Investment Q&A

Q: Hello Peter & Co,
I will join the chorus of voices favouring the portfolio approach. As a case in point, I own all the stocks in the 5i balanced equity portfolio except AYA,G,SIS,SYZ and WSP and the total return in 2015 (up to Nov 15) is 14.5%; that's a great performance considering the tough year we're having.
I salute you all,
Antoine

Q: Thank you for your recent article on Call Options.
1. Would you be willing to share with us which online trading platform you use to execute your call option trades?
2. Could you briefly explain if and how the call option premium income would affect the T1153 filings each year?
3. You mention that because of 5i no-conflict rules, you only invest in non-Canadian securities. Will this method work as well on Canadian stocks and would you be able to provide some good safe Canadian names for a beginner start with? If so, would you still use the same online trading platform for Canadian trades?

Thank you again,

Q: Hi Peter,
I purchased stocks in the growth portfolio under your recommendation with the understanding it could entail very large volatility and risk... but was OK with that given that these would all be mid to long-term holds. Taking Guestlogix as an example - I bought right after the Growth portfolio was released and to date I am down about 75.0%. Although I don't like this, I was OK with this volatility given it was going to be a long-term hold and there are still expectations of growth, but now you have recommended a complete sell only 8 months later so I am confused. What should an investor do in my position?

Q: Hello team,

Could you please shed more light on Amaya's $3 billion prospectus. Is this why Amaya fell and hence is it not already priced in? How is this going to affect the stock price in the next couple of years? Do you think they issue more debt or common shares? Is it prudent to wait and buy when shares are cheaper or is it better to just proceed and ignore the short term price gyrations? And finally what do you think of the article in Financial Post: http://business.financialpost.com/financial-post-magazine/high-school-dropout-has-turned-amaya-into-a-gaming-and-publicly-traded-powerhouse
Who is Andy Holloway? Is he credible? Would you buy what his glowing assessment?
I already own Amaya and after the market meltdown and its own fall my position has been reduced to 2% and I wonder if I should add now and wait for better times? I want to believe in the company and the growing online gaming industry but not foolishly or excessively?

And for what is worth, like other members I too have lost money on many of the stocks suggested by 5i, but I have no regrets and know very well that I would have lost much much more without your informed guidance. So, keep up the excellent job you are doing on our behalf and don't be discouraged by the negative comments you hear every now and then. For everyone of those you have at least 9 happy members who don't say much. Stock market is not made for the faint of hearts and we all know that you are on our side all the time, good and bad. It is not your fault that the market is not doing as well as it used to in the past few years. Thank you for everything!

Q: 7:57 AM 11/18/2015
Hello 5i
I am concerned about PrairieSky Royalties.
Will the income from the drillers and producers leasing their properties slow down if production decreases or do they have long term fixed contracts and take-or-pay deals?
Is their income tied to the actual price of oil/gas or are royalties fixed to production volumes?
Do you forsee any problems sustaining the dividends looking ahead a few years?
PSK is my only actual oil/gas holding and is 1% of my portfolio.
Would I be better off selling PSK and adding 1% to either my EMA[currently a 4% position] or to PPL[currently a 2% position]?
I can sell at no loss if I choose, so what would you advise.
Thank you.......... Paul K

Q: how do the numbers look?

Q: Hello Peter/Ryan,

My RIF has one annual payment due mid Dec. I have narrowed the source of funds to either XHY, of which there is a large holding, or MRG.UN which also is a fairly large holding. The overall REIT holdings across five accts is 4.7%. The overall holdings of XHY and other high yield bonds is about 6%. Either choice will still leave a fairly large holding (dollar value) of the selected stock/ETF in the RIF

I am inclined to make the withdrawal from XHY as perhaps MRG.UN will provide a bit better return in the year(s) ahead. Do you agree with selling some XHY or would you recommend I sell some of each?

Separate point: Would it be possible to put the Model and Income portfolio stock listings in alphabetical order for next publication (either by symbol or by name).

Many thanks. Bob

Q: Just wanted to thank you for your service. Its impossible to find this level of service outside. I think you made a good call removing Win from the portfolio. I think the overall portfolio approach works..most people complaining are buying individual stocks and picking and choosing one or 2 out of 20 or so stocks in the portfolio. I think people should pick one or two of the portfolios and buy a % of all stocks in that portfolio. I think you have given good thought to setting up each portfolio. I think it will be a good thing to have a write up/guidance about setting up a portfolio for new investors. cheers, Shyam

Q: Please comment on where 5i stands as a whole in regards to the needs for pipelines and on the Fed environment department giving a green light to build an LNG plant on Lelu island (Petronas). In regards to pipelines, specifically on ‘Energy East’ and ‘Trans Mountain’. There certainly is a lot of red tape with the Fed/Prov, Environmentalists, FN’s, etc; but isn’t it time Canada “became whole” on important infrastructure (ie. pipelines/LNG) issues to move our “trapped” resource to tide water/abroad? 5i has a very savvy investor base, a moderated forum would be a good thing to “open the floor” so to speak to hear all views on a variety of issues...

