Investment Q&A

Q: What is the best way to buy physical gold and to hold it in an account as allocated gold, without taking delivery, and thus preserving the custody trail? Are there tax implications if the value of the gold goes up? Is it possible to hold the gold in a TFSA?

If this is several questions, please deduct credits as appropriate.

Q: Good morning 5i team,

Thanks for the amazing platform and service.

Would you invest in gold stocks in the current market and world environment?

My position in precious metals and materials is lacking. This is something I normally purchase cyclically and sell when necessary.

If so. What would your top rec's be?

Thanks a ton!

Q: I submitted a previous question about my sister converting her portfolio from a robo manager to self-directed. The last question dealt with the equities side (75%) while this one deals with the fixed income side (25%).

My suggestions to her all come from what I've gleaned from your website, so I'm really asking for confirmation and criticism here.

She wants 10% in gold so I've recommended 5% of Sprott's PHYS.TO and 5% of AEM.TO. We realize these are not fixed income but plan to use them as a long term hold (insurance) and not speculatively. For other 15%, I have suggested VAB.TO and XSB.TO.

Some of her funds are in USD so she could buy US or Global bonds if that would add safety. It seems that would complicate things unnecessarily, a main objective being to keep it simple.

Q: Your thoughts on this ETF today and the near future would be appreciated.
Is there another ETF in this category you like better?
Thank you.

Q: Basil III comes into affect this year. From a piece in Seeking Alpha on Basil III I read:

QUOTE:
To sum up, gold will become a risk-free Tier 1 asset and it will become more expensive to buy and sell unallocated gold. These factors are highly bullish for physical gold. So, investors in this precious metal will be generously rewarded, provided they buy physical gold. But let me explain this in a bit more detail.

Under Basel III, gold would become a Tier 1 asset or a zero-risk asset, for banks. As mentioned in the Basel III framework,

...at national discretion, gold bullion held in own vaults or on an allocated basis to the extent backed by bullion liabilities can be treated as cash and therefore risk-weighted at 0%. In addition, cash items in the process of collection can be risk-weighted at 20%.
END QUOTE

What affect will this have on Sprott's holdings of gold and on my ownership of shares in PHYS? If it is positive I should be buying more. Right?

Thank you...

Q: Is CEF just a convenience to hold both PHYS and PSLV in one entity ?

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan and Team,

How would you rank these gold ETFs MNT, CGL, CGL. C an PHYS.?

Thanks.

Q: 3 questions regarding gold:
(1) I currently hold XGD for the long term, with a dividend of about 0.68%. Would I be better to hold 2-3 really good gold mining stocks, in a non-reg acct, like KL (div 1.99%; no debt) and AEM (div 1.97%). Or with this long-term investment, stay diversified with XGD? I care more about stability, value and some growth, not the dividend.
(2) Should I also hold some physical gold in an ETF like PHYS? If so, what percentage of gold holdings would you have in gold producers vs physical gold?
(3) A friend of mine holds some physical gold at home. Comments on this appreciated.
Thanks!

Q: I currently own both SJ and PHYS for a 2% weight in my RRSP and was thinking of adding AEM for 2% or do you think just best to increase both SJ and PHYS to 3 % each?

Thanks

Q: My question is related to the storage quantity of gold and silver at Sprott. As I buy and sell PHYS and PSLV on the TSX I assume I am selling to OR buying from another trader in the market. Where does Sprott obtain the funds to add to its holdings or are the physical holdings constant after funds from the IPO were invested in the metals? Am I trading around those initial physical holdings?

If I don’t hold the physical metal like having a gold wafer in a safe deposit box, do I really own it?

Q: Hello -
My goal is 10% precious metals weighting in my portfolio. I am currently 2% GDXJ and 6% CEF. If I want bullion to be 8%, is it necessary to split that up between CEF and PHYS? Or can the remaining 2% be put into the existing CEF?

Thanks.

Q: Can you explain in simple English what Sprott has done in pursuing this "at-the-market" program with these firms [Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. ("CF&Co"), Virtu Americas LLC ("Virtu" and together with CF&Co, the "U.S. Agents"?

Is it something which I, as a holder of these Sprott shares, should consider selling my positions and moving to other precious metals funds or to miners?

Thank you

Q: My question wasn't understood. I wasn't referring to the % difference in share price but I was meaning to point in the share performance. For example today CGL down -0.55% and PHYS -0.83%. Cgl goes up more when gold goes us and less when gold goes down. Why?

Q: Hello. Can you explain the difference between PHYS and PHYS.U? And the difference between iShares CGL and CGL.C?

If I believe that the CAD is going to depreciate versus the USD which I better to hold?

Thanks!

Q: I'm 2 years from retirement. I will have a company pension. Within my dividend growth stock portfolio, I've already reached my dividend income goal.

With all the money printing and worldwide government debt, I am looking to increase my gold exposure in attempt to diversify one step further, and (hopefully) provide some investment protection. It may not be the '70's all over again, but hard assets seem to becoming more attractive.

I would like to increase my gold exposure to 20%.
I know weighting is a personal choice, and I know you tend to moreless limit weighting in a given stock to about 5%.
Currently I am at about 5% with CEF, and only about 1% with GDXJ - to potentially provide a bit of torque. I would like increase those weightings to 17% and 3% respectively. Is this reasonable? I don't know if there is really any benefit in splitting the bullion exposure to CEF / PHYS, do you?

How do my NTR (5%), CMP (1%), DBC (1%) commodity investments fit into this picture? Should they be part of the 20% or would you consider those as a separate sector, and thereby figured separately from the overall weighting?

Thanks.

Q: Why is there such a big % difference of these gold etfs? Is CGL paper gold risky to hold such as an oil commodity based resource etf?

Q: Please give me the good and the bad on PHYS:CA. It seems like a proxy for holding physical gold. There has bee much talk about the "paper" gold market and how it may not be the best option during times of upheaval (up or down, worse down?).

Q: I have no exposure to silver. Only a little to gold and is it to late for gold ?
could you recommend a Canadian ETF for silver?
do you think silver will play 'catch up' to gold ?
would a precious metal ETF be wise. Which one?

Q: Thank you you for your reply to my early question on holding gold. At TD WebBroker market for PHYS shows as $19 but it also shows book value at $12. Shouldn't both numbers be same?

Q: What is the best and cost effective strategy to hold gold or gold stocks in these uncertain times?