Investment Q&A

Q: In light of the Globe's vague yet suggestive article yesterday, https://www.theglobeandmail.com//report-on-business/streetwise/manulifes-us-arm-swept-up-in-ges-95-billion-insurance-writedown/article37628227/, how would you interpret this to impact manulife's overall business? The article implies that many insurers are ill prepared for the degree long term claims with this aging population. I recognize this is regarding the John Hancock business in the US and I am interested in your take on how this might impact the stock overall? Is it time to switch to Sunlife? Any of your well thought out advice is much appreciated.

Q: Hi,
I am a big believer in the benefits of holding shares of solid companies with DRIP and SPP plans. As such, for part of our investment portfolio, we currently hold BNS, BMO, FTS, and SU in these direct registered plans. I would like to add other companies to these, with a 10-15 year holding period. Looking for your thoughts on the following that offer both DRIP and SPP plans.
CAE- Seem financially solid and long term returns have been good
ALA/EMA- Does it make sense to add one of these since I hold FTS already? If so which would you recommend?
ENB/TRP- Best option for security and rising dividends in a rising rate environment?
T/BCE- Best choice for growth and dividends?
IAG/SLF/MFC- Over the long term, (I think my screener went back to 2000), IAG has dramatically outperformed in share price appreciation, but dividend is lower. Your choice here?
Deduct credits as required.
Kind Regards

Q: I am looking for dividend income that's less interest sensitive then reits and utilities do you have a few suggestions thanks Barry

Q: Hi,

I've owned 15% in CDN banks for the last couple years and they're dong well. Do you expect banks or lifeco's will do better in the next couple years?
Can you pick your top two choices of the the insurance cos and banks for the next couple years?

Q: Hi Team,

I hold MFC in my kids RESP. It's up over 75% since I bought it many years ago. It represents 50% of the portfolio now, (enb, fts and bce are the other stocks). I want to switch some things around and add a bit of growth, but with the interest rates rising should I leave it alone ... or do you think a lot of those potential gains from rising rates have already happened?

What would a couple growth ideas be for a 10 year horizon in an RESP?

Thanks!

Q: Which do you prefer for future growth. SLF or MFC.

Q: Thoughts on their 22 Dec announcement of charges and Trump taxes. Call me paranoid, but the timing was suspicious. Is it likely the time to jump ship?

Q: what is your opinion of manulife's announcement on Dec 22?

Q: Looking to purchase some individual rate reset preferred shares. Looking for relatively early reset dates. Would you be comfortable with: BCE.PR.Q, MFC.PR.J, RY.PR.H, TRP.PR.G ?
Regards,
Robert

Q: I am a little overweight in Canadian financials and worry about the new stress testing the banks will use for determining eligibility for mortgages next year.
Would it make any sense to take a little off the table and buy one of the life co's given expected rising interest rates and if so which of the above three?
Thanks
Jeff

Q: Good morning. I would like to add an insurance company to my income portfolio. I'm having trouble deciding between SLF and MFC. Your insights would be appreciated.

Thanks, John

Q: i currently hold ba and td . i alike them both esp td as my dtr works there!
assuming financials will do well over next few years i like to add another. i gather JPM is good (how diff are they from BA? ) Or an insurance like Manu for their asian exposure.
i am open to other suggestiins

Q: I have become overweight in MFC, and wondering if I should shift some of this investment to SLF. Your thoughts or alternative suggestions to keep in the same sector? Thanks for your excellent service.

Alan

Q: I wish to add one more financial to my portfolio. I already have BMO,BNS,TD. I am considering the above companies. Which one would you recommend or do you think it would be better to just add to the ones I already have? Is there another that you would recommend that I should consider?

Q: I have about 35 % in the above stocks in my TFSA and they have gone up nicely. The rest of my TFSA portfolio is following loosely your income portfolio ( + ZPW, ZWE, ZWH etc). My question is whether I should lower my exposure to the financial sector above?
Do you have some suggestions as to which US companies I could buy were I to sell some of the banks. I bought the US banks for growth as the rest of the stocks on the Can. side are mostly income producers.I already own Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft and Visa in my RRSP.
Thank you for your answer.
Heidi

Q: Would you know what exposure our Canadian insurance companies have to the Hurricanes in Florida and Texas? How much of their P&C and reinsurance business is in the southern US?
Thanks

Q: Hello Peter,
With the increase in interest rates, i was expecting Sunlife and Manulife to go higher but they have dropped. Any comments? I want to increase my weighting to 5 percent for Enbridge and Alimentation Couch Tard but both stocks are not responding well eventhough Alimentation had good results. Would 5 percent be too much? Also, if you had a choice between fairfax africa and india, which one would you prefer and finally, I was thinking of Jean Coutu for a 5 year hold. Can you see it doubling in 5 years? Lastly, all the stocks that the shorts went after have not really recovered (CXR, HCG, CRH, etc). What does this say about the analysis that was done by various managers including ones on BNN? I am not blaming anyone but it is discouraging that the shorts were right. Thank you

Q: Can you explain the recent weakness?
I would like to increase my position size and wonder if this is a good time. Thanks.

Q: Admittedly the BoC only raised rates yesterday, but aren't lifecos supposed to do well in rising rates environments? Anyway, where do you this sector going over the next 12 months? Thank you.

Q: Manulife Class-action has a settlement amount of $69,000,000 to be distributed among shareholders past and present April 1, 2004 to October 9, 2017). It has 2 billion shares outstanding. I have 350 shares which I have held for five months. Since the shares are in insurance company, pension fund, ETF and mutual fund portfolios, is it worth filing a claim. I predict a payout of less than $10 (if any) as many shares have been sold in the 13 year time lapse.