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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'd like you to comment on a change in the banks recently as per Money talks

in short... end of July saw all 5 banks reporting quite well with Loan Loss Provisions (LLP) as expected if not maybe a little low.

Now this past week all five appear to have seen significant turns.

CIBC saw their profit dip 6% which is really unheard of. Plus, they increased the Provisions for Loan Losses (PLL) by 52%. TD earnings slipped 4% with a PLL increase of 35%. And Royal Bank president Dave McKay said "based on what we're seeing today the next couple of years are likely to be challenging." RBC Provisions for loan losses jumped up by 41%.

I read somewhere else where it was said these increases in funding for loan loss preparation is an indication the banks are "down turn ready." Is this the canary in coal mine?

With all the recent growth in the markets, is this something we should be concerned about? I think this could be a very significant story-line moving forward for investors.

Thanks for all you do

gm
Read Answer Asked by Gord on December 10, 2019
Q: Hi Peter and Wonder Team,
I am just wondering what you would suggest as to ETF replacements for the following SEI Growth Fund 80/20, I would like to replicate with ETF's as the fees are too high.
SEI U.S. Large Company Equity Fund Class O 24.14%
- SEI Canadian Equity Fund Class O 20.71%
- SEI International Equity Fund Class O 19.37%
- SEI Canadian Fixed Income Fund Class O 9.62%
- SEI U.S. High Yield Bond Fund Class O(H) 6.84%
- SEI Emerging Markets Equity Fund Class O 5.95%
- SEI U.S. Small Company Equity Fund Class O 3.91%
- SEI Global Managed Volatility Fund Class O 2.95%
- SEI Real Return Bond Fund Class O 2.89%
- SEI Canadian Small Company Equity Fund Class O 2.86%

Thanks for all you do, such a valuable service! Happy Holidays!
Read Answer Asked by Wes on December 10, 2019
Q: Seth Klarman has said that the greatest advantage an individual investor has is the abilty to have a long-term perspective. With that in mind, several years ago I had assembled a core 20/20 portfolio- 20 stocks for 20 years. They consist of:
CDA: TD, BNS, BCE, ATD.B, BAM.A, CSU, CGI, FTS, ENB, CN RAIL
USA: APPLE, GOOGL, AMAZON, VISA, BRK.B, MCD.

I also hold smaller quantities of utilities ( AQN, EMA, BIP.UN), small growth mutual fund (mawer global small cap) and reits for diversification. Can you help me complete my core 20/20 by suggesting 4-6 US DIVIDEND GROWTH STOCKS and perhaps 2 Canadian holdings that I should add or replace. Appreciate your excellent service as always.

Sincerely Ajay
Read Answer Asked by Alka on December 10, 2019
Q: Hello Peter and colleagues,
Is VEQT (100% equity) a growth ETF? (where can one find this information) Comparing VEQT with VGRO (80/20 equity/bond mix) can we say that VEQT has more potential for growth in long term (and more risk)? If Is VEQT is not a growth ETF is there a growth ETF that is 100% equity? Would you suggest any better alternative than both VEQT and VGRO?
Read Answer Asked by Hassan on December 10, 2019
Q: I am agnostic to the gold metal and gold miners. My question is in two folds.

What would you propose to compensate my Basic Materials exposure. I have none and the Portfolio Analysis propose having some exposure. I am invested for the long term. IShares propose XMA under performing the general markets for 3-5 and 10 years return. This year is a boon for long time holders.
Second question:
What is the rational for holding an asset with historical little return? Mr. Buffet is also agnostic to gold with proven record.
Deduct credits as deemed appropriate.
Thank you for your explanations easy to learn from .
Read Answer Asked by Yves on December 10, 2019
Q: I would like more details on PHYS that was discussed briefly today. Apparently there is no dividend, EPS is $220, and Book value is $10.95. Since there is no dividend, is the EPS used to purchase more gold? Are there any MER or storage fees? How does it differ from PHYS.U (Sprott PHysical Gold Trust transferable redeemable units? Where can I find more details on those shares?
Read Answer Asked by George on December 10, 2019
Q: Sadly, I held on to my position and the share value has gone from bad to worse. I see it is now listed on the Venture. When and why did that happen? When do they report their fiscal year's results? Do you have any info on estimates? I know you removed it from your portfolio and gave a fairly negative assessment on their performance, but will ask any way...is there any hope for improvement once tax loss selling is done?
Thanks for your good service.
Read Answer Asked by Leonard on December 10, 2019
Q: I have some dollars I wish to invest in the US market via a hedged etf. Question: do you prefer I go down to a mid-cap etf or use a total market etf. Thank you. Bill
Read Answer Asked by Bill on December 10, 2019
Q: Thank you for posting the model portfolios. I had to comment. Sometimes customers will complain about a stock pick or two, such as COV or, more recently, NFI. But with the income portfolio up 15%, growth up almost 31% and balanced up more than 20% this year, I really do not know what they are complaining about. Keep up the good work.
Read Answer Asked by Aaron on December 10, 2019
Q: Noticed that NFI is in the balanced portfolio and also in the Income one. Also the return has been very negative (-28%). However, it has a good dividend and a LTM plan behind the production of electric buses. Analysts at TDWaterhouse do no like it . In the last 5 months it seems that its price is making a base. Do you think that a contrarian approach could work here?, How would you rate its management ?, would it be worth to buy and hold the stock for 5 years ?, what is its biggest risk to make it underperfom ?, How safe is the dividend ?, Does it have a high debt ratio ?
thanks
Read Answer Asked by Alejandro (Alex) on December 10, 2019
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