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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 have a Canadian dollar RRSP with a significant portion of US dividend paying stocks, to avoid dividend withholding tax. My RRSP is charged $10 per trade but otherwise there are no fees appearing on my statements. The dividend amounts from US stocks appear in Canadian dollars. Although my investment company has US and Canadian dollar accounts for non-registered investments, there are no US dollar RRSP's. I often wonder if, and how much, I am paying in exchange fees when my US dividends are converted to Canadian dollars. Will those currency fees be included in the new disclosure rules? Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Linda on September 11, 2016
Q: Greetings: In one of your recent answers you indicated that best current GIC rates are in the 2.75% range. The best rates I see in Vancouver (2% one year, 2.5% fiver year) are with Oaken Capital, part of the Home Capital Group (Home Trust, Home Bank). Is Oaken Capital a pretty good provider? Are those rates in line with what I should expect? I intend to set up a laddered series with about $100K
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on September 11, 2016
Q: In 2016 I had significant realized capital gains as I sold off shares to re-balance my portfolio. Currently I am in a loss position with the above mentioned companies. I was thinking of selling shares in these six companies to help offset the realized capital gains. Which of these shares do you think I should buy back after 30 days to avoid the superficial capital loss? Normally I would not be selling them, but for tax purposes I am contemplating doing so. AAPL makes up a significant part of my Info Technology sector and GILD is my only exposure to the health care sector. If I do not buy back the other four companies it will not impact my asset mix in my portfolio significantly. Is this the right time of year to do tax loss selling for these companies?

Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Robert on September 09, 2016
Q: Being a victim of success, for which 5 I is to blame, I have a question about allocation. I'm sure you've been accused of worse things than making people money!

I started a 3% position with Savaria, which has now grown to 4.5%. I started a 2.5% position in Shopify (the US equivalent) which has also grown to just under 4.5%.

The question is, do you suggest trimming these back, or are they strong enough to continue unchecked for a while? I have a portfolio that is just under 500K and don't know if it's a wise bet to place an almost full position in two relatively newer entities in a portfolio of this size. Thanks, as ever, for your help.
Read Answer Asked by Sylvia on September 09, 2016
Q: Hello 5i team,
I have been following Pure for awhile and have been tempted. What causes hesitation is the size. you mentionned in one of the comments that there are some companies that a relatively conservative, retired investor should not own, as they are too risky. I make more than I need to live and so I am not adverse to a little risk. But, I was wondering how you see a company like Pure under this perspective? It would be great to have your comments on that subject in general, if you have time.
thanks
Read Answer Asked by joseph on September 09, 2016