Investment Q&A

Q: Don't have any bonds, just plain cash.
Interested in US corporate investment grade bond ETF.
Can you recommend one and would it be a good move at this point?
Thanks
jerry

Q: Hi 5i Team,

I have held a balanced Canadian Couch Potato Portfolio with the above etfs in my son's RESP which i started when he was born in 2009. The portfolio has done pretty well (in my books at least) at 8% annual return. I am now looking at a 6 year time horizon for when he will need to begin to draw from the RESP. I am thinking of starting to rotate toward more conservative holdings as the timeline for needing the funds draws closer. Under "normal" circumstances from what i have learned this would mean moving more into bonds at this point but I am having trouble believing this is appropriate in the current market. With interest rates and inflation both rising i am wondering if low debt dividend stocks might be a better bet to hold onto purchasing power in this time frame? Maybe something something like CDZ vs XBB? I know you can not suggest specific portfolio recommendations but looking for suggestions/best bets for maintaining value and keeping up with inflation over this time frame.

Thanks,

Q: I have about half of my balanced income portfolio in equities and the remainder in cash. Although my stocks are balanced, I still hold no fixed income investments. I like the sleep at night cash but feel it is too big of a chunk to just let sit in cash., Can you please suggest an approach to fixed income and recommend a few possibilities to consider. As always, thanks for your help

Q: Hi 5i team,

As many do, I currently hold part of my portfolio in fixed income (bond etfs). I am wondering if you can recommend any fixed income or "fixed income like" investments that might hold up best in the current rising rate environment that seems to have a long way to run. I had held ZAG but have switched to VSB with rates rising. Currently even cash is doing better than these however. Thanks!

Q: What is your view on QYLD as a place to stash cash in the current market? Looking at the chart, although its unit value has dropped since inception, it seems to have held its value on a total return basis - would you agree? Any better recommendation?

Q: I’m interested in a US bond fund that pays some dividends.

Vanguard has some funds, VFIDX & VICSX that pay 2%+ and appear to suit the bill.

Have you any recommendations in this area?
Is there any reason to stay out of this sector?
What do you forecast the near future, say 3-5 years, to be in US bond funds valuations?

Q: I am trying to understand bond diversification better. I have a long term portfolio of mostly equity exposures and some XBB. Do you generally recommend further diversifying bond holdings? Eg to an inflation protected fund or more global exposure or specific maturity profile (eg shorter maturities)? If so could you recommend ETFs for diversification purposes?

I don’t want to over complicate things but also want diversification to different market scenarios in the spirit of an « all weather » portfolio. In particular real return bonds seem useful for this compared to XBB. I would be grateful for your thoughts. Thank you very much.

Q: I previously asked about this holding - ZTL, erroneously typing XTL.
Please comment on this ETF. Is it a hedge to market declines or does it have its own set of issue/risks right now?

Q: Can you give me your top 2-3 ETFs for floating rate versions both CAD and US?

Many thanks.

Q: What ETFs would you recommendations for US dollar floating rate or very short term bond exposure?

Q: I need to add some bond ETFs to my portfolio. Could you give three US dollar and
three Canadian dollar funds that you prefer .

Q: What Canadian bond fund would you suggest if as the fed states they are not even thinking about raising rates for two years? What bond fund would you suggest when rates do start to increase? If I bought XBB , which bond fund would best act like a hedge to it? The idea is to collect a small yield and preserve capital.

Q: Hi there,
I see I have quite a backlog of question credits so, I thought I should put some of that to work. I have a general question about rate reset bonds. I have been thinking about reset bonds in etf form if there is such a thing. This would be for using new money to start a small quarter of a position over the coming year. I am closing in on retirement within the next few years and would be interested in hearing your thoughts when compared to preferred shares or laddered bonds. Maybe resets are similar to taking a laddered bond etf - but I am not sure of the merits given the paltry income for bonds. My concern is this market cannot keep up this parabolic growth much longer and the market appears to be pretty frothy right now. As a survivor of the tech wreck, I am worried about what I see as a significant correction (up to 20%) within the next 24 months or so. I am not afraid of risk but I do want to explore a variety of hedging options out there without exiting some of my growth stock positions. Cake and eat it too I expect. I still have about 6 or 7 years in the market. Thanks as always for your thoughts.

Q: What are the best bond etfs to own in Canada and US in your opinion? Please provide several options in both countries. Thank You.

Q: Hi,
I'm trying to create a well balanced bond fund for that portion of my portfolio and have come up with this: HFR-T, CBO-T, CLF-T, TLT, XBB-T, CVD-T, SHY, FLOT, IVOL, BNDX, VSG-T
I guess I should have something that will generate monthly income as well? If I am overdoing this, please let me know...it seems like a lot of holdings. Is there a better way? A mutual fund?
Thanks.

Q: hi there,

I have used FLOT to park US cash historically but i have been looking at SLQD in the US as it looks like it has outperformed FLOT and has a higher yield. Can you comment on the differences. Is there any reason i would not switch to SLQD (BTW this ticker does not come up in your drop down)

Q: Looking to increase my fixed income exposure. Currently hold CBO, XBB, and CPD (preferreds). Thinking of adding XHY in addition to these, would you recommend additional ETF's in this space to help diversify?

Q: I am re-balancing our portfolio and find I am sitting on 30K cash which balances out my cash/fixed income portion of my portfolio. My question is what 3 or 4 fixed income or bond ETFs would you suggest I entertain dropping my cash into ?

Thanks,
John

Q: Good morning 5i,
I am looking for advice on US dollar fixed income possibilities in this particular economic climate. I have some of the two mentionned and wondering whether I should continue holding them? also, what would be a good buy at the moment?
thanks

Q: As suggested in Portfolio Analytics I need to add Fixed Income to family portfolio. It suggested ZAG or XBB; Defensive CBO or FLOT, Aggressive CPD or ZPR. Which of the three would you suggest to invest in? Also researching them they refer to Dividend Yield. Is it actually dividend yield or interest income? The reason I am asking should the fixed income be in RRSP (I know it is preferable for US$) or would a non-registered corporation account be fine also?
Heather