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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: Which REITs, either Canadian and/or US, are suggested for secure dividends and potential appreciation once interest rates settle. I asked this question several days ago but it much have fallen through the cracks. thanks A,
Read Answer Asked by alex on March 12, 2024
Q: On March 4 you wrote, "We do like the outlook for REITs and think that as rates stabilize and even decline, the sector should benefit. Out of the two REITs mentioned we like XRE better due to the bigger size and slightly lower expense ratio."

On January 12 you wrote, "HCRE is an equal-weight REIT ETF, which has a small AUM of $48.3M, a relatively low MER of 0.33%, and a yield of 5.9%.

ZRE is also an equal-weight REIT ETF, but has a much larger AUM of $583.7M, an MER of 0.61%, and a yield of 5.1%. XRE is not equal-weight, has a large AUM of $1.0B, a yield of 5.4%, and an MER of 0.61%.

ZRE has outperformed XRE over a long period of time, and thus we like the equal-weight approach."

Can you please clarify your preference for either XRE or ZRE and the main reason for that preference? I gather your preference is for ZRE given it is part of one of your portfolios. It is just that your March 4 response has led me to wonder.

Thanks as always for your expertise.

Read Answer Asked by Richard on March 11, 2024
Q: Sir. In the spirit of weeding the garden, I find myself well down in these stocks…with a time frame of 1 year , please comment on which to keep or toss how…. 5i had good things to say about many of these in the past, but we all know that times change quickly in this business…
Read Answer Asked by James on February 05, 2024
Q: Hello, I would like your opinion of HCRE versus ZRE and XRE. Avantages include the lower MER (0,33%) and no taxable distribution in a cash account, but it has a low trading volume. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Martin on January 12, 2024
Q: I took a position in ZRE, I also try to avoid office REITS and a to high proportion of retail REITS in the present market..I noticed that ZRE fact sheet shows 68% retail REITS,and no residential REIT in its sector allocation ! Among the 23 holdings, at least 9 appear to be residential REITS.Could you please indicate the "real percentage" of retail REITS and of residential REITS in this ETF.Are sector allocation % calculated from the number of REITS or by the cumulative NAV in each category?
Read Answer Asked by Jean-Yves on January 10, 2024
Q: I am woefully underexposed to the real estate sector.
Could you please identify your top 3 Canadian stocks, REITS and ETF's which one might play for the impending interest rate cuts in 2024?

Thanks
Jeff
Read Answer Asked by JEFF on December 04, 2023
Q: Good afternoon,

I know that there are diversification benefits to owning ZRE vs individual REITs in Canada. But for a 1-2% portfolio weight, I wonder if I might be better off with a name like CHP.UN purely for income given the quality of their largest tenant.

I have owned ZRE for awhile now, but have to admit to being underwhelmed by its performance.

Thoughts?

Thanks as always.

Thoughts
Read Answer Asked by Trevor on November 01, 2023
Q: I don't have any ETF's and I would like to have one of Canadian stocks and one for US stocks. What do you think of the above etf's or could you suggest another one for each of the markets.
Thank you Dorothy
Read Answer Asked by Dorothy on October 24, 2023
Q: I'm not sure if I should take comfort in the fact that you still have ZRE in the portfolio or not, the last little while has been rough. If you were putting new money into the sector under current conditions would you stick with the equal weight ETF approach or would you just choose a couple of your favourite individual stocks like DIR and/or CAR (or perhaps another ETF that is not equal weight)?
Read Answer Asked by Stephen R. on September 26, 2023
Q: Interest rates likely peaking and many real estate stocks are trading at discount. I am considering adding to real estate. Would you comment on this thought and suggest a stock and index.
Read Answer Asked by joe on September 13, 2023
Q: Income account needs some diversification. Was looking at REITs and pref's. In today's environment which would be your favored ETF's for income and some possible growth? Thanks Ron
Read Answer Asked by Ronald on August 22, 2023
Q: I would like to follow up on a question asked last week l, to choose between a reit etf and a utilities etf. And you advised the utility sector mapped here is better. Could you please advise on the dividend stock space in general to add in say telcos, banks, insurance and pipelines?
The broader discussion of the moment is about rates and their future path and relative value of earnings and dividends compared to t bills and low risk savings of the like.
Do you feel that any of these sectors are good buys at the moment? Could you maybe rank or group which you feel are best or just in vs out?
Thank you,

Peter
Read Answer Asked by Peter on August 16, 2023
Q: As per your recent guidance, with interest rates plateauing, ZRE seems to be bottoming. What would be your opinion re moving some money from VFV, and putting it in ZRE. VFV has done very well and is scheduled to do well in the future. Do you recommend this kind of movement of fixed income from one group to another. Thanking you for the great guidance you have always provided.
Read Answer Asked by Vinod on July 18, 2023
Q: Hi, a few years ago I got tired of trying to pick winners in the REIT space and invested in your model portfolio choice of ZRE. I'm wondering now if some of the equal weight holdings are starting to be a drag on performance, that may continue into the medium term? The same average yield could probably be obtained with a few individual securities like CAR and DIR with maybe a better outlook for capital appreciation in that same medium term (understanding that you would be moving up the risk scale again)? Do you think you would do better as a stock picker in this space today or stick with the ETF? If the former, do you have better suggestions today than the two named? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Stephen R. on July 04, 2023