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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: Hi there,

Looking to add an infrastructure co.,to my US portfolio. If you had to buy one today which one would you prefer. My thinking is that Brookfield is more stable, better managed and won't see the dividend surprises that we saw with McQuarrie. However, MIC is significantly cheaper and better value at this time. Looks like undelying assets in both companies seem high quality, diversified? Any help would be appreciated.
Read Answer Asked by kelly on October 17, 2018
Q: The three stocks I’m considering selling are the above. I’m curious about kpt especially the fundamentals as when it was recommended by the Globe that was one of its selling points. It had dropped a lot even before the market correction.
For us stocks I wonder about jnj, pg and wba.

Thanks rose
Read Answer Asked by Rose on October 17, 2018
Q: I have held ALA for a long time - so long that I actually have a modest unrealized gain. The current yield of over 10% is obviously signalling something - either an expected dividend cut or a strong discount implying the market is not buying the picture presented by managment that shows strong growth and no problem sustaining and growing the divi. In my view then - the current stock price reflects all of the bad news that might happen - so there is very little downside at the current price. If a divi cut happens - there might be a short term decline from the current price but the stock should recover to a level with associated yield that is peer competitive. If on the other hand - the market buys the growth story - we should see substantial price appreciation from current levels - no divi cut and a repricing which also results in a peer competitive divi. So at the current price - very limited downside and signficant upside. Do you agree?

Read Answer Asked by Gary on October 17, 2018
Q: I wanted to chime in on Johns question about bond etf’s. I completely agree with Johns concerns and feel that generally speaking the possibility of capital losses on a bond etf is under appreciated, under reported and glossed over by too many people. I have held VSB and VSC for well over 3 years and my yield to date isn’t even remotely close to covering the capital losses. I see absolutely no reversal in site. That they are more liquid and diversified to me is pointless. I would have been significantly better off in cash, GICs or an individual ST bond that matured and gave me my capital back.
Read Answer Asked by Morgan on October 17, 2018
Q: Please comment on my perspective below. Am I wrong?

A bond matures and you get a known amount of principal back (on top of the distributions paid out along the way). As such it provides a safety component in your portfolio. The safety comes from NOT being at the mercy of the market (all you have to do is wait till it matures).

A bond ETF does not do this. The principal you put into it is eternally at the mercy of the current market price of that ETF. Even when any bond matures, the ETF just goes out and buys more bonds at current market prices. Therefore it does not return a known amount of principal as a bond would. The whole concept of "maturity" or "yield to maturity" disappears. So these ETFs are a lot more like equities than bonds. If people are following advice about the percentage to allocate between bonds and equities, in my opinion it is a mistake to treat the bond ETFs as in the bond category.

(The exception to the above being "target date bond etfs which do mature and return your principal").
Read Answer Asked by John on October 16, 2018
Q: RESP Question: My oldest son has 4 years to go until university and my youngest 7 years. I have $28,000 saved so far in an RESP and all is currently in a low yield interest fund. Can you give me a few suggestions on investments considering the time horizon? I was thinking Telus, BNS and maybe Enbridge. Thoughts?
Read Answer Asked by Don on October 15, 2018
Q: Hi All at 5i! I am working at establishing a more stable portion to my portfolio in the form of bond and preferred ETFs. I require four that pay me a dividend and have so far chosen CPD, XHY and CBO and would welcome a fourth ( or more) suggestion. Could you please help me with this. Cheers, Tamara
Read Answer Asked by Tamara on October 15, 2018
Q: About 25% of my non-registered portfolio is in US dollars. Other than currency risk, is there any disadvantage to buying Canadian dividend stocks listed on US exchanges, such as the banks, utilities, etc. As an income oriented investor that seems preferable to US dividend stocks which have less favourable tax treatment for Canadians.
Read Answer Asked by Lloyd on October 15, 2018
Q: Hi 5i team.

I'm primarily an income oriented investor and have over half of my portfolio in cash right now due to selling a house. I have a full position (which is 4% for me) of ENB (through ENB and ENF). I'm thinking of adding gradually building a full position in TRP as well. Do you see enough difference in the two pipeline companies to justify owning both and is 8% too heavy for that sector.

Thanks
Peter
Read Answer Asked by Peter on October 15, 2018
Q: Being retired we look to invest in long term stable companies with a reliable growing dividend. We own a few hundred shares of CU. The share price is lower than it has been for a very long time! We are wondering if you think the low share price offers a good opportunity to purchase some more shares or are there looming issues that could be problematic in the future. CU is part of our utility sector holdings.
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Len on October 15, 2018
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