Investment Q&A

Q: As a follow up question to that asked by Mary Ann about the ten "forever" stock ideas. You indicated a few names could be added to the list and I was interested if you could provide a few of the names you think could be added.

Q: First off I am 30yrs old slightly more growth investor and plan on holding for long term. I have a 25 CND stock portfolio of approx. 300k and Pension of 100k split between a Global Fund and CND Fund. In reviewing my personal portfolio I feel my financial exposure maybe needs some work (17% Weighting). I have a full position in GSY, TD,SLF and a half position in CXI. My question is because TD and SLF are probably already represented in my pension fund and they don't really fit the style of my portfolio would you look at switching them out? If so what suggestions would you have that would compliment GSY and CXI. Thanks

Q: Would you recommend SLF or PWF for a very long term investment, with a focus on rising dividends?

Q: I currently own TD and SLF in financials. I am very dissapointed in SLF's performance. I thought it would do well when interest rates increased. We've had two rate increases and I'm down 5%. I was thinking of replacing it with BNS. That means I'd have two banks, one with US exposure and the other with international exposure. What are your thoughts on this?

Q: I am a little confused by a comment I read in the financial press which suggested that insurance company stocks may actually be poor buys now because rising interest rates lower the value of their significant bond portfolios. I thought that rising interest rates would aid insurance companies by making their long term liabilities more manageable.

Is this the same type of comment that is voiced by some talking heads complaining about current rising interest rates hurting the economy while you point out that rising rates means the economy is improving, a viewpoint that is confirmed by most data and the continually rising market itself.

So is the comment on rising rates being bad for insurance companies simply a comment from some guy who is trying to be different just to stand out or is there validity in this thinking?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

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: I have BNS, RY, SLF and FSZ in equal amounts in my "Financial" basket and need to add another name to get my financials weighting to 15%. Can you suggest a new stock and/or a etf (CDN or US stock / etf) to compliment my current holdings OR would you just add to the 4 stocks that I have? 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: Increase in interest rate due to strong economic growth(latest GDP 4.50%) is normally beneficial to financials( esp.Banks & lifcos)Yet TTFS(capped financial index)is down 0.68%,BNS 0.76% & SLF 1.13%.Please help me to understand.Thanks for u great services & views

Q: I know SLF is primarily a Lifco however, does it have any indirect exposure to HARVEY relative to its' co-insurance liabilities with other insurance Cos. or Groups?? Thank you.

Q: At the present time

Can you give me the names of the 5 most beaten up / best value, blue chip dividend paying Canadian equities, with emphasis on safety of dividend.

Sectors are irrelevant.

Thanks

Ernie

Q: I have to cut either SLF or PWF for financial services sector re-balancing. Both are currently of equal value weighting. Based on possible interest rates rises, current financials, dividends, stability, etc. Which one would you cut?

Q: Can you please comment on the earnings for $SLF. Thanks Valter

Q: Please advise what is the effect of strong Can.$ on the aforementioned stocks.Thanks for u usual great services & views

Q: Hi. I am currently in process of reorganizing. I am overweight in financials. Would like to sell all of my position in POW or else SLF which would reduce position from 15% in financials to 10% (Currently have 5% in each of BNS, POW, SLF). Alternatively I could sell half of each POW and SLF to get the same result. Thoughts?

Q: I need to add to the financial sector of my portfolio. I own 3 stocks in this sector, a full position in BNS and would like to add to SLF or ECN. I was going to add to ECN but began to wonder if ECN would be negatively impacted by rising interest rates especially with their debt being over 2x or would they simply pass on their increased expenses to their customer? Not sure how much competition they have in that space. Thank you in advance for your expertise.

Q: I bought FHH as downside protection for my portfolio. Now it appears the downside hedge has been removed. Is my assessment correct? If so can you recommend a better allocation if I sell FFH?

Q: Hi, Brian Acker recently recommended Met Life as a better/cheaper alternative to Canadian Life Insurance companies, such as SLF. If you have to pick two north american life insurance companies, regardless of country, what would they be? Focus is on some growth potential.

Thanks, Kelly

Q: I know that you suggest Sun Life for a Canadian life insurance company, but how would it stack up against the potential of other life insurance companies in the US? Brian Acker recently recommended Met Life saying it was much cheaper than Sun Life. How would you compare Sun Life to US companies? Overall what Life Insurance companies would you invest in regardless of Canada or US?