Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Everyone at 5i!!
I own Maw global small cap and have rode it up and down. I am given to understand that it is a good fund but the MER is high. Is there an ETF of a similar nature that I could reinvest my money in??

Cheers,
Tamara

Q: If you owned Dynamic American 041 would you be inclined to replace it with the ETF equivalent… We understand that Mr Fingold manages an ETF but can’t find an exact proxy …
What do you think of DXF or
DXG

Q: Hello, can you evaluate the new Mawer Us Mid Cap Equity Fund. There is a write up on it in morningstar. It is run by the same manager as the New Canada Fund, which is closed.

Q: This is a list of the ETF's in my portfolio, (I have omitted the fixed income ETF's that comprise of about 20%).

Do you see any issues with the selection? Any overlap? Perhaps there are better alternatives than the ones chosen.

Thanks for the great service.

Q: Greetings once again and my continued thanks for your steady hand. Can you please suggest an array of balanced fund or high grade dividend fund etfs which can give me exposure to Canada, USA and the rest of the world, in roughly equal portions. KIndest regards, Al

Q: Good afternoon, I understand this is an active, concentrated ETF. The past performance looks good and it looks like the fund managed through the March 2020 downturn quite well. David Fingold from Dynamic is the portfolio manager. I've seen him numerous times on BNN and he seems insightful and level headed. I was wondering if you had any perspectives or insights on him as a portfolio manager as well as the mandate of the fund itself. I am thinking of making this ETF a core part of my portfolio (about 33% weighting). Thank you!

Q: I am interested in adding more international exposure. Over time, in a haphazard fashion I developed portfolio weights of 4% in ZEM, 2.5% in MAW150; and 1.5% in DXG. To my untrained eye they offer diversity, for growth & stability, to different markets, etc What is your view of these 3 holdings? Would you add to each? Delete any? Due to political risks from trade tensions etc, I am inclined to avoid too much of an exposure to China. Thank you for your excellent service.

Q: Hello,
Can you recommend high or dividend oriented etfs that fall under the following category:
1) From at least more than one ETF company
2) Focuses on dividend payers and moderate growth
3) Covers CDN,US and the rest of the world (not necessarily in one ETF)

I like to pick and chose and change as needed. Not a huge fan of asset allocation ETFs at this point.

Q: Hi, I currently have a BMO monthly income Mutual fund. I wish to replace it with an etf to reduce the fees. I am looking for an etf that pays monthly income, has the potential for some growth and a low mer. You have been a proponent of XTR before but would like to see if there are any others you think might be worth while. Maybe zmi. If you can suggest a canadian etf and an international etf that has some good diversification in different sectors.
Thanks

Q: Hi Guys,

I would like to add one more eft to my balance (75%) and growth (25%) portfolio, what would be your top North American pick for a 3 to 5 year hold? I already hold Arkk 3%, Dxg 7%, Arkg 2% and Tan 3.5%. Or should I just add to one of the ones already inside my portfolio.

thanks
Jim

Q: Hi,

I'm looking for an ETF that holds a small number of high quality Canadian stocks - say about 25 holdings. A yield similar to XIC or XIU would be nice but not critical.

HBF and DXG are a couple of ETF examples that I use for US and international companies. So something similar to these but holding Canadian companies. I don't mind paying a slightly higher MER for a somewhat more active portfolio management style.

Thanks,

Gord

Q: I already hold DXG right now. I want to buy one more ETF - which one would you suggest out of DXN, DXW OR DXZ ETF. So there is no overlap with the current DXG.

Thanks for the great service

Q: Can you please advise FGGE & DXG ETF. Are these overlap. Is it ok to own both? If I want to buy one ETF only which one would you recommend.

Thanks for the great service

Q: What do you think of this as a global fund (ex. Canada) and are there better choices to consider?

Q: Having received the above funds shares from a bequest, I am contemplating on selling and replacing the above funds for ETF's which would be complimentary with diversification, possibly reducing fees and improve performance.

Garry

Q: First I have to say thank you! My RRIF and TFSA are certainly healthier due to info gained from 5i over the past couple of years.
My questions pertain to my Rif where I have recently inherited 2 mutual funds; Dynamic 1560 Strategic Yield Fund and Dynamic 031 Global Dividend Fund (mers 2.15-2.23%). The remainder of the Rif is comprised of Canadian stocks; old TSX 60 stalwarts and/or stocks from your income or balanced portfolios. The Dynamic funds each account for approximately 20% of the total Rif and around 13% of total investments.
Questions
1. Are there better ETFs/Funds you would suggest for exposure to US and global markets?
2. What is a reasonable weight for an individual ETF/fund within a portfolio?
3. What is a reasonable percent of one's portfolio to allocate to US markets? and to global markets?
TIA
(Good to see Peter on BNN yesterday.)

Q: In your answer to Ian re good ETFs focused on U S dividend stocks, you didn't mention DXU or DXG. Any reason?

Q: Hey guys,

We already own DXG, would you recommend any others instead of DXG for international exposure? Also, a full position on individual stocks is between 4 to 5% (hopefully letting them grow to 7 to 8%, ), what about etfs?
Thanks

Q: Hi 5i Team,
I do not have any international exposure and I am wondering if you would recommend a dividend ETF with some upside potential. What account would it be best held in? Do you think this is a good time to enter? Thanks so much.

Q: Hi 5i
Hope you can help me. I've managed my and my wife's registered and unregistered accounts for a number of years and I'm satisfied with the results. Those accounts primarily hold equities and I spend quite a bit of time overseeing them and tweaking as I think necessary.
I've now been put in the position of acting as trustee of funds for two minors. The time frames the two trusts will run are 7 and 9 years respectively and the principal amount of each is approx 75K. I want to invest the funds but I don't want to put them in individual equities and manage them as actively as I do our personal accounts. I would prefer to put them into ETF's that I can keep an eye on monthly or quarterly and not worry too much about tweaking.
Being optimistic by nature I'm hoping to arrange to get it all for these two trusts - capital appreciation, income, sensible degree of risk, Canadian, US and international exposure, favourable tax treatment, etc.
There are an awful lot of ETF's out there and I really don't know how best to evaluate them to shake out a reasonable number to look into further - especially considering how difficult it can be to identify individual holdings to effectively avoid overlap and provide diversification.
With all that in mind, could I ask you to list 5 (or so) equity based ETF's for each of CDA, the US and internationally that you think might accomplish the goals I've listed, so that I can then look into those ones further and make some decisions about where to put these funds I'm charged with managing.
Also, if you do have any general or specific advice that you think might be useful to me in the situation I've described, I would certainly appreciate your including it in your answer.
Thanks very much and please deduct credits as you feel appropriate.
Peter