Investment Q&A

Q: My 28yr old son is looking to build a diversified ETF portfolio with 100% equity exposure with a bent towards growth given his long investment horizon.  These will be spread across his TFSA, RRSP and Non-Registered accounts.  Since he will be contributing smaller amounts on a regular basis a zero commission platform such as Wealthsimple is appealing.  However, they charge 1.5% fee for all currency conversions making it only practical to hold Canadian traded ETF's.  As a result he is considering the following:

ZSP 40%
XIC 25%
TEC 20%
VIU 10%
VEE 5%

ZSP + XIC + VIU + VEE together create a mix of ETFs that are globally diversified and very similar to the structure of XEQT/VEQT.  Versus XEQT/VEQT This portfolio has a slightly lower weighted-average MER at 0.16% and also has 20% in TEC (in place of something like QQQ) which is more growth oriented. Here are how the sectors would be weighted with this portfolio:

Info 31%
Financial 15%
Cons Disc 11%
Industrial 9%
Healthcare 8%
Communica 7%
Cons Staples 5%
Energy 5%
Materials 4%
Utilities 2%
Real Estate 2%

These would be the top 10 holdings with this portfolio and these top 10 would account for 24% of holdings in this portfolio:

AAPL5.1% MSFT4.9% AMZN3.2% GOOGL1.8% FB1.7% GOOG1.7% TSLA1.5% SHOP1.4% RY1.2% NVDA1.2%

If this was you at 28, can you please comment on
- are the 5 ETFs he has chosen ones you would go with given his objectives, if not, what changes/substitutes would you make along with recommended % allocations?
- is his % allocation across the 5 appropriate or would you make changes? For example I thought there might be too much overlap between ZSP and TEC as they are both highly invested in AAPL, MSFT, AMZ and FB and he is looking at 60% going into these 2 ETF's. That may well be what you want at his age but  I wonder if he is better served by reducing ZSP to 25% -30% and TEC to 15% and add  the remaining 15-20% to CDZ or VGG (or something else?)
- given he will be making contributions to his TFSA, RRSP and Non-registered, which ETF would be best in which account and why? 

Thanks for all your help, 
Scott

Q: Curious what your thoughts are on this Canadian hedged inflation protected TIP ETF? Would it be good for part of the fixed income part of a portfolio during rising interest rates?

On the shares website the distribution yield is listed as 7% but the real distribution rate is listed as minus 2%. What does this mean?

What are the risks of this type of investment? What is the downside?

Q: Hi 5i - I’m looking for ways to invest in the ever growing focus on ESG and carbon emissions. Are there any ways retail investors can access the space? KRBN is one idea I’ve found. Are there any investable companies who are focusing on creating carbon offsets?

Thank you!

Q: Further to my question.....based on your response, are you confident ROKU would still do well and (the 2nd part of original question) is this an opportunity to add/buy ?

Thank you !!

Q: Thoughts on CTS for a smaller tech play and which is of these two do you prefer in the crypto space?

Thnx for all your great advice for us DIY!
Dave

Q: CCS-u seemed to have had a correction mid-summer. I received your report on TCN-c and it looks extremely interesting. Am considering a purchase of one or both. Would you have a favourite or would you consider them equals from a point-of-view as investment opportunities? Is the U.S. housing market still booming?
Ed in Montreal

Q: Good morning team!

Would AAPL's new privacy policy affect ROKU as it has with SNAP? If so, how exactly would it be affected? If not, do you think this is an opportunity to buy/add?

Thank you!

Q: Growth Portfolio: As of Sept. 30, 6 stocks plus cash accounted for greater than 51% of the value in the portfolio. Excluding cash those same six stocks accounted for about 47% of the investments. There are 8 positions of less than 2%.

Is this a just case of a limited universe from which to pick or a reflection on the top positions having the greatest potential and the small positions are, for lack of a better word, fill?

Q: Good morning!

I hold a 1/2 position in Magna. I do believe in this stock longterm. With the shortages and things appearing to be priced in. Is it time to top up to a full position?

On a separate question what are your highest conviction growth pics in TECH for the 4Q.
Preferably US but can spribkle some Canadian names as well.

Thank you for the amazing input and service. It's been immeasurable.

Q: Hi Peter and staff,
Thanks for the great information that you guys provide.
These are the holdings in my wife's TFSA account. I have owned CNR since March of 2020 and have done quite well but I'm wondering if this stock has reached the top of the price range and it's time to move on. The average Price Target is $165. Do you think that CNR still has upside or can you name two stocks to replace it.

Thanks and have a great day
Joe

Q: With the current gong show at Rogers corporate board would you be inclined to hold on to a current position or sell? I currently hold Telus and BCE as well as Rogers.

Q: Why is Suncor trading at such a low price? Also would you rather Suncor or TC energy?

Q: I have a question about the dental health care space. I held onto Danaher for a few years, primarily for its dental holdings, but they were spun off into another company, Envista, in 2019. NVST has not performed as well as DHR since the spin-off, but its product lines are very well-regarded in the field (first-hand knowledge on this point). I believe that the products will maintain their popularity, but I would really like to hear your thoughts on the management of NVST, as well as how you feel the company as a whole will perform in the next few years.

I have been also considering starting a position in XRAY (again, first-hand knowledge of its product lines, which are very good), or pivoting towards distributors, such as HSIC and PDCO. As always, I appreciate your insight, and look forward to your response.

Q: Do you have any insights to share on the US housing market to explain how RDFN may do? We purchased RDFN about 6 months ago but are wondering if we did the right thing since we are down about 35%.

Many thanks for your views.

Q: What type of account is best suited for beginning a position in ECN?

Q: Hi 5i,
Back to PINS and PYPL again. Given SNAP’s lower earnings and Apple’s new privacy settings making it more difficult for advertisers on SNAP, would you expect PINS’ upcoming earnings to show a similar problem? If so, would PYPL have signed some form of NDA with PINS so that they would have knowledge of PINS’ upcoming earnings and any Apple privacy impacts?
Thanks again.
Dave

Q: Oil companies in Canada and globally over the last few years have suffered from low prices and now face the uncertainty of funding availability due to the climate change frenzy to choke off access to financial markets and to overall resistance to further expansion in production. In these circumstances it seems that many oil and gas companies will curtail further investment with the result that over time production will decline, perhaps at a faster rate than demand may decline. In effect they will become cash cows and pay out a greater part of cash flow to shareholders.
I was wondering whether you have done any research on this issue to get an idea of how this may play out and also the possibility that oil/gas prices may increase further and thereby increase fossil fuel company stock prices. Feel free to publish if you wish but not sure whether you might have addressed this issue already.

Q: Good Morning
This morning Peter McKeough is recommending that T is a buy. He is forecasting a 7.7 Price /Earnings ratio for the 2021 earnings.
Is this the right time to average down on this stock?
I will appreciate your insight as always.
Thanks

Q: Hello Peter,

The ETF's above are in the income portfolio. All have different yields that are paid out monthly. My question is, do any of these "dividends" increase over time? Not the yield but the actual payout per share?

Thanks,

Kelly

Q: Hi 5i
Would you be a buyer of PYPL today for a 2 year hold...down about -10% since announced interest in PINS yesterday...
If so, at what price would you be interested and would you expect share price to continue to be negatively effected by this potential deal?
Thx
jim