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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: Every time I've looked at BAM or related companies I see a negative EPS (over a period of time). Everyone loves the parent and most of the subsidiaries and the buyers are usually rewarded. I don't understand how this works. I can't think of many companies with a similar profile of consistent success and apparently consistent losses. Is it all about cash flow?
Read Answer Asked by Peter on February 22, 2021
Q: Good day,
I hold BEP.UN;BEPC;BBU;CCL.B;ENB;EMA;H;FTS;CTC; and BAM in a non registered account and thanks to you I have done very well following your Q & A and portfolios. I am down 43% in SU; down 23% in CPD; down 16% in IPL and 6% in POW. Would you add to the winners? Add to the temporary losers or ADD new ones. After today, am tempted to add to SU for sure. Have RRIF and TFSA with pretty balanced sectors. Overall, Overweight in Utilities, Financials and okay with that. Many thanks, Paul
Read Answer Asked by Paul on November 16, 2020
Q: I want to buy Brookfield stock, please help me to make my choices and
grade them by order suggesting best choice first .
andrew.
Read Answer Asked by Andrzej on March 01, 2020
Q: Hello 5i Team,
I currently hold throughout my accounts BAM.A, BBU.UN and BPY.UN. I like what recent investments made with BIP.UN. Would you consider a switch of one of my existing holdings and/or am I over exposed to Brookfield as whole?
I have a Long term Time Horizon.
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Massimo on January 12, 2020
Q: Hello 5i Team
Further to previous comments this morning and apologies for the length.

Comments on the Brookfield family of companies, US $ dividends and tax implications.

From the Brookfield website:
Please note that the quarterly dividend payable on Brookfield's Class A Limited Voting Shares is declared in U.S. dollars. Registered shareholders who are U.S. residents receive their dividends in U.S. dollars, unless they request the Cdn. dollar equivalent. Registered shareholders who are Canadian residents receive their dividends in the Cdn. dollar equivalent, unless they request to receive dividends in U.S. dollars. Prior to the September 30, 2016 payment date, the Canadian dollar equivalent of the quarterly dividend was based on the Bank of Canada noon exchange rate on the record date.
Beginning with the March 31, 2017 payment date, the Canadian dollar equivalent of the quarterly dividend is based on the Bank of Canada daily average exchange rate exactly two weeks (or 14 days) prior to the payment date for the dividend.

What this means is the Brookfield entities "declare" their dividends/distributions in US$ and the transfer agent (Computerserve) pays the broker in Canadian dollars (as the broker i.e. beneficial holder is a Canadian resident ) regardless of whether the shares are held in a Canadian or US dollar denominated account. If the shares are held in a US$ dollar account the broker then "buys" US$ to pay the share owner's account. This results in a small under or over payment of the actual dividend/distribution depending on how exchange rates have moved. This is how my brokerage (RBC Direct Investing) explained it.

Further to the tax issues:
The limited partnerships (BBU, BEP, BIP, BPY) pay distributions which are recorded on a T-5013 (and not a T-3 or T-5). The distributions are a combination of eligible dividends, interest income, foreign income, return of capital and other items depending on the entity. Companies have until March 31 to issue each years T-5013 (similar to a T-3 issued for REITs) which results in delays in filing annual income tax. Therefore it is better to hold the LPs in a RRSP/LIRA/TFSA if you want to simplify your annual tax return, however if the entities are held in a RRSP/TFSA there may be foreign withholding tax that cannot be recovered. Previous years breakdown of the distributions can be found on the individual LP's web page. Each individual should review their tax situation with a their individual tax expert.

BIP and now BEP move to create a Canadian Corporation which will issue eligible dividends will make life much simpler from a tax perspective.
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on November 12, 2019
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