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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've been wondering about growth vs. sector allocation. My portfolio is well diversified and has a growth bent due to my situation and not needing income for a number of years. The question is: when looking for growth, is it advisable to look for growth companies in all sectors? Or would you focus the growth more in certain sectors such as technology, and more stable companies in a sector such as financial? I need to add to healthcare, financials, telecom a bit but not sure if they are the best place to add small-cam growth, or look to find that in technology/industrial/discretionary. If in all categories what are best suggestions for small cap growth in health (other than gud), financials and telecom?
Read Answer Asked by Kel on April 03, 2017
Q: Having traded with the Active Trader Program with TD. which has ended, I am looking for a recommend on a new broker with a better trading platform than the new platform (TD-Advance Dashboard)which is deficient compared to ATP for Canada. I am happy with Think or Swim for my U.S. trading. Any suggestions. Platform is very important for active traders. thank you for what you do for subscribers.
Read Answer Asked by john on April 03, 2017
Q: I have taken back my portfolio from a fee based brokerage, and included were a number of preferred shares that I am considering selling so that I can concentrate on dividend growth stocks. These preferred's have increased significantly in the past year, and I think this may be a good time to sell, although some are still below their cost. I would keep any that you might think are worth retaining for their dividends.
The issues are Brookfield Office Property 5.15% Preferred P
Enbridge 4% rate reset Prefeered U
Fairfax Financial 4.75% Preferred M
Husky Energy 4.5% rate reset Preferred C
Industrial Alliance 4.3% Preferred G
Royal Bank 3.6% rate reset Preferred M

Thanks very much for your help on this specific opportunity and for your good advice on investments.
Read Answer Asked by doug on April 03, 2017
Q: Good morning 5i team!
I have a joint RESP account for my children who are 11 and 9.
At this time I have approx $85k in the account distributed as follows
$23 bond 2.10% mat June/2018
$22 k in VDY
$32K in VFV

I have a remaining $7k+ and wanting some growth, dividend with stability so I won't lose as it is a more short term time frame.
What do you think of the overall weighing of the portfolio and what would your suggestions stock wise be for the $7K.
Read Answer Asked by Sarah on April 03, 2017
Q: This is a follow up to a question I submitted a few weeks back that I should have been more specific about. I had asked about transferring our investments from the financial advisor we have been dealing with to a discount brokerage so that we can manage the funds ourselves and the relative pros/cons of transferring the investments "in kind" versus in cash. The transfer will involve a couple of RRSP accounts, a couple of LIRA accounts, a family RESP and a non-registered "in trust for" account. Any benefits/drawbacks of in kind versus cash transfer based on the type of account being transferred? We do plan to sell the bulk of our current holdings and start from scratch, but is that best done at the start or end of the transfer process - or does it really matter one way or the other? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Bruce on April 03, 2017
Q: Gentlemen,
Portfolio question on repeat selections,

In the 5i Portfolios there are some equities that are found in several of the portfolios, eg KXS, ENB, GUD, BNS etc.

Instead of repeat are there no other stocks in Canada that you can add that you like as much/more.

Surely another bank might add more variety on North American economy than the international as Scotia does. Is there no other healthcare opportunity than GUD who seems to be a little slow in deploying its capital?
Are there no other utilities that could diversify ENB? You always mention FTS very favorably.

Why repeat and not diversify with unique selections?

Thanks

Sheldon
Read Answer Asked by Sheldon on April 03, 2017
Q: Hello there,

Recently I had asked about your top 2 favourite growth ideas outside of your Balanced Equity Portfolio/Shopify and GUD and GSY were suggested along with OTEX (however you had mentioned this might give too much weighting towards technology). I presume GSY would still be one of your favourite ideas - but what would replace GUD as your second favourite idea, now that GUD is part of the BE Portfolio (which I have purchased along with CLS on Friday). Thanks so much!
Read Answer Asked by Michael on April 03, 2017
Q: Hello Peter, Ryan and 5i team. I am a long time holder of Mawer New Canada Fund. I purchased a substantial (for me) position in the fund for my RRSP many years ago before it closed to new investors. While I understand you are not fans of mutual funds in part due to the fees they charge - the fee on MAW107 is 1.4%) - this fund has consistently performed extremely well. This single fund currently makes up 14% of my self-managed RRSP portfolio, a 50/50 mix split between no-load low MER funds and individual North American small and large cap stocks. Is the 14% that this single fund occupies in my RRSP excessive in your opinions, or should I stay the course?
Read Answer Asked by Asher on April 03, 2017
Q: Hi Folks,

I am gradually building up a dividend producing portfolio. At this time I have positions in EIF, VET, BCE and AQN. I'm hoping to achieve a 4 - 5% dividend yield plus 4 - 5% appreciation. Do you think my return expectations are reasonable? What are your thoughts on my current holdings? Could you give me your 5 - 6 favorite dividend stocks for me to add at this time? Please deduct whatever number of credits my multi pronged question merits.

Thanks for the great service.

Dennis
Read Answer Asked by Dennis on April 03, 2017
Q: Could you please give your view on the SHORT Position Report on the TSX. From time to time I refer to it before making a purchase. I wonder how much I should let it influence my buy moves. The whole Shorting concept confuses me. As a retail investor looking today at the "20 Largest Consolidated Short Position Report" I would seemingly avoid banks, pipelines and lifeco's TD, BNS, BCE,TRP, GWO etc etc. Do you think this metric forshadows a market downturn in bluechip div holders? Thanks for you service as always.
Read Answer Asked by James on March 31, 2017
Q: Greetings

95% of my portfolio is invested for the long term and follows your three portfolios. However, I do keep aside about 5% for short term trading ideas - stocks who have overcorrected, activist type investor, or those that trade within a set range. Like the Methanex situation, can you provide any other short term trading ideas. I have learned over time to trade with a goal in mind and to never get greedy. I consider these funds my spending money. Any ideas would be great.
Read Answer Asked by kelly on March 31, 2017
Q: Good afternoon 5i,
I am comfortable with the individual stocks in my RRSP...thanks to you.
When I cannot complete a full DRIP share, cash accumulates. I like the idea of sliding that in to a mutual fund . I am considering the Royal SERIES D. Canadian Dividend or O'Shaughnessy U.S. Value or Life Science & Technology. What do you think of this strategy? Are the MER's of 1.23% or 1.39% too high? Any other recommendations? Long term holder. Thanks for the advice. Paul
Read Answer Asked by Paul on March 31, 2017
Q: Hi,

I have some questions to ask:

1) I have noticed that there has been insider buying in Whitecap Resources (WCP) and Raging River Exploration (RRX), but they dropped by 2% and 4.5% respectively on March 30. Do you have any comments/idea why this happened?

2) Why is MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA) finally moving upside?

3) Peter Lynch avoids investing in computer stocks since new computer/tech companies keep popping up. But he also mentioned keep an open mind to new ideas. In Davos Economic Forum it was mentioned that we are currently in the fourth industrial revolution which is electronic based. Do you have any suggestions for stocks participating in this trend?

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Lai Kuen on March 31, 2017
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