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Blackstone Inc. (BX $180.05)
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Brookfield Corporation Class A Limited Voting Shares (BN $92.45)
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Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. Class A Limited Voting Shares (BAM $86.28)
My question relates to the above three stocks that are currently held in my US$ Non Registered Account but that could easily be held in my CDN$ Non Registered Account.
Q1. What are you thoughts on the direction of the US$ value vis a vis the CDN$ value in the short and medium term given the current Tariff situation and president Trump's strong and consistent pressure on the Chairman of the Federal Reserve to immediately lower interest rates by a substantial rate?
Q2. If our view is that the CDN$ may well increase in value when compared to the US$, does it make sense to journal these three stocks from a US$ Non Registered account to a CDN$ Non Registered account?
Thank you and I'll await your sage advice.
1) We remain a bit surprised at the relative strength this year of the C$. With oil down, Canadian interest rates down and Canada under tariff threat, we might have expected a less robust dollar. Other currencies are weak mostly due to an 'avoid the US' sentiment rather than their own economic strength. This could reverse of course, especially in a 'crisis' of some sort. So, we might expect more mundande moves over the balance of the year. We certainly would not expect the same degree of strength from the C$ as we have seen in the past nine months.
We would see little benefit in moving stocks to a different account. BAM/BN are inter-listed and their prices will adjust with currency moves anyway. BX trades and reports in US dollars so even if held in a C$ account the total value will still reflect the US$ price converted, which would be the same as the C$ 'value' if held in a US account. Note all three pay dividends in US$ so some f/x fees will be saved on dividend conversion if kept in a US$ account.