skip to content
  1. Home
  2. >
  3. Investment Q&A
You can view 3 more answers this month. Sign up for a free trial for unlimited access.

Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Hi Peter and 5iResearch Group,
As you have noted that interest rates will likely remain low for sometime, would you recommend using ETFs for medium and/or long-term bond portfolio positions vs. purchasing individual bonds. Also, should both US and Cdn. bonds in each/either category be purchased? Thank you. Linda
Read Answer Asked by Linda on December 02, 2014
Q: Good morning,

Husky Energy issued a 4.50% rate reset (3.13%)preferred this am- what is your opinion on these new shares?

Thank you
Brad
Read Answer Asked by Brad on December 01, 2014
Q: Now that this bond has recovered, would you advise continuing to hold it or sell it. My portfolio is based on your growth model, and it represents about half my assets. I also have a pension that I live on as a retired person. Many thanks, Peter and 5i team!
Ellen
Read Answer Asked by Ellen on November 27, 2014
Q: I own the Vicwest convertible debenture. The conversion price will no longer be of any consequence after the takeover. Do you know what will happen to it once the takeover of Vicwest is complete?
Read Answer Asked by Robert on November 17, 2014
Q: I bought Argent EN-B CV 6.5% 31 Dec. 18 I paid $9000 and it is down 39% since purchase. Will I still get all my money back at the maturity date? They are still paying the interest each quarter. I assume if they go bankrupt I won't but what if they stay solvent.
Many thanks, and I will keep recommending people to your site.
Sincerely, Al
Read Answer Asked by Al on November 16, 2014
Q: Would appreciate your opinion on the above two reset preferred, the yield to reset looks high to me for the risk on these preferred? Don't understand why?
Read Answer Asked by Saad on November 12, 2014
Q: Gents,

I have room in the "speculative" part of my fixed income allocation and was considering the convertible debentures of CUS. I realize you do not like the common shares at the moment but how do you feel about the debt side?

It's a simple question with a difficult answer. Do you think CUS will have the resources to pay off the convertible debt in 2021?

Regards
John
Read Answer Asked by John on November 09, 2014
Q: Hello 5i,
I will be building out the bond part of my portfolio in time. My thinking is to structure that part of the portfolio with BB- to BB+ bonds that have a time horizon of eight years max.

What do you think of this strategy?
Thanks,
Read Answer Asked by Mark on October 30, 2014
Q: Are there any convertible debentures that you would recommend at this time?



Read Answer Asked by shirley on October 23, 2014
Q: A portion of my overall portfolio is perpetual preferred shares (down 4.5%) and I am considering selling and replacing with rate-reset preferred shares. I would appreciate your comments on the two types of preferreds and your recommendation for 4 or 5 rate-resets. In addition to the BCE.PR, I currently hold BAM, GWO, MFC, and SLF preferreds.
Read Answer Asked by Bill on October 14, 2014
Q: Hello;

I am wondering what your thoughts are on TA preferred shares. Most of them are well below par but offer a nice yield at these lower values. So, is there any chance they could return to par, rate re-set is in 2016 or this a value trap in light of company conditions of late?
Thanks for your opinion and great service!
Jerry
Read Answer Asked by Jerry on October 10, 2014
Q: I was looking for fixed income alternatives back in 2012 for my RRSP account. I invested in a convertible debenture FTP.DB which I planned to hold to maturity, Dec. 31, 2016. I thought its coupon rate at 6.5% provided a good return relative to other fixed income investments. As you know the price of Fortress Paper's common shares and its convertible debentures have dropped considerably since then. Do you think I have legitimate concern on whether the company will be solvent in 2016 to buy back the debentures? Would it be better to cut my losses now?
Read Answer Asked by Robert on October 08, 2014
Q: PWB is issuing a series of preferred shares. Can I please have your take on what your comfort level would be with these?
Read Answer Asked by Adam on October 06, 2014
Q: I find preferred shares a very complex area (other than perhaps fixed date callable/retractable). Could there be some catches to them requiring a review of the prospectus.

For resets, I don't suppose that yield to maturity takes into account whether the reset provisions result in an equivalent security e.g a change in spread to Canada's relative to the spread on original issue date. Or can one depend on such a change not occurring.
Read Answer Asked by Carl on September 23, 2014
Q: Aside from cash, money market and buying bonds and holding the bonds until maturity where do u suggest one puts cash/profits?
1) an ETF for 3 to 6 months
2) ETF for 6 to 12 months
3) ETF for 12 months and longer
4) Any other things u might recommend - preferred shares?

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by George on September 18, 2014
Q: In my portfolio I have 15% in preferreds, thats my fixed income, 8% of that is in Great West Life GWO-R, Fortis-J, Power Financial-S,all of which are straight perpetuals. The other 7% is in CPD,Claymore Preferred. I paid $25.00 for each of these Preferreds, so am down on each one, they pay a dividend of 4.7%.
With the news of interest rates about to rise, should I sell these? Thank you and cheers to Peter!
Read Answer Asked by Shirley on September 16, 2014
Q: Convertible Debt: Boyd Group or other.

Am I right in saying that if a person is not trying to mitigate downside risk or looking for income, buying the equity should always carry a higher "expected value" return than convertible debt?
Read Answer Asked by Andrea on September 13, 2014
Q: This may be an off the wall question, but would it be reasonable to regard CPP and OAS as part of the "bond" portion of a retiree's portfolio? Thank you for your continued stabilizing support.

Read Answer Asked by M.S. on August 24, 2014
Looking for more? Sign up for a FREE 14 day trial! No credit card required

We invite you to sign up for a 14 day free trial of 5i Research!
Experience all the benefits and tools we have to offer; stock research, model portfolios, Q&A with our experts, and so much more. Join a community of like-minded investors today!