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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: I have been hearing more and more about the possibility that renters (and small businesses?) will be able to forgo rents for at least a while, should they be short of funds, without risk of eviction. . Given the skyrocketing rate of unemployment, I am wondering if my four reits (internet, granite, CAR, Minto) are at risk to lower their dividend. If so, can you rank them in terms of the risk to their dividend?

Also, what is to stop any renter from not paying their rent, even if they can? Do renters have to "apply" to have their rent waived or can they just do this their own accord?

Finally, is there any possibility that the government (federal or provincial0 will pay the rent?
Read Answer Asked by arnold on March 31, 2020
Q: I noticed you suggested swapping CSH.UN for ZRE. I understand the change to CSH.un but not ZRE. Yes REITs will benefit from low interest rates but won't retail REITs such as SRU.UN suffer from closed store and Apt REIT suffer from possible non payment of rents?
Read Answer Asked by John on March 31, 2020
Q: Hello,

I've done well on Colliers over the years, but I sold it on the decline a few weeks ago. I've been reading about the financial damage commercial real estate is expected to suffer from loss of rent, payment defaults, etc. Do you think the price drop is now baked in, or give it more time before considering a re-buy. Are there better opportunities to consider in the real estate sector? Thanks, Brad
Read Answer Asked by Bradley on March 30, 2020
Q: Hi,
I am looking at Slate Retail for my income portfolio. I had gotten sold off a lot and has a 15%+ (depending on the hour) dividend yield. As far as I look at it, they lease to mainly staple grocery stores and drug stores - Kroger for example. Can you address the risk of its tenant base and how risky it truly is? I also think they have a lot of debt as REITs do but it looks like they restructured and carry a big revolver they use. Not sure if you can unpack what's going on there and if it's a huge worry. Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Bruce on March 27, 2020
Q: What do you make of this insider selling, is it time to bail out of this security, Thanks

Between March 12 and March 19, chairman Louis Maroun sold a total of 312,000 units at an average price per unit of roughly $8.80. Proceeds from these sales, excluding commission charges, exceeded $2.7-million. After these transactions, this account held 773,629 units.
Read Answer Asked by Saad on March 27, 2020
Q: Hello 5i Team

Could you please provide an update on the mortgage investment corporation.
Are they a reasonable source of higher yield interest income?
The four MIC and First National have suffered the declines similar to the market.
These investments would be held in my RRSP for long term interest income and not for capital gains. These would be a small portion of my high yield fixed income portfolio which includes corporate bonds and convertible debentures.
How did MIC fare in the low interest rate environment after the 2008 crash / recession as most stock charts only go back 10 years.
Thanks for the excellent advice in the last four weeks with all the market changes.
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on March 26, 2020
Q: I am wondering about the risk to APR's dividend, given that they have triple net leases..
The yield is over 20%. Do you expect that a number of tenants who operate the dealerships may go out of business or otherwise declare bankruptcy? If one assumes that this economic contraction should not last more than a year, and there would be pent up demand, would dealerships give up on the business or would most be expected to cut expenses and just try to get to the other side?

i realize they haven't increased their dividend, but at 20+%, its a moot issue.

Should I take a bite now or wait to see the next quarters results?
Read Answer Asked by arnold on March 26, 2020
Q: On March 16, in response to a question from Pierre, you said you were not interested in Boardwalk at $27 and recommended some of the higher valued residential REITs. BEI.UN is now down below $20 and has been below $16. At $20 it is trading at a third of book value and 40% of net asset value. It is a well run company and quite under-leveraged. Below what price does it become a screaming buy for a patient buy and hold investor?
Read Answer Asked by David on March 25, 2020
Q: In this environment,Real estate is often recommended along with Gold.Most REITS like car.un lcontinue to drop with the market.Is there worry that rents won’t get paid?
Seniors need to live somewhere so why is csh.un down 50%?
Read Answer Asked by Allen on March 24, 2020
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