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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: Hello,
I am thinking about buying VGRO for my RRSP account and have a question about management fees. According to Vanguard Canada website the management fee for this fund is 0.22%. However, the only holdings for VGRO are seven other Vanguard ETFs... will I be paying these 0.22% on top of management fees for these seven ETFs or this number is a weighted average of management fees for holdings?
In other words, if I buy a Vanguard ETF that holds other ETFs, will I be paying just the management fee for main ETF or I will indirectly pay management fees for both main ETF and "nested" ETFs?
Read Answer Asked by Angie on January 09, 2019
Q: Hi 5i: You recently answered my second question on MEG Energy - specifically that it was trading at approximately 13% below the value of the Husky offer. It doesn't seem that this has changed much in recent weeks - and I don't think Husky has raised their bid. I don't want to own Husky, so based on documentation sent by RBC Direct, I have to chose between, (a) selling the shares in the next few days or, (b) a cash option that reads "To receive C$11.00 for each share of MEG Energy Corp tendered, subject to proration." [This option is for "Non-Electing Shareholders (Non U.S.) only. I am Canadian, residing in Canada, and I hold the MEG shares in my RRIF.] Could you advise which option I should select? I don't have the data to calculate the proration amount. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated. Roland T.
Read Answer Asked by Roland on January 09, 2019
Q: In today's (Tuesday) Globe and Mail, there was an article about "covered bonds". Could you explain to me how these differ from the mortgage backed securities that lead, in part, to the 2008 financial meltdown?
Read Answer Asked by richard on January 09, 2019
Q: Hello 5i,
Today Youssef asked about converting $CAD to $USD and getting the best rate. I would suggest that in his research he look into Norbert's Gambit. I have just used it for the first time with RBC's Direct Investing and one thing I discovered that DI is fully aware of the process and actually seems to condone if not encourage it. When I needed some help with some of the technicalities of doing it, they were extremely good about assisting me.
Once my trades have settled and I find the time, I will be going over the numbers to determine for myself just how beneficial the process was in terms of the actual rate I received.
In a nutshell, the theory is that you gain by not paying the spread that the banks charge on CAD - USD FX but lose your trading costs - which should be a pittance as compared to the spread.
It is my understanding that RBC's D.I. is one of the better platforms for executing Norbert's Gambit, but that is only surmise.
Perhaps Youssef or others might want to open up a "Norbert's Gambit" topic on the Forum for further insights from other members?
Hope this is of some help....
Cheers,
Mike
Read Answer Asked by Mike on January 09, 2019
Q: Good morning,
I'm 70 years old and with yet a new year upon us and a review of the holdings in my non reg equity portfolio, I'm concerned that my $650K non reg equity portfolio has slowly grown into a "hodge podge" of miscellaneous holdings that need to be trimmed, better concentrated (minimum 5% per holding) along with the addition of a few additional names in sectors that are not currently represented. My current holdings are as follows:
AQN (3.3%),BCE (11.6%)BAM.A(3.8%),CU (4.5%),DIV(2.8%),EMA (2.4%),KEY(2.2%),XIU(5.2%),XIC (33.2%),XDV(18.4%),SLF(3.6%),T(2.9%),T(2.9%),MAW120(3.1%)MAW102(3%).
I would very much appreciate your suggestions on how to best to adjust my current non reg equity portfolio to make it easier to manage and follow. I'm open to adding an appropriate mix of ETFs or Mawer equity funds as need be. My RRSP and TFSA are pretty much all populated with a mix of relatively low MER Mawer equity funds which have performed well over the years. I thank you in advance and look forward to hearing your sage advice and recommendations.
Francesco
Read Answer Asked by Francesco on January 09, 2019
Q: Good morning and HNY
My wife and I have several investment accounts ( two individual, one joint, one RIF, one RRSP, one LIRA, two TFSA). We recently retired and transferred from an advisor to self managing. My first question is how to allocate both sector and type of investment ( equity, prefs, bonds etc) given the different types of accounts. Should we look at the aggregates or each account individually. Second question. We have roughly 20% of our total worth in GIC’s, largely held in our RRSP/RIF/LIRA. Safe, for sure, but it seems we are just parking our money which is galling in retrospect as our advisor charged his normal fee for said parking. Are we better off with pref shares versus GIC’s. Our prefs have suffered recently with the interest rate increases and they are more “risky” than GIC’s, but having so much money parked is concerning. I would appreciate your suggestions. BTW, we have followed your service for the past year to gain confidence as has our neighbour.Thanks for providing an integrous platform.
Read Answer Asked by alex on January 09, 2019
Q: Have $20,000 I would like to allocation outside Canada. Already receiving an average of 6% dividend return on my C$ portfolio. Not really looking for additional income , what do you think of the above or is there other ETFs I should research.
I have a small position in VGG. Maybe etf holding Amazon, PayPal but not a pure internet such as FDN.
Read Answer Asked by Roy on January 09, 2019
Q: I am a 65 year retiree and I have app $22000. in a TFSA and I am looking at adding another $3000. Looking at an income portfolio. Can you make a suggestion as to how to balance my portfolio and add to my portfolio.
Read Answer Asked by Suzanne on January 09, 2019
Q: Hi there,
Can you please provide your top two picks for someone wanting US exposure in the following areas? Ideally something either oversold or poised to capitalize on circumstances in coming years.

Financial
General healthcare
Bio/pharma
Consumer discretionary
Technology (large cap)
Technology (mid cap)
Miscellaneous (whatever you want)

Goal is growth blended with safety over the next 5+ years
Take whatever credits you need please to justify a thorough answer with a brief comment on each suggestion.
Read Answer Asked by Tim on January 09, 2019
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