Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Peter
In May, 5i sold 1% of ZRE from the income portfolio. Is there a specific reason for this sale ? ZRE dropped significantly in the few months. Is the sale linked to the drop in value ? Do you still recommend purchasing ZRE ?

Q: In our unregistered, income account I recently sold LIF and have decided not to return to that stock after 30 days. Instead, planning to buy more of one or two of the existing stocks.

Since this is an income account, yield is important and also quite happy to see total account balance steadily increasing whilst tapping off the cash.


I need some help deciding which ones to add to, and have 3 criteria:
1. Best yield
2. Current portfolio weighting
3. Best value over next 5 to 10 years

1. From highest to lowest yield:
TCL.A, BCE, AQN, EIF, BNS, CPD, T, SLF, QSR, ZRE, RY, LNF, FTS, BEPC, NTR

2. From lowest to highest weighting:
ZRE, LNF, TCL.A, QSR, AQN, NTR, BEPC, SLF, CPD, T, BNS, EIF, BCE, RY, FTS

3. Can you please help me to rank these stocks from highest to lowest value / growth prospects, or if that is to big a task. Please recommend overall best 3 selections given my criteria.


Thanks,


Jim

Q: A question about ZRE in the 5i Income Portfolio. I would like to add more real estate to my non-registered account at Questrade. Would it be an accounting hassle to hold ZRE in a non-registered account or would Questrade automatically calculate the ACB? Or would it be best to hold TCN and/or other Canadian real estate holdings that would receive a dividend tax credit?
Thanks!

Q: I have an unregistered account which we use to generate long term dividend income. There are currently 9 holdings in the red, and 9 still in the black.
I am debating whether or not to sell some of the losers to capture capital losses. Then, in 30 days reasses - either repurchase same or redirect cash elsewhere.
In order of biggest to smallest loser, based on $:
LIF, SYZ, LNF, QSR, TCL.A, ZRE, AQN, BEPC, EIF

In general, I'm quite happy with the performance of this account in this declining market environment. Although the capital has declined a bit, the income stream has been quite stable.

Question 1: Please comment on the merit of this idea. Lose one or two dividend payments now for sure versus banking a loss for future tax benefit sometime. (retired, no earned income)

Question 2: Would you consider any of the 9 names above unsuitable for this account?

Question 3: Which of these 9 names are most likely to have further to fall?

Q: Could you give me 7 diversified income etfs for 200000 rank them in order which ones you would pick up first etc. thanks

Q: REITs are getting pummeled today with some like BEI.UN, DIR.UN and HOM.UN down more that 6%. Any thoughts on why such a big downturn.

Q: Hi, wow, REITs across the board got hammered today, thoughts please?

Q: Which ETFs trading on the TSX would you use for Real Estate, Materials, and Industrials exposure?

Q: Hello,

I own the whole list (weights 1% to 2%) thinking I was being diversified but maybe went too far.

1) I am on the right track to reduce to about 3 names?
2) Which names optimise income?
3) Alternative names that I might have missed?

Many thanks!

Q: Hi 5i Team,

I have held a balanced Canadian Couch Potato Portfolio with the above etfs in my son's RESP which i started when he was born in 2009. The portfolio has done pretty well (in my books at least) at 8% annual return. I am now looking at a 6 year time horizon for when he will need to begin to draw from the RESP. I am thinking of starting to rotate toward more conservative holdings as the timeline for needing the funds draws closer. Under "normal" circumstances from what i have learned this would mean moving more into bonds at this point but I am having trouble believing this is appropriate in the current market. With interest rates and inflation both rising i am wondering if low debt dividend stocks might be a better bet to hold onto purchasing power in this time frame? Maybe something something like CDZ vs XBB? I know you can not suggest specific portfolio recommendations but looking for suggestions/best bets for maintaining value and keeping up with inflation over this time frame.

Thanks,

Q: Hello 5i,

I purchased these four funds in an income account in the summer/fall of last year. To date ZRE and CPD have hung in there, while the other two are slightly down overall including divs. Are these funds behaving the way you would expect for an income investor?

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor who usually has ALL of my cash at work. I am currrently sitting on roughly 2.5% cash and am considering topping up the above holdings to achieve my asset allocation targets.

Q#1 = Assuming a diversified portfolio, if I wanted to deploy my remaining minor amount of cash, in what order would you spend it and why?

My view is as follows:
First = PBH and WSP (good value right now = fundamentals and technicals look good, if you ignore the death crosses).
Second = ZRE (should do ok in a rising rate environment?).
Third = XIT (wait until at least the first interest rate increase has happened?).
Last = ADW.A (may need another quarter or two to get past the Covid impact).

Q#2 = or should I continue to sit on this cash if you think there are better opportunities coming in the future. It's not as if this minor amount of $ is going to make a huge impact on future performance.

