Investment Q&A

Q: I have BNS, RY, SLF and FSZ in equal amounts in my "Financial" basket and need to add another name to get my financials weighting to 15%. Can you suggest a new stock and/or a etf (CDN or US stock / etf) to compliment my current holdings OR would you just add to the 4 stocks that I have? Thanks

Q: Thoughts on FSZ earnings and valuation?

Considering starting a position in my income portfolio, but FSZ seems to be rangebound the past few years between 12-14. Would it be better just to stick to bank stocks for the financial sector as the banks have a lower beta and better capital appreciation, which more than makes up for the 1% greater yield of FSZ?

Q: Hi, my only financial exposure is bns. With rising rates I know you recommend insurance companies such as sun life. I have a long time to invest as I'm only 31. What would you recommend for best upside potential to get some more financial exposure? I worry that the big insurance companies might be more for security and income providing less total return than some smaller growth oriented names. Could you recommend a few names and give my your thoughts on my ideas?

Thanks

Q: I am very impressed with your ability to limit your balanced portfolio to 25 stocks. Currently I hold the above six stocks in the financial sector whereas you hold three. The only one with large imbedded gains is REF.UN which I have held for over twenty years. one third of our total portfolio follows your balanced portfolio. The other 2/3s is managed for us and includes a large allocation to canadian banks. I am willing to sacrifice some stability for more growth. Would you consolidate any of the above stocks to simplify the portfolio? Below is my current allocations. My bias is to keeping REF, GSY and ECN.
2.23% aif
3.16% ref
2.36% ecn
1.90% fsz
2.54% gsy
1.86% slf

Q: are there any Canadian companies that are dividend payers and well established, that are not over valued and would be considered a bargain currently? thanks.

Q: I have held POW for many years and am thinking about a switch, what do you think about selling POW and replacing it with FSZ?
appreciate your efforts.

Q: CAn you comment on earnings and current valuation.

Thanks

Q: Hi 5iResearch team,

I currently have a position on BAM.A which represents about 4% of my portfolio. Given that it has not done much price wise over the last year or so, I was thinking of moving some money from BAM.A and put it in FSZ.

Just wondering if you agree with this move and if you do what %age of my BAM.A current holding should I move.

Cheers,
Harry

Q: FYI, BMO just started covering FSZ with an OUTPERFORM rating. The added exposure bodes well, congratulations on picking another winner ahead of the pack!

Initiating Coverage of the Small-Cap Canadian Asset Managers: BMO Capital Markets analyst Nik Priebe launched coverage
on the Canadian asset managers. In general, he believes the asset managers offer competitive dividend yields and attractive valuation
multiples in the context of historic averages. Dividend yields of 5-6% are largely covered by free cash flow. The small-cap
asset managers also provide a significant degree of insider ownership, which we view as a positive attribute supporting a better
alignment of management interests with those of shareholders. Lastly, for investors concerned about the impact of new mutual
fund regulations, the small-cap asset managers offer lower exposure owing to a diversified asset mix. His coverage includes:
- Fiera Capital (Outperform): provides investors with exposure to a unique growth strategy, strong earnings momentum, and a
competitive dividend yield.

Q: Hi,

Thank you for the report on FSZ. It seems like a good company trading at a low valuation. Why has FSZ's share price fared so poorly over the past 5 years or so? (It seems to trade for a lower price than it did 5 years ago). Does the fact that FSZ's share price has declined for most of the past few years affect its rating?

Thanks,
IF

Q: I always thought a company's Earnings per share should be higher or at least cover the their Dividend per share. However, FSZ's EPS appears to be around $0.35 and the DPS is now $0.68. What gives?

Q: Hello team, Would you pls. comment on FSZ 4Q results?
Thank you

Q: I currently hold about 13% of my portfolio in financials. FFH, IFC, GSY and FSZ in Canada and the XLF and BLX in the US. I am planning on topping up to 15% financials. FSZ is my smallest holding. Would you add to it at this time? The stock has been performing very poorly in the last two weeks while the others have done much better. It would be added because of its high dividend.

Q: Hi,
I have a few thousand dollars to put into something looking for high potential growth. I have many years I can wait, don't need income (but all drips available are being utilized). Without considering portfolio weightings which of these would you consider to have the most upside? I'm totally ok with risk, as I have the well balanced, safer part of my portfolio in place. If not any of these could you offer a few other names please. If you like the names I've listed could you rank them in order of preference for high growth?

Thanks!

Q: i currently only hold bns for financials. It has been very good over the last year. I'm thinking about adding slf (to hedge against potential interest rate hikes) and fsz for some extra upswing potential to balance against the security of bns. I'm 31 years old, they're all held in my tfsa, I'm thinking long term and am ok with risk. Do you have issues with either of these two? Is there others you'd prefer to accomplish what I'm looking for? Do you think rate increases will push bns down enough to make it cheaper to add to or is trying to get the timing right with that not worth waiting for?

Thanks!

Q: I looked at a summary of the their business activities and it seems to be principally with professional managers wherein the new disclosure rules will not be an issue. Do you have any information on how much of their income is derived from services to retail clients or others where the disclosure rules would be a factor?

Q: I would like two financial stocks for my kids RESP. One growth and one more stable/dividend stock. What should I be buying now? Thanks

Q: would it not be prudent to hold off on adding or initiating a position here considering they just announced a reduction in their fund fees? some of these fees have dropped by 30% or so. what % of their income actually comes from fund fees? this is definitely going to have at least some impact on earnings going forward.

thanks Tom

Q: Good morning my question concerns cxi which I hold but in a 1.6% position compared to your 4.12% but in that sector I am looking at adding gsy as an alternative and to give diversity simply because you have recommended it as one of the top ten holds in one of the last questions. my concern with cxi is the volatility that it has had over the last two years. is there also another stock in your universe that could also be added to bring the total to the 4.12% position but with two to three stocks instead of one...thanks for the great service

Q: Hi,

I am looking to increase my weighting in the financial sector. I own SLF already. What company or companies would you recommend at this time?

Thanks
Paul