The Panic-Proof Portfolio (Stockchase Research)Vanguard FTSE All-World ex CanadaVXC.TOTOP PICKDec 18, 2025

US, large cap, mid cap, rest of the world, EMs, but no Canada. Good completion index for Canadians looking to overseas. Not the most tax efficient because it owns US ETFs wrapped up in it, and with international markets there's a double-withholding tax.

If it's money you have sitting on the sidelines, don't go in now. The rest of the world is still pretty richly priced; cheaper relative to the US, but not "cheap". Wait for a correction. If you already have the money invested, and you're rotating out of Canada and into this, then he's OK with that trade today.

For an RESP, you would want to be more aggressive. He recommends VXC, which is a multi-asset ETFs. They are 60-40 allocations. He likes XGRO as well. He uses these funds for his clients for their children. VXC is more aggressive and it also gets rebalanced quarterly.

XAW-T vs. VXC-T. Both are good ETFs. XAW-T is cheaper. They are great one-ticket solutions. He has an extremely high bias in Canada.

Inexpensive, liquid. Encourage people to look outside Canada for growth.

I'm young and willing to buy an ETF that carries risk. Which one? VXC-T, a one-stop, affordable ETF ex-Canada. Or there's ex-EM, XWD-T. Also, pick something in a sector you're comfortable with and know something about. Don't go in blind.

This would effectively be Canada, US, Asia and the Far East. In this you are probably going to have 300 shares in the underlying ownership, and you will have the top performing companies in those markets. He is concerned that it is very weighted towards technology and you are not getting any exposure to the parts of the market that have not performed. You are not going to have any exposure to commodities and very little exposure to energy, which are the segments that have done very poorly in the last couple of years.

(A Top Pick Aug 17/15. Down 4.57%.) This has hurt Canadians in the last year, because Canada has had a pretty good year.

TFSA vs RRSP, and examples of ETF’s that would be more suitable? For the large majority of people, the TFSA money is the money that you can be a little more aggressive with because there is more flexibility because the growth you have will be pulled out tax-free. If you want things that are going to grow, and hopefully will be a little more aggressive as a result of seeking that growth, he would use things like iShares MSCI World Index Fund (XWD-T) or Vanguard FTSE All-World ex Canada (VXC-T), both global broadly diversified equity positions that are trying to get you exposure around the world.

Global Dividend ETF, X-Canada. He does not use ETFs because he can diversify naturally. He would recommend for younger investors this one. It is diversified, 55% US, global and very little Canada. It has a low MER. Always be conservative at first. But some blue chip Canadian to go along with it.

(A Top Pick Jan 21/15. Up 4.26%.) If you missed the diversification last year by not getting out of Canada, this is a good time to start. If you have a 100% Canadian portfolio, and would like 20% to be in something else, this is a great way to get your toe into the water.

Best ETF in a child’s RESP? Assuming the child is fairly young and has a long ways to go, he would recommend an equity ETF, and his favourite is Vanguard FTSE All World EX-Canada (VXC-T). Recommends this because he is kind of bearish on Canada because of its oil exposure. This gives you stocks from around the world.

This is a FTSE ex-Canada product. He doesn’t like this kind of thing. It’s sort of an omnibus “Let’s throw the money in this and see what happens.” ETF. Basically a dog’s breakfast of currencies, countries and REITs. You have to be a lot more strategic when investing as to which market you want to be in and which ones you want to avoid.