Thanks...Steve

Q: Hi Peter & 5i,
Wishing you and the staff a joyous holiday season!
Would you see any red flags in this portfolio for a conservative investor needing the dividends for cash flow. The portfolio would be 50% equities and 50% fixed income - 5 year laddered GIC's.
Here are the stocks and their proposed weightings:
Financial Royal Bank RY 5.7%
TD Bank TD 3.6%
Sun Life SLF 4.4%
Power Corp POW 4.0%
Utility Fortis FTS 5.7%
Brookfield Renewable BEPC 4.2%
Algonquin Power AQN 2.2%
Comm TELUS T 4.7%
Bell BCE 4.1%
Cons Staple Costco COST 4.3%
Loblaws L 4.0%
Cons Discr. Magna MG 3.8%
Restaurant Brands QSR 2.4%
Industrial CN Rail CNR 5.2%
Savaria SIS 3.6%
Energy Enbridge ENB 4.6%
Suncor SU 2.9%
Materials Nutrien NTR 4.3%
Real Estate BMO-Equal Weight ZRE 4.2%
Tech Thomson Reuters TRI 4.8%
Health Evolve Global Health LIFE 3.8%
ETF BMO-Low Volatility US ZLU 8.7%
iShares-US Equity-Hedge XSP 4.8%
Thanks so much for the fantastic service.

Q: Hi 5i;
Just a follow up to my question and your answer about IDR this morning, so that I can better analyze ETF's which I have to say I find to be a perplexing exercise.
You wrote that IDR has "fees" of 1.28%, but both CIBC and BMO indicate that its MER is .98% - approximately a 30% difference, so quite significant. Is there more to the cost of ownership than just MER which I should consider when reviewing ETFs that would account for the difference? If so, where do I look to find this information?
You also indicated that IDR 's "small size" is $61M while CIBC seems to peg it's value at $107.4M and BMO at $109.8M - again quite significantly different. Am I missing something in my understanding of the value as stated by the likes of CIBC/BMO that I should be aware of when looking at ETFs, going forward?
Thanks - I appreciate your advice.
Peter

Q: Hi 5i,
I gather from your answers to the few questions that have been asked about it that you are not great fans of IDR for real estate exposure, and my initial question is basically why and what should I be concerned about?
If I'm reading the information correctly, IDR's 10 year growth rate (2011 - 2021) is 167%, with YTD sitting at 29%. It's annual yield meanwhile is 5.60% (or more) and it is diversified through holding residential, industrial and retail REITs in Canada (67%), USA (24%) and the UK (2%).
Could one potentially do better and risk less through holding individual REITs instead of the basket afforded by IDR and, if so, which ones would you recommend for the real estate portion of a portfolio in the current economic climate?
Thanks!
Peter

Q: Good afternoon!
This is one of Dorr Capital's funds that invest in mortgages (assumedly higher risk), and are speculating (pun intended!) a return of 7.5% annually, with distributions monthly.
The management fee is 1.25% (Series "A") or .85% (Series "F"). There is a cost to redeem on 30 days notice of 2% if in 1 year or 1% if in the second year.
I don't think this is much of a good idea, but was wondering:
1) Your thoughts on this specific investment?
2) Would there be any equities you could steer me towards that do this type of investment but without the management fees or the slow redemptions?
Thanks!
PaulK

Q: HI
I am woefully low in real estate and notice you have only 1 REIT in your three model portfolios combined albeit an equal weight REIT but your total real estate sector allocation would still be low. Are you bearish on real estate?

What if any real estate stocks do you like or would you still just favor ZRE for diversification for an RRSP holding? What would you suggest for real estate sector allocation percentage?

Q: Hi 5i, I started my stock market investing in March 2020 in order to get 'skin in the game'. I am a daily learner whose investing personality is that of an 'individualist'. I have determined my investing goal to be for income (mostly through dividends) and growth (for capital appreciation). I have found lately that my risk tolerance feels lower due to increasing volatility, talk of market decline/crash, increasing inflation, shortages, rising rates etc. As a result I would like to cash in the individual stocks I own that have given me good capital appreciation and replace them with ETF's and/or Index Funds. Income and growth plus diversification to my portfolio is my objective here. Since I hold more than enough physical precious metals and an emergency stash in US dollars I feel I have enough insurance/hedge against a worst case scenario happening in the economy. Please comment on these following ETF's. I am also open to other suggestions you might have as well. Please note that my entire TFSA is in my brokerage account so taxes are not an issue for me. Thanks

ZCN BMO S&P/TSX Composite Index
CIC CI First Asset Canadian Bank Income Class
ZWB BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks
RIT CI First Asset Canadian Banks
ZDV BMO Canadian Dividend
CDZ iShares Canadian Aristorcrats
XRE iShares Capped REIT
XEC Emerging Markets ETF

P.S. I assign an equal dollar amount for each investment in my portfolio. The ETF part of my portfolio are for long term holds.

Q: Hello Peter,

The ETF's above are in the income portfolio. All have different yields that are paid out monthly. My question is, do any of these "dividends" increase over time? Not the yield but the actual payout per share?

Thanks,

Kelly

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor, who usually follows a fully invested, buy-and-hold strategy for the long term but trims-adds around core positions to achieve the targeted asset allocation. I currently have <4% cash in the combined family portfolio.

Question #1 = for new monies into my wife's account as they become available, please rank the order in which you would invest into BCE, LNF, NWC....and why? I'm looking at where is the most Total Return upside over the foreseeable future. Ignore asset allocation, I've got that covered.

Q#2 = ditto for my account, please rank for new money investment into LIFE, ZRE, BNS, WSP...and why?

2 questions...please deduct 2 credits.

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.....Steve