Investment Q&A

Q: 11:31 AM 2/23/2017
Hi Peter:

I don't quite understand your rationale for owning gold bullion, gold streamers or gold miner shares as insurance. Today you said : "The key for 'insurance' such as gold is to own it when you need it, not after." It seems to me that this implies selling your gold at a crisis time since insurance only pays off if the house burns down.

Does this mean you advise actually selling gold positions if the market plunges? Golds get hammered too in crisis situations so may not be winners either. Holding golds through a crisis is almost pointless since if you don't sell you just ride the price up and back down again and almost all golds have trivial dividends, so no meaningful income from them while holding. I just don't see the point. Much better to own BCE or RY or TRP! Would you agree?

Thank you.... Paul K

Q: Hi Team, Is there a Canadian pipeline stock other than TRP which will benefit from the construction of Keystone and completing of DAPL? If there is more than one who benefits the most? Secondly, other than SU which oil companies will benefit the most from Keystone/DAPL?

Thanks Team. May the Force be with you. Chris

Q: Yesterday BNN guest suggested TRP.PR.K to use as a saving account as it is a reset with a minimum 4.5% reset or better. For those of us with excess cash do you recommend using this security as an alternate to a MMF?

QQQX was pointed out to me as an interesting CEF with a 7.1% yield as well as some very interesting growth oriented holdings. What do you think about this CEF?

With thanks

Sheldon

Q: A guest on BNN said this was a new kind of preferred share. Is it a good way to diversify portfolio and gain some yield. What are risks to this investment or is owning common stock of TransCanada a better idea.

Q: With todays actions in Washington and a nice bump in the price of Trans Canada Pipelined ( new 52 week high ) would you expect a pullback while negotiations take place or will overall current performance continue to move the price higher ?

Gerry

Q: You recently answered a question by saying "For pipeline and/or energy infrastructure, we would suggest ENB and/or TRP."

I hold PPL. Do you feel that ENB or TRP are strong enough to warrant selling PPL to purchase one/both of them?

PS: I really like that you respond to questions so quickly.

Q: My energy holdings are ENB, IPL, TRP and PKI. I wish to reduce energy exposure and have targetted IPL or TRP. Div income is not a consideration although held in a non-reg acct. I am in favour of selling IPL however some TRP metrics tell me maybe it should be TRP (TRP ROE = -11%, EPS = -$2.76 although recognize TRP is approx 5x market cap of IPL). Both are good companies and recognize I have some duplication. I welcome 5i thoughts for long term hold based on numbers, projects, etc.

Q: In my 35-stock portfolio, I have a 9% overall weighting in the following:

ALA - 3%
ENB - 2.5%
TRP - 2.1%
BEP.UN - 1.4%

I am assuming that 9% is an "okay weighting" for this group (?) but my main question is, whether or not you see too much overlap in these stocks.

I know this group provides a mixture of storage and pipelines that move shale oil, crude, gas, etc. I also have exposure to renewable energy which has kept me from investing in other power-related stocks such as Fortis and Canadian Utilities.

Do you have any concerns about the weighting or overlap?

By the way, the only energy stock I have is TOU - 1.2%, if that makes any difference.

Thanks.

Jim

Q: Your response to Brian on Dec 15 included the following comment: "if you own 85% of your portfolio in high dividend stocks, then this is more of a concern".

I am a retired, conservative, dividend-income investor, with a pension, CPP, annuities, the above listed stocks and 3 income producing MFs (RBC Cdn Equity Income, Sentry Cdn Income, Sentry Global REIT).

I fit the 85% easily. I believe my portfolio is diversified by sector and by security. I also believe the securities have, for the most part, sustainable and growing dividends. I am a "buy-and-hold investor with reasonable tolerance for volatility.

Your comments and concerns please, along with any recommended improvements. Thanks...Steve

Q: I am trying to quantify my risk if 10 year treasury rates go back to the "normal" levels of 10 years ago (i.e. 4.5% to 5%). Would you be able to provide a reference to a source of dividend yields for the above stocks at that time? Would this be a good indicator of price risk for these stocks?

Thanks

Q: Hello 5i, between these energy companies, TRP, ENB, PPL.un , and IPL.un, KEY, which of the following companies would you recommend buying now for a long term hold?
Please advise from best to least liked, or please advise if you would have a different recommendation of the energy sector companies? Thank You.

Q: Is it a good time to buy above stocks for RRSP?I appreciate your order of preference.Thank you.Ebrahim

Q: As a retired income investor, I own TRP (3.7%), ENB (3.5%), ENF (0.7%), PPL (1.7%), IPL (2.8%), ALA (3.7%) representing ~16% of the Canadian investments across all my accounts (registered & unregistered).

I am uncertain whether I should continue to hold all of these because the overall percentage is too high. Keeping in mind that I need income, should I perhaps cut the 16% down to ?? or is it fine to continue with this percentage? Which are your preferred picks for a longterm hold?

Should I rationalize down to 3 or 4 of these names or cut percentages of specific stocks? Do you view any of them as especially risky?

(Canadian banks and telcos represent 24% and 10% respectively of my Canadian investments.)

This may count as another question which is fine:
• Have you any insight into the geographies served by the smaller pipeline companies?
• Is there any likelihood of acquisition/ merger activity between them or with TRP or ENB or ?

Thank you 5i, as always!

Heather

Q: Do you think TRP would be a good buy just now?

Q: What do you think about the $3.2 Billion TransCanada deal at $58.50?

Q: What do you make of recent news about Transcanada offering lower rates to to companies wanting to transport natural gas in its pipelines? Do you know if this is for existing customers or new customers only? What does this mean for other pipeline companies? Is this an indication of a loss of pricing power? And lastly, what could it mean for the prospects for future dividend increases?

Thanks, and keep up the good work,

Q: Further to today's Q&A from Stephen R. re sector diversification and PPL / TRP, I too have a similar issue with TRP and ENB. I have been (arbitrarily) assigning both of these holdings as half Energy, and half Utility. Could you give me your opinion on this approach. Thanks kindly, T.

Q: Hi 5i Team:
I’m sold on the need to maintain sector diversification and use your suggested weightings for an income portfolio as my guide. It is how to classify pipelines that always gives me difficulty. I hold Algonquin, Fortis and Innergex to the tune of 10% classified as Utilities. I hold Canadian Natural Resources and Parkland Fuels which make up 7.0% as Energy. Now the problem, I also own Pembina and TransCanada to a total of another 6%. If I go against the TSX and say they are Utilities then I am pretty much in line with where I want to be. If I say they are Energy, suddenly I am overweight Energy and underweight Utilities. My question is do you have any data that would suggest which sector the pipelines are actually more strongly correlated to historically? My feeling is that they have probably moved down with Energy when the oil and gas sector gets beaten up, but also move down with Utilities when interest rates go up so not sure it really matters that much unless one has a crystal ball? But I try not to invest by feelings, would love to know if there is any hard data to support a decision? Alternatively, if you just look at the above and say “too much energy exposure for proper diversification” that’s good enough for me. Appreciate your guidance as always, thanks!

Q: I am looking to crystallize gains in PPL, and seeking an alternative in the pipeline/utility sector. I currently own ENB and TRP as well as FTS. What do you recommend for diversification in combination with those three?

Q: Peter; The Alberta government just announced they are going to challenge a agreement made by the previous PC government to basically allow power companies out of contracts if they proved to be unprofitable due to actions by the government. It's called the ENRON agreement.. Can you quantify which companies these would be, and the impact, if the challenge is upheld.? Thanks. Rod