Thanks and regards,
Evan

Q: Hi; This should be a simple question. If a large firm\investment bank is underwriting an IPO or equity offering, what specifically does that entail. Is that simply the firm\investment bank selling equity to client. Is there any fiscal inputs required from the large firm\investment bank. Secondly, if the investment bank is underwriting and providing analyst coverage isn't that an obvious conflict of interest. Are there no regulations for that?

Q: Canadian Regulators are concerned about bans that cxr has imposed on the resale of their shares 14% stake to private-equity firm Cinven, who inturn resold to 60 activist firms.
Going forward will this effect the future stock performance
Thanks as usual.

Q: I am curious as to what criteria is used for selecting companies for the various portfolios.
I realize that the criteria will be different with each portfolio and its purpose but my curiosity has been peaked by a stock that has never made any of your lists.
I realize that there are a limited number of spots with a limited number of portfolios and as such you must make choices as we all do.
In my case the curiosity was peaked by NFI which I have owned going back to the good old trust unit days and while my portfolio shows that I am up 260% all of the shares that I own are really free as I have taken all of my costs off the table, so to speak and I won't be trimming my holdings of it any more.
Since I have owned and followed the company for many years other than a very brief period of concern over the lack of American municipal finding for public transit, the company has had a full order book, been profitable, increased dividends and increased in value.
Never made your reports or portfolios hence my curiosity.
I has even survived being recommended by Gordon Pape although that effect may still linger!
So why wouldn't a company like that make a portfolio?
Thanks for the great service.

Q: Because of its size BTB.UN is somewhat risky.On Nov 16 they issued $25M worth of convertible debentures which is another negative.I've done pretty well by it over the years but this latest placement makes me nervous.Would you consider selling it or selling it & buying the convertible debentures or standing pat.It is less than a 2% weighting or in my portfolio.Thanks as always,team.

Q: I read today that if I wouldn't buy the company today perhaps it is a good reason to sell. In the case of Flyht Aerospace, I have lost 74%. So just to clean up my investments a bit I thought of selling. At the same time, I have no need to sell so could hang on for several years if there was a perceived value with FLY. I see that they have changed their executive. I don't know if good or just loss of confidence in the company by their old senior executive. Any thoughts you have in terms of action I should take are appreciated.

Q: Hello 5i team
How do you see CMI facing the future? I am getting a bit discouraged as to its possibilities.

Q: Could I get your opinion of URE, they appear to be a low cost producer. Are you familiar with management.

Q: Hi guys, I have done very well with the consumer discretionary sector both in Canada & the U.S.A. My problem is that it has grown to 25% of my portfolio (each name is between 3 to 4%). What is your forcast for the sector in 2016 and should I trim now or wait until they reach 6 to 7%. Should you recommend trimming, what sector looks interesting to you to this time.

Thanks,

Jim

Q: What do you think of their Rate reset Pref Ser7. 5.5% is their offer. Came through Scotia iTrade. May not get the quantity that one requests. Worth buying? Safe for 5 years?
On an another note, I know that they will return the original 25 $ in 5 years even if it goes down. But what if the shares appreciate?

Q: Between CXR or GUD for a full new position, what would you recommend? Thanks

Q: Thinking about switching from Saputo (SAP, about a 2.5% position) to A&W. I'm a little under water on Saputo, I can use for a capital loss.

SAP is trading at around a 20-21x multiple, so in my opinion, chances of it running $3 or $4+ more in the short term is fairly limited. Plus, the Saputo family has a 34% voting interest so, I'm guessing, chances of a takeover are fairly limited in the immediate future.

These are the reason's I wouldn't mind selling SAP for a more efficient use of my funds. However, I am having difficulty valuing AW.UN in comparison with SAP. I like AW.UN's monthly dividend. I like the fact that it seems to be a well run business. And I like the fact its just about the perfect size for a large number of players in the food services industry to take them out. However, like I said, I am having difficulty valuing AW.UN. I'm wondering if you can help me out? Is it cheap, fairly valued, or expensive against the backdrop of its growth profile?

Thanks.

John