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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: hi,
according to portfolio tracking and analysis, I am short on basic materials, consumer cyclical, health care, industrials. im also quite short US and international equities. I prefer equities with dividends that are growing, and has some capital appreciation/growth as well. with this in mind, can you provide your top few picks in each sector please. much appreciated. chris
Read Answer Asked by chris on October 26, 2023
Q: Just did a revue of my PORTFOLIO ANALYTICS and have a couple of questions as follows:
Under Fixed Income Defensive I have CBO, VGG & ZDI in my TFSA. Are these okay here or can be added to or any deleted?
Under International Allocations I have VXC, XAW, XEF, VEU & XWD in the TFSA. Are these okay as they are or shoud I be considering some changes?
Best wishes for the New Year and thanks for your great service!
Read Answer Asked by Terry on January 11, 2022
Q: Hi 5i,
I believe in diversification with a dividend bent. That said, I have Canada covered and thank you! The USA is mostly covered as I have bought large cap. div. companies and about to buy DES to cover the smaller cap. companies, does that make sense or is there a better way? Also the rest of the world is currently covered with VXUS, what else can be bought to cover equities in the rest of the world, if needed.
Many Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Mark on September 08, 2021
Q: What are your thoughts on diversifying your portfolio with ex-USA international ETFs? Are there any European or developing markets focused ETFs that you would recommend or consider including in a portfolio?
Read Answer Asked by Patrick on February 16, 2021
Q: Hi,
I wanted to increase international equity exposure by adding ETFs. I currently own VWO (about 3%). What is your view on VIGI and VEU? Could you suggest 2-3 other names? Thanks,

Martin
Read Answer Asked by Martin on October 19, 2020
Q: Hi 5i - I recently sold the last of my mutual funds, Capital Group Global Balanced. Can you suggest alternative investments that provide similar total returns and provide international (non-US) exposure? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Martha on August 11, 2020
Q: Good morning,

Roku has dropped from approx $140 back to $106. Would you be adding to your position (If light) at current levels or are there any changes in your long term thesis?

Yesterday you mentioned XWD as a good ETF option for international exposure but stated that it had 65 percent NA. Is there a good option for international equity with a value bent without NA companies?

Thanks for being a calming voice during volatility.
Read Answer Asked by Brian on May 29, 2020
Q: Hi 5i team, firstly thanks for all the work you do, I’m a new member and am really enjoying the content.

A family member in her early 30’s would like to start investing with a long term time horizon (25-30 years). She has some risk tolerance and is seeking a passive set it and forget it ETF index type of investment strategy. She would make regular contributions and benefit over the long run from dollar cost averaging. Currently she does not have interest in picking individual equities or monitoring market conditions. She has a stable government job that provides a good pension plan and is starting with $10,000 capital.

What are your thoughts on a portfolio starting with the following ETFs; VOO, XIC, VEU, with a weighting of 50% VOO, 40% XIC and 10% VEU for some international exposure? Are there any other ETF’s you would recommend she start with? Do you think the EFTs mentioned provide enough diversity as a starting point? I like the above mentioned ETF's for their low fees and broad exposure.

My thoughts are being that she has many years of investing ahead that ETFs with 100% exposure to equities would provide greater growth potential when compared to ETFs containing a mix of bonds and equities. And that her stable government employer matched pension could be viewed as a bond proxy.

Thanks again for all the great info!
Read Answer Asked by Dylan on April 27, 2020
Q: Hello 5i,
Interesting times. Thank you for the backup.

I am trying to help my sister rebalance her portfolio and to get it retirement ready. She does not want to watch the portfolio but is open to rebalancing a couple of times a year. She is in the 40:60 to 50:50 bond:equity range for comfort (although this market is a great test about that assertion). She will live 3 - 4 months in the us during retirement.

I’ve been playing with the above mentioned etfs, keeping in mind that USD are already held (25% of portfolio), to find the proper mix of etfs to get to a 40:60 mix of bond to equity, with an equity exposure 25:50:25 Canada, US, International.

Please feel free to suggest other etfs as necessary if the above are not appropriate. Can you suggest an appropriate etf composition/ collection to satisfy the above criteria?

Tia
Read Answer Asked by Kat on April 01, 2020
Q: Hello, I am looking to add to my international holdings and was hoping you can recommend an etf similar to xtr. I already have enough exposure to North America so I am trying to find a diversified etf (50/50 equities and fixed inc.) with a decent yield that does not include the U.S. or Canada. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Adam on June 12, 2019
Q: Hi team,

My foreign exposure is held in VTI 14% of my portfolio, VEU 9% ( these two are my largest holdings) and SPOT 3.75%. Everything else is held in canadian stocks and etf's.

Since VEU also holds some canadian would you still hold this or look for one that doesn't have any cnd holdinds?

Second, is there one etf that does the same job has VIT and VEU combined?

Tks,
Rino
Read Answer Asked by Rino on January 29, 2019