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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: Dear Peter et al:

This is a general and "conceptual" question and I believe this may apply to many of the "grandparents" who are subscribers of 5i.

We would like to give some money to help our grand kids. We contribute for RESPs.

Reading the literature, it seems one can set up an "in kind Trust" that can grow seamlessly till they reach 18 years old and it can be rolled over to them and as their income is still low, the taxes are low.
(I am paraphrasing the articles here.)

However, recently I was told that taking a Permanent Insurance for kids (Universal or Participating Whole Life?) is another option one may want to consider. As the grandchildren are still young , the premiums are low ..and it gives them not only life insurance(a dreadful thought) but gives them the ability to cash in their policy for an attractive lump sum amount that can be used for their education (post secondary) or whatever they wish to do. I have never heard or read about this option before and wonder if you have any opinions. If you can forward some articles comparing these two strategies, In trust account VS Permanent Life policy, I would appreciate it.

BTW, I have reviewed the articles by Colin Ritchie in Canadian Money Saver. But this specific comparison isn't there. Colin's articles are more for adults who may be interested in Estate planning or augmenting retirement income etc.,

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Savalai on August 22, 2024
Q: Hi 5i Team - I can't remember the source but have heard a comment stating that Web 3 and AI will bolster each other. First of all, do you know what this might mean and also are there any companies that could benefit from it.
Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Rob on August 21, 2024
Q: Do you have any recommendations for companies, U.S. or Canadian, that demonstrate good technologies involved in energy storage and smarter distribution systems. Any market cap is fine but fundamentals should be decent. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Rob on August 21, 2024
Q: Hi 5i Team - In your opinion what might be the possibility of a Canadian bank or several of them failing, at least temporarily, because of a cyber attack, with the consequence of account holders not being able to withdraw cash.

As a corollary to this question what would be your recommendations of safe options for people wanting to store a portion of their cash in case of the above event.
Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Rob on August 20, 2024
Q: Hi there, I have an interesting question regarding sell equities from a global etf to live on in retirement. I would sell once a year to set aside money for yearly living expenses. I suppose indiscriminately a person could do this on Jan 1 every year but presumably the ideal time to sell equity to live off would be at their yearly highs. Based on this presumption, technically and seasonality wise historically when would be a good time in the year to pull expenses to fund a years worth of living expenses?
Read Answer Asked by Michael on July 19, 2024
Q: Hi Everyone!! Kathy Wood was interviewed by Amanda Lang recently and her crystal ball says that the areas to be in, which will do well ,are robotics, energy storage , Ai, block chain and multiomic sequencing. Do you agree? And if you had to chose a company which best represents these five fields, what would they be??
Cheers,
Tamara

Read Answer Asked by Tamara on July 16, 2024
Q: Hello 5i Team
Do you think that investing in Inda and Japan ETF is beneficial for diversification and growth. Are there any ETF that you can recommend?
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by claudio on July 10, 2024
Q: So it looks like we are heading into a real electric energy shortage in the US. What utility companies are going to prosper into the next 5 years. Sad to think that coal is not showing any signs of a slow down.
Thanks Again
Read Answer Asked by eugene on July 03, 2024
Q: Are we Canadians fools? Rhetorical don’t answer that. My question is should we do what you do and not what you say. By that I mean should we invest 100% in the US market and forget about the Canadian stocks. It seems that we are 2%/year or so behind the US on a long term basis. We would easily make up the FX costs within one year. Currently you suggest 30% or so Cdn and I am not that low yet, but I do wonder if that target is too high.

A diehard Canadian who may also be a fool.
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on June 21, 2024
Q: Good morning,

BEP,UN is classified as energy in portfolio analytics, should it not be under utilities?

Thanks for the unique service you provide followed your suggestion on NVDA after 2 splits my cost base is 3.80$ only problem is the taxman with clawback at 91 000 already reached and at 107 000 combined rates plus clawback in quebec is 65 % ????
I put all the money, work, risks for one third of profit!!
I see no way around this do you have any suggestion or resources to address this.
I won't ventilate to much as my language would not be proper.
Thank you !
Read Answer Asked by Denis on June 18, 2024
Q: I always hear that when company Buy Back their shares that would benefit the investors. I know that when they buy back their shares number of outstanding shares reduces. Is there any other Benefit.

Plus I have seen company buy back their shares so shares get reduce and then they split their shares in next 2 years so in other words they increase their shares indirectly. Is this normal.

One example currently that Royal Bank buying back their shares usually they buy back when they are cheap on valuation since they are not cheap on valuation are they planning to split their shares.

Thanks for the great service
Read Answer Asked by Hector on June 13, 2024
Q: Dear 5i team.

I would like to look at a small investment in defence/war munitions sector companys or ETF. Can you suggest 3-5 names that cater to "War" efforts that can be considered a DIY ETF? As well, which ETF(s) would you consider for this exercise. Ideally one with the lowest BA %.
Finally, are these Co's trading at resonable valuations, or has this ship sailed, so to speak?

Many thanks for your help.
Read Answer Asked by Arthur on June 10, 2024