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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: In March 2020 I did a lot of tax-loss selling (and proxy re-buying - thank you, I wish I had known to do that in 2008). I sold two Canadian banks and bought two others, BMO and CM. I did not sell them after I got my money back but let them recover. Consequently I have BMO up almost double and CM up 70%. Is there any reason to sell them to re-buy the original banks which will trigger a capital gain? I have no capital losses in that account.
Read Answer Asked by J on April 26, 2021
Q: I am a retiree with 14% financial sector exposure in banks (TD,BNS,RY) and insurance companies (MFC, SLF, BRK.B). I have been a long term holder (10+) of MFC and currently have a half position. Been happy with the dividend but very disappointed with share appreciation (still underwater). Would it make sense to sell MFC and purchase GSY for share appreciation and dividend growth?
Read Answer Asked by eric on April 22, 2021
Q: Greetings 5i,

What to do about FFN. I love the div and I’m +77% since the Covid bounce back. I guess my biggest concern is I don’t understand how the div is so large. I wonder if the div it pays gradually erodes the NAV and so inevitably will result in a lower and lower share price and zero dividend. Or will the share price move up with the assets it owns? Can 5i shed some light on this?

Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Duane on April 22, 2021
Q: Am I correct in concluding from my calculations that investors place a lower value on GS shares than they do on firms like MS and JPM? If yes, is GS’ share price discounted because GS carries a higher risk than its peers ? For GS my calculations have ROE at 16%, and PEG at 1.25. I cannot work out ROCI— I come up with a bizarre number. What are your ratios for all these please?

Other than a high debt level, would you have concerns about GS that amateurs would not see? Is GS a reasonably good investment based on both its own projections, its actual history, and projections by the more insightful “Mike Mayo type” analysts? (I don't have access to Mayo’s research) .

I am fully allocated to financials, but that seems to be one of the few sectors that possibly has some value. Correct? I find worrying about “diversification” and “allocations” rather tiresome. Do you find time spent on “proper” allocation worth while on your own PERSONAL accounts ? Really?
Read Answer Asked by Adam on April 22, 2021
Q: Can you comment on the effect of rising interest rates on BAM? My understanding is that higher interest rates will lower the valuations of the hard assets that Brookfield owns.

In light of expectations of higher interest rates in the future, would you be more inclined to allocate more capital to financials (banks, insurance), over Brookfield?
Read Answer Asked by Alex on April 21, 2021
Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I am normally a buy-and-hold investor for the very long term (RBC = blue chip, hold forever; while in a higher risk and associated lower weighting category, I hold Alaris forever). I currently hold SLF but have been reviewing/comparing its performance with BMO. The 10 year, 5 year and 3 year charts favor Sunlife, but the 1 year and shorter duration charts favor BMO. There appears to be a significant inflection point starting in November 2020.

Can you explain what occurred around that time? Is it simply the reflation of the economy favoring BMO relative to SLF? Do you see this continuing for the next period of time or do you see SLF playing catch-up?

Thanks for your help...Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on April 20, 2021
Q: Have you got an opinion on IG Group (IGGHY)? They are into leveraged trading, CFDs and derivatives. Their stock has been on a roller coaster ride due to tighter regulation on spread betting but they have bounced back each time.
Read Answer Asked by Andrew on April 19, 2021
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