Investment Q&A

Q: Hello 5i,
I am a value invester with a mix of equities and ETF's. I have done well with VGT and am up $8,000. As I look for dividends I am looking to sell VGT and buy ZWT. Also exchanging XHYy for ZWH, XTR for ZWC and VE for ZWE. Some are underwater but not by much. $75,000 is involved altogether with these exchanges. Do these changes make sense or should I just leave things as they are. The difference in dividends is nice to have (an extra $300 or more a month) but not really needed.
Stanley

Q: Hello 5i Team,

A similar question has likely been asked before.

For tax-loss selling purposes in a non-registered account, are QQQ and any other ETF that tracks the NASDAQ 100 index (eg. QQQM) considered different ETFs?

Thanks!

Q: Hi,

I'm looking for an average beta US ETF with some growth, to hold forever.
VOO has a beta 1. Over five years its done 17.86 % annually
IUSG has a beta 1.1 Over five years, its returned 23.4% annually
VGT .has a beta of .9 over five years, 31.46% annually.
So both IUSG and VGT have lower beta and higher returns than VOO?? And both VGT and IUSG have done much better in the recent tech selloff? Seems hard to believe? While past performance is no guarantee, the numbers suggest I should choose VGT. What do you think?

Q: I am a 49 year old Canadian with $50,000 Cdn in TFSA and $25,000 in RRSP. I would like some names to build a portfolio. High growth. Risk tolerance high. How much cash should I hold for dip buying. Right now I am overweight TSLA. It seems to me MSFT is a very good stock and I like its outlook and steady growth. A trusted friend recommends TSLA. Please suggest other names including ETFs. Could you rank the names with percentage allotments? 15 year outlook.

Q: Hi. Our19 year old granddaughter has received a small 5k inheritance. We would like to start her on her way to portfolio construction. Please advise your best suggestions.
Have thought of VGT or some combination of stocks at present lows. Thanks

Q: Good morning Gentlemen,
Which 1 to 3 Active or Index US ETF (to buy), you will replace ARKK if you sell it. ?
Thanks
Best Regards

Q: FTEC now makes up almost 12% of my portfolio and wondering if you would recommend trimming a bit and investing in an ETF like ARKK? I also hold ZSP which is about 10% of my portfolio now and maybe there is a bit of overlap between the two ETFs? Looking for growth in my RRSP, 10+ years and I don't need any dividends.

Do you think there is still some upside left to an industrial ETF like VIS? And do you have any other sector ETF recommendations that will complement FTEC and ZSP?

Thanks in advance. Please deduct credits as required.
KD

Q: I have the time and interest to invest in individual stocks and have benefited greatly from your advice, My 28 year old son is looking to me for investment advice and I was hoping that you could help me. He is young with a long investment horizon so he is not interested in any bond or fixed income components and is comfortable with a portfolio holding a diversified mix of 100% stocks in various geographies. He wants to control his own portfolio but does not have the time to research and stay on top of individual stocks and is leaning towards an ETF portfolio. I am not well versed in this area and was hoping you could provide some guidance.

He is looking at XEQT and VEQT as possible one stop solutions. There are some minor differences between the two, but overall they appear very similar. XEQT has a MER of 0.2% and VEQT has a MER of 0.25%, VEQT holds more stocks than XEQT and XEQT is weighted a bit more towards US stocks and a bit less towards CAD stocks compared to VEQT. Would you recommend one over the other, or hold both?

Instead of buying one of these he is also considering holding a two (or more) ETF portfolio using VCN and XAW ETFs. VCN tracks the Canadian market, XAW tracks the global market excluding Canada. A portfolio of 25% VCN and 75% XAW would replicate XEQT/VEQT very closely, but would have a weighted average MER of about .18%. The trade off is that this one would need to be rebalanced, whereas with XEQT/VEQT all rebalancing is done automatically. Would a 25%VCN/75% XAW be preferable to XEQT/VEQT?

If it was you at 28, would you do either of the above or would you prefer a portfolio of other ETFs and if so, what would those be?

Many thanks

Scott

Q: I am 80 and stopped investing in companies Investorline..
Not to loose out to inflation I put all my RIF USD into the 3 indexes IYY/VOO/VGT. Feb 1 to todate I made in CAD 9.9% Is that a reasonable way to invest with little effort and no trading fees no exchanges. Pls advise

Q: What technology stocks or ETF would you suggest for a TFSA? It can be either Canadian or USA.
Thank you.

Q: Hi,

keeping in view the US Withholding tax on canadian investors.

If one has to hold US S&P 500, US mediam &small cap, US IT/technology ETF in canada.

Then which ETF would be be the best for a TFSA and cash account. ( I believe in a RRSP it does not matter ).

I currently hold SPY,VFV, IWO, VGT and QQQ in my TFSA and cash account. Do you think they are OK, or will you recommend some equivalent more efficient ETF's for exposure these sectors.

Keeping in view the difference between a TFSA and cash account, please suggest suitable ETF's for each, which would mirror SPY, VFV, VGT, IWO and QQQ.

Thanks
Harry

Q: What is the difference between
QQQ vs VGT
VFV vs VGRO

From a pure growth perspective, if you had to choose one from each groups, which would you choose.

Q: I had a portfolio review many years ago when you did them individually, personally by human! At the time your suggestions were right on and cleaned up my ETF's. Now I have over ten and according to your metrics it should not be so. Given those above, is there anything that is not required? I am up 25%- 150% on all of them. I am happy with all of them. I have a balanced portfolio in all 11 sectors with 44 stocks all doing quite nicely thank you. Following the income portfolio with some of my own additions from 15 years ago. I do not see any major conflicts.I am s a buy and hold dividend investor with some growth ( lightspeed, Leon's).
Thank you for your million dollar service!
Stanley

Q: Good morning,

Could you please suggest a couple ideas for tech and health care exposure within a TFSA. I hear there are advantages/disadvantages of different type of ETFs.
Thanks

Q: As a follow-up to my question last week on interest rates up/down, please also advise which funds/ETFs perform best when interest rates move in either direction.

Thanks again.

Q: Hi team,
Being overweight in the tech sector, which ETFs of my present portfolio (above) would you suggest to drop either because they are too similar or not representing strong growth ?
Which of these ETF you would consider « Buy and forget » type ?
In addition, I hold the following tech stocks: TOI-T, CRWD-Q, NVDA-Q, TTD-Q, LSPD-T, ENPH-Q, QCOM-Q, SHOP-T, APPS-Q, SEDG-Q. As I need to raise cash, is it better to sell ETFs or individual stocks and which ones ?
Please use credits as you see fit.
Grateful for your attention,

Jacques IDS

Q: I have a target allocation of 40-45% for total portfolio US exposure. Which ETFs would you suggest (either currency) to form the core of this allocation? Could you also please provide a handful of individual US picks to supplement. Aiming for long term growth with 20+ yr time horizon. Thanks!

Q: Seems bewildering to choose among so many types of Tech stocks. Looking for 3 names...would CRM, ADBE or any others you would suggest be worthy at today’s values or should I just run to the SMH ETF? Help and thanks!

Q: Am replenishing my wife's empty TFSA with CAD.76,000 from home loan 2.95% p/a variable.
My Strategy: I believe in VGT or IYY held over many years, last 2 years MV42% +/- per 2years don't count on repeat..
Drawback : need to convert into USD plus risk currency fluctuations +/- over many years
Question: have a soft spot for ZUT as no exchange costs.
your critical reply/
Art

Q: Going through the ETF section but can’t find which etf would be invested in square, PayPal and the fang stocks. Can you direct me to a few to research.