Vanguard Large-Cap ETF (VV)

The S&P 500, plus another 50 stocks that drill down into mid-cap. Adds diversification. Absolutely a core holding.

Very similar to S&P 500. Includes names like Microsoft and Amazon. Only 4 basis points. Valuations are rich now, though economy is pretty sturdy. Likes owning the basket, but heavily weighted to tech and to just a few names.

He likes it because it tracks the S&P 500. It's his favourite holding and a core holding. Includes Berskhire-Hathaway, so this is one way to own this expensive stock, and it's well-diversified.

Has always liked this, and it is actually a core holding. Being Vanguard, it is very low cost. Rather than having 500 stocks, it has something like 580-600, of which about 300 would basically be categorized as mid-cap. You have a little better diversification.

(A Top Pick Oct 31/14. Up 2.66%.) He likes this product because it is around 630 stocks. Has now switched and has been buying more of the iShares S&P 500 CAD-Hedged (XSP-T) because it is hedged.

(A Top Pick Sept 2/14. Down 1.45%.) A core holding for him. He always buys this when the Cdn$ is closer to par. From a currency standpoint, he did very well on this one.

(A Top Pick May 16/14. Up 14.86%.) This is very cheap. He bought this when the Cdn$ was closer to par.

(A Top Pick March 20/14. Up 14.11%.) He bought this because the Cdn$ was much higher, and he was buying for the last couple of years all in US dollars. This is basically 600 of the largest capped US stocks. He still likes this.

(A Top Pick Jan 31/14. Up 20.06%.) This has done well. We have been and are in a large cap market. He is still holding and will continue to add to this.

y(A Top Pick Dec 13/13. Up 19.3%.) This is about 25% of his portfolio and is in every account that he has.