and NWC.

Please provide your insights into the appropriateness of these Consumer stocks (CLIQ, CTC.A, PLC, TCL.A) for my portfolio, given my circumstances and existing stock positions.

Are there other securities I should consider, even those that I have flushed?

Thanks for your help...Steve

Q: Hello,
How effectively can ZWC replace our ZWB and ZWU holdings?

Thanks for your efficient service and re assuring advice.
regards

Q: Currently which ETF's would you prefer purely for income? Thanks. Peter

Q: Hi,
Would you please rate: ZWU XUT ZWC (best first), for a 5 Years hold!
Thanks

Q: Hi 5i, In a previous Q/A you said "covered call ETFs can underperform in a bull market" can you please elaborate on this?.
Would you please rate: ZWU XUT ZWC (best first)
I own ZWU, but down 10%.
Thanks

Q: So if I'm seeking a 6% yield and wanted your one best pick for a safest both from an income as well as a capital preservation perspective ETF given current entry price which of these do I buy today why and is there another that you'd recommend instead - love - Ken

Q: Hi,

If you were pick for a long-term hold, RBC CANADIAN DIVIDEND FUND SERIES D or BMO CANADIAN HIGH DIVIDEND COVERED CALL ETF, which would you favour and why?

Thanks,

Craig

Q: Hi 5i:
For a first time investor with $25,000 to deploy and this is their only investments. What would your opinion be on the above etfs basically equally split between them. Time frame is long term and they would be in a TFSA.
Additional future investments would then be in individual stocks.
Thanks so much.

Q: I am a retired, conservative dividend-income investor with a company pension, CPP, annuities, Fisgard Capital and the following equities:
1. 17% Mutual funds (RBC Cdn Equity Income, Sentry Cdn Income, Sentry REIT)
2. 10% ETFs (ZLB, XIT, ZWE)
3. 41% stocks (listed above)
4. 32% fixed income (annuities, Fisgard, but not including my pension nor CPP).

I plan to reduce my Sentry Cdn Income holding from 9% to 5% and purchase ZWC. The benefits would be a) saving $1k in hidden MER fees, b) receiving an extra $1k in dividends and c) a better asset allocation. I like the covered call strategy that ZWC provides, as well as the 30 companies inside the ETF.

Question = is this the right ETF product? Are there other Canadian Covered Call ETF choices that offer this diversified asset mix that I should consider? Are their other ETFs that have slightly less financials, less utilities, and more industrials that would result in a better asset allocation for me?

Thanks for your help...Steve

Q: I am considering these two ETFs for my RRIF. Do you have a preference? I currently hold the following: SLF, BNS, TD, RY, AQN, BEP.UN, T, BCE, ALA, ENB and PPL. Thank you.

Q: Are covered call ETF's okay to put in a non registered account vs TFSA & RRSP from a tax perspective vs regular dividend etfs? Does this make things more complicated when filing?
Also what is the opinion of 5i regarding PDF?

Thank you!

Q: I am a fan of covered calls. I am retired and like the income, tax treatment and downside protection. In addition I like the diversity an ETF brings.
I hold all the above but am looking for more diversity. Are there equivalent US offerings? Does BMO have competing products that are more diverse?
Thanks

Q: I hold small weightings in cdz,zwc,zwh,zwe as well as holdings in Canadian utilities. I am thinking of replacing cdz with either zdh or cyh to increase my international holdings. Would you please look under the hood of zdh and cyh and would you recommend this move or do you have another recommendation?. Thanx. Great service.

Q: In order to avoid individual stock risk, my wife (retired) has asked my opinion on investing 30% of her total portfolio in 10% each of Canada, Europe, and the U.S. (The remaining 70% is composed of 5-year laddered GIC's) I have suggested the following... Canada would be broken down into ZWC and CDZ (on a 40/60 split), Europe would be broadly broken down into ZWE and XIN (40/60 split), and the U.S. would be broken down into ZWH and CUD (40/60 split). What do you think of this strategy? Would you recommend different ETF's to balance the covered calls for the three geographic areas? Thanks!

Q: What would be your suggestion for the percentage of allocation in a portfolio of various covered call ETFs ( eg ZWC, ZWU, ZWE, ZWH etc.) as an income source for a retiree? Joe