Investment Q&A

Q: Earnings comments. Thanks.

Q: I recently asked a question about a substitute for SLF for tax selling purposes. I was wondering what you might think about a US substitute for slf? I know there is no dividend tax benefit. But, I will be rebuying whatever I buy in a RIF, therefore no tax consequences.
thanks for the great service as always

Q: Good afternoon 5i,
On Dec 5 Terry asked this question:
Which company would you recommend for a proxy to SLF tax loss selling? IAG or GWO? I dont like MFC because they cut their dividend in 2008.
Thanks

I don't mind mfc that much and besides, I will only be holding it for a month. Can I get your updated view on what would be a good placeholder for Slf, no conditions of any kind applied?
thanks

Q: 2:10 PM 1/29/2019
Hi: I am concerned about deteriorating trade relations between Canada and China. Could you please indicate which of the big 6 Canadian banks and big 3 Insurance have business in China and what percent of their entire business is located there.
Thank you.......... Paul K

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan, and team,

In a recent post in Stock Chase, Barry Schwartz was commenting on MFC and gave it a "Don't Buy" rating, for reasons similar to 5i's. He then goes on to say that "he avoids this sector".

Is there a compelling reason to own SLF (or any other insurer) in the Financial Sector?

Our sector holdings across all accounts are BNS at 2%, GSY at 3.8%, SLF at 2%, TD at 6%, and TRI at 0.9%.

Should we 'stay the course' and keep things as they are, or should changes be made?

As always, I really value your advice.

Q: I currently hold Markel (MKL) for some conservative balance to my portfolio, and I have (had) high hopes as it's commonly called a 'mini Berkshire' and hey, it's insurance they always win... While my position is still up, it's underperformed relative to my expectations. Further, I'm increasingly anxious about how extreme weather events (read climate change - fires, hurricanes, floods) will effect the insurance business.

In light of the above, I have two questions:
1. How do you feel about MKL, and;
2. Can you recommend an insurance company that is less exposed to property and more exposed to life insurance, travel insurance, or other?

Best.

Q: If things get worse between China and Canada do you think it will hurt SLF and MFC thanks for your input Barry

Q: I would like to add to my finance/dividend group. I already own TD,BNS, GSY and MFC. Which should I add or add to and why. In particular why do you prefer SLF over MFC?

Q: Hi 5i,

I'm looking to increase my current Financial Sector weighting from 5 to 15%. I currently hold BNS @ 2.2%, SLF @ 1.5%, and GSY @ 1.3%. What would you add too and/or too a new position? I don't like to have more than 5-6% of one holding, of course this would be risk adjusted down according to market cap/safety.

Last part, on sector weightings. I follow your general recommendation and I noticed you changed the following from Oct'18 to Jan'19 as follows:
Consumer disc. 10 up to 15,
Consumer staples 10 down to 5,
InfoTech 20 down to 15, and
Utilities 5 up to 10.

Can you add some commentary behind these sector weight changes?

Thanks, Chris.

Q: I'm looking to add to the above 3 as I'm not over-weight. Is now a reasonable time or do you have concerns with any of these.

Thanks,
Robert

Q: Of the 2 mentioned above, which do you favour at the present
Thank you

Q: Currently, which one would you choose.
Thank you

Q: Good morning,
I'm 70 years old and with yet a new year upon us and a review of the holdings in my non reg equity portfolio, I'm concerned that my $650K non reg equity portfolio has slowly grown into a "hodge podge" of miscellaneous holdings that need to be trimmed, better concentrated (minimum 5% per holding) along with the addition of a few additional names in sectors that are not currently represented. My current holdings are as follows:
AQN (3.3%),BCE (11.6%)BAM.A(3.8%),CU (4.5%),DIV(2.8%),EMA (2.4%),KEY(2.2%),XIU(5.2%),XIC (33.2%),XDV(18.4%),SLF(3.6%),T(2.9%),T(2.9%),MAW120(3.1%)MAW102(3%).
I would very much appreciate your suggestions on how to best to adjust my current non reg equity portfolio to make it easier to manage and follow. I'm open to adding an appropriate mix of ETFs or Mawer equity funds as need be. My RRSP and TFSA are pretty much all populated with a mix of relatively low MER Mawer equity funds which have performed well over the years. I thank you in advance and look forward to hearing your sage advice and recommendations.
Francesco

Q: I am a 65 year retiree and I have app $22000. in a TFSA and I am looking at adding another $3000. Looking at an income portfolio. Can you make a suggestion as to how to balance my portfolio and add to my portfolio.

Q: In order to re-balance my portfolio, I need to sell one or more of the following companies:
BEP.un (full position)
CSH.un (full position)
SLF (full position)
NWH.un (full position)
SIS (half position)
CWW (half position)
CSU (half position)
KXS (half position)
Which one(s) would you suggest I sell?

Q: Based on the recent market turmoil, can you recommend 5 dividend paying stocks to buy now where it may be possible to get some capital gains over time.

Q: Which company would you recommend for a proxy to SLF tax loss selling? IAG or GWO? I dont like MFC because they cut their dividend in 2008.
Thanks

Q: Good morning 5i,
I should say right away, thanks very much for the heads up on Jnj. I took your advice and got out in the summer!
but, I unfortunatly do have some that are still in loss territory. I am worried that these are probably down at their lowest point and that there may be a rally in the New Year that I would miss if I sell for tax loss.

I wonder what your thoughts are on that? Also, if you think that there isn't much of a chance of them coming back soon, how would you rate them as a sell, ie which one most likely to stay down for 30 days?
thanks

Q: I have asked before about slf but really don’t understand the reason for the big drop. Can you explain, should I. Buy a us insurer, and if so which one. Thank you

Q: My weightings in each of the listed companies is less than 2.5%. I wish to eliminate some and build up others to the 2.5% level. What are the strongest candidates to keep and what are the weakest candidates to get rid of. As always, I appreciate your responses. RAM