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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: For money that will be needed in 5 years I am considering investing in some of the new recently issued bank pref shares.

TD.PF.G ,RY.PR.Q, BNS.PR.E

Assuming the shares are all called in 2021 at $25 the current yields would come out to be approximately 4.5%. This would be equivalent to approximately 7.7% on an interest rate.(depending on income levels ) If the banks issued a 5 year GIC at 7.7% the lineup would be long.

With this in mind, is the only realistic risk based on the possibility of interest rates rising?

Also, any thoughts how much these would get hit if interest rates rose , say a full 1%.

Great service & many thanks.

Paul
Read Answer Asked by paul on May 09, 2016
Q: Good Morning
I hold 4 Canadian banks CM, TD, RY and BNS in an unregistered account. The bank stocks comprise just under 20% of my portfolio and each has approximately a 50% capital gain. My only other financial stock is a 2.5% position in PWF. Capital gains in my account this year will likely be taxed at 15%. I am considering selling one of the bank stocks (perhaps CM) and investing the proceeds in SLF. I have chosen SLF for it's relatively low valuation and secure dividend.
Is reducing the allocation to Canadian banks appropriate, or does the tax which has to be paid cancel the benefit?
Which bank would you sell?
Is SLF a suitable alternative or is there another company that you would prefer. I already have full positions in CNR and BAM.A.
Thanks
David
Read Answer Asked by David on April 25, 2016
Q: We have 2 Rrsp accounts. The first one contains mostly 5i recommendations with a focus on dividend income and some growth. We would like to structure the second account to be more conservative and withdraw the dividend income. We like the Canadian banks ie RY and BNS as the dividend is safe and pays well and even when there is a sell off in the banks (including 2009) they eventually bounce back thus preserving capital but in the meantime one just collects the dividend. i know you would say that we should diversify so my question to you is what other stocks would you suggest that pay a 4percent dividend and have the security of the banks over the mid to long term or until Interest rates increase to make GICs/bonds an option.
Thank you.
M
Read Answer Asked by Maggie on April 25, 2016
Q: Recently read an article in Globeinvestor entitled "It's time to check out the dazzling yields of Canada's big bank preferred shares" a recent offering from them pays a dividend of 5.5% and after 5 years is reset to 4.8% over the 5 year Canadian bond rate. My question is what would the symbol be or how could I purchase this,I trade online and that's the vehicle I would like to purchase them through,appreciate your answer ..thanks
Read Answer Asked by Greg on March 24, 2016
Q: RBC and a number of the other banks have recently issued preferred shares(series BM ?) where the dividend rate will reset every five years at a rate equal to 4.80 per cent over the 5-year Government of Canada bond yield. Do you think these are a good buy for income and safety? If yes are they available now and what is the symbol of the Royal Bank version ? Thanks Ken
Read Answer Asked by Ken on March 23, 2016
Q: Because I am primarily a dividend investor , I don't really have a "sell discipline" for bluechip stocks and simply ride the ups and downs while dripping dividends. This has been painful for pipelines and REITS and banks etc, some of which are down substantially. Some would say it's wiser to sell at breakdown points such as 200 day average, or sell a portion when the stock is up 50%. I have only sold rarely for re-balancing and so have taken some lumps lately. Any words of re-assurance would be appreciated.
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by richard on January 18, 2016
Q: Canadian banks have all dropped in value YTD by up to 6%. I understand that this is due in part to concerns about energy-related loan losses as well as high consumer debt levels. What is your call on what will cause the declining trend to stop, and when that might be ? From a technical point of view, where is the support level for RY ?
Read Answer Asked by Don on January 14, 2016
Q: Just wondering about your take on the Canadian Banks going to the yearend. I bought them in the spring for a long term hold and am down about 10%. I know short term trades are mugs game but am considering them for some early tax loss selling and buying back later on in the fall, after 3Q earnings and the election. Doesn't seem to be much catalyst for them to go higher and with all the uncertainty I wonder if they'll drop some more.
Read Answer Asked by Lloyd on September 15, 2015
Q: 1:10 PM 26/08/2015
Hello Peter
I am interested in buying one or two of RY, CM, TD, SLF, GWO, MFC. Would you comment on the robustness of their balance sheets and provide some numbers on their Debt/Equity and Debt/Cash Flow ratios, Dividend growth rates, and possible "Black Swan Events". I look at various financial website sources and the numbers for these companies are all over the shop.
Thank you. Paul K.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on August 27, 2015
Q: I received a lump sum and for a short time I would like to put the funds into some stable stocks who pay a quarterly dividend and who's X dividend date is from now until the end of April. I would like an annual yield of 3.5 - 8%. I will then bleed the money out into a dividend growth model of 5i stocks. I have looked at 28 stocks and only found 2 Ry 4/21 & pot 4/9 x dates. The stocks I have checked are Ala, bus,td, bce, enb, xtc,and,ipl, key,pki, ppl,stn,vet,ten,win, syz, ago, cox, bin, dh, slf, wsp, t, wsp,van,tcp. Thank you very much, your site has incredibly valuable information which I check each day. mike
Read Answer Asked by Mike on April 02, 2015
Q: Hi guys,

I want to limit exposure to the financial sector to 20% of my portfolio. I currently own TD and BNS and with the recent pullback in the major CDN banks, I'm thinking of adding 2 additional banks and I'm thinking about BMO and RY. I don't want to invest in an insurance company since no one can be sure when rates go up and I'm not sure about Home Capital Group since it is more concentrated in its business than the major CDN banks and the yield on the major CN banks are twice that of HCG? Your thought? It is risky to hold 4 major CDN banks in my portfolio if overall exposure is capped at 20%?

Thanks,
Jason
Read Answer Asked by Jason on March 16, 2015
Q: Hello, I have recently reviewed the management fees on RRSP accounts I have with an investment firm. I have reviewed the funds that They have me currently invested in and have found similar mutual funds with RBC, all D series funds. I have calculated the loss due to higher MER and am shocked by he difference it would have made in my accounts. While I have money that I invest on my own, I like the idea of having some stashed away in managed funds (I like doing my research on smaller companies and trust the bigger names to the professionals). The "d series" funds with RBC have considerably lower MER. Is that the best way for me to reinvest my mutual funds once I move them over to RBC? Is there a better or cheaper way to invest those funds? ETF's you would suggest? Is there anything out there that would suit my needs better than the RBC D series funds? I have approx 1/3 of my investments tied up in these funds at this time with my current investment firm. For what it's worth I suggest anyone who has Mutual funds with an investment firm look at the MER for each fund they are invested in. There are cheaper ways to have your money managed, the best I found so far are RBC D series funds. If you have a better suggestions, I am all ears.
Read Answer Asked by Gerald on March 13, 2015