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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: I'm looking to deploy some funds outside of North America, for perspective my portfolio consists of mostly small, growth companies, I can handle very high volatility, and spend time daily managing my holdings and size positions. Have a couple of etf's that would fit my style?
Read Answer Asked by Charles on December 01, 2025
Q: I have held the Mawer Small Cap Global fund for several years. performance hasn't been too good in my mind. I am just about flat since original investment. How does this compare to other similar funds? Can you suggest other choices that may be a better choice?
Read Answer Asked by Mike on October 17, 2025
Q: In a question by Savalai, 5i indicated that VBK would be a good international small cap growth ETF. After looking into this, it looks like this is primarily US.
Is there another ETF you would recommend for international small cap growth?
Read Answer Asked by Mike on July 19, 2024
Q: Could I get a list of the best Small Cap ETF's to buy for Canada, USA & International?

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Ross on May 21, 2024
Q: If one already has a 10% weighting in ITOT would an additional position in a small cap fund be warranted? Which ETF is preferred for small cap exposure and why - IJR or IWM? It appears IJR has outperformed on all timelines. Is this due to its more concentrated approach? Is there a global small cap etf that is recommended?
Read Answer Asked by Matthew on June 02, 2023
Q: Hello, what Canadian ETFs would you recommend for US or global smallcaps? I would prefer ETFs with daily volumes higher than 10k per day. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Martin on May 18, 2023
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
Read Answer Asked by Tamara on January 24, 2023
Q: This fund which was a great fund years ago will shortly be converted into a lower MER fund which I appreciate. However, this got me to look closer at recent performance which I don't think has been very good. I am considering switching it to something else. Can you recommend an ETF or another fund that would be a good replacement. We don't have a lot of foreign exposure other than this fund and a Mawer fund (MAW102) but we are otherwise very diversified in individual stocks.
Read Answer Asked by Earl on March 30, 2022
Q: I want to invest in a global small cap etf/mutual fund , is the Mawer global small cap a good choice . Any other alternative.
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Alain on October 01, 2020
Q: Hi Everyone at 5i! I hold some Mawer150, and was wondering what you thought of it and if there was a comparable holding in an ETF format? Cheers, Tamara
Read Answer Asked by Tamara on August 25, 2020
Q: You previously suggested that IWO-- which is an ETF that holds small-cap U.S. securities with a "growth" tilt-- would be suitable to hold within an RSP. What about a portfolio that also holds VSS, which is the Vanguard FTSE All World Ex-US Small-Cap ETF-- would this also be suitable to hold within an RSP? or is there a similar type of ETF (ex-US small-cap) that is more suitable to hold within an RSP? (The goal here is to hold two complementary small-cap ETFs that trade in U.S. dollars within an RSP, one that focuses on U.S. stocks, the other on non-U.S. international small-cap companies.)

Ted
Read Answer Asked by Ted on February 03, 2020
Q: Hi 5i,
Happy New Year.
In the original asset allocator there was a suggested portfolio in ETFs. Mine has vanished! I was trying to look up possible ETFs in European or International small caps.
Are there any? Or would GIB, WSP,Altus or CAE count as international as well as Canadian?
Constance
Read Answer Asked by Constance on January 09, 2020
Q: Hi 5i team,
Please provide your top picks for ETFs that cover International (ex N American) stocks with dividend appreciation tilt. Please also provide your ETF picks for International small/mid cap value stocks.
Thanks.


Read Answer Asked by Willie on January 08, 2020
Q: Hi, In order to increase my international exposure, I am considering VIU. But I was wondering if there are any equivalent of IWO for international exposure (i.e. a more aggressive small/midcap international exposure), a low cost mutual fund may be an option as well. Thanks.

Regards,

Shyam
Read Answer Asked by Shyam on April 02, 2019
Q: Hi there,

I currently have a blend of your Balanced and Growth portfolio - mostly switching out the large, higher yielding names with small to mid cap growth names (which were suggested to me by your team in an earlier question). It has performed well in 2017 and I am happy with the results - however, my entire portfolio is TSX based. I am looking for diversification but don't want to sacrifice the growth tilt, which sometimes ETFs tend to lead to. Based on my existing holdings, which ETFs would you recommend that would be more growth tilted and add a broader global exposure? Also, what weighting would you consider making these holdings?

Thanks for your great service!
Read Answer Asked by Michael on January 22, 2018
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