Investment Q&A

Q: Please advise me
Out of the three insurance co.s MF, SLF FFH which one is better to invest
for growth and dividend

Q: Can you correlate USD strength to Canadian life insurance companies . For clarity if USD gains strength do the life co's usually go lower?

Thanks

Q: Good morning,

I own GWO and IFC for an aggregate position of about 3.5% in my portfolio. What do you recommend as a guideline allocation for "insurance" in one's portfolio?
If I'm low at 3.5%, would you recommend I add to my existing holdings or initiate a position in Sun Life?

Thank you,
Robert

Q: I realize these two companies are very different, but both have had a nice share price reduction recently (well, nice if you're a potential buyer!). Straight-up question: Which would you choose for a better TOTAL return over a 5 - 10 year time frame?
And do you see a material difference in net risk between the two over such a time frame? Thanks!

Q: I currently own PWF and down 18% and it is in a non rrsp account.I can write this loss with a gain in another stock in which I am over weight and wondered if SLF or FSZ would be a better replacement for PWF? I own no other stock in the insurance sector but own BNS and TD for the financial sector.

Q: Which of these 2 stocks do you prefer primarily for income but also some stock appreciation.
Thanks

Q: Do you have any information on why there is such high volume on SLF today? Thank you.

Q: My question is companies that will benefit from rising interest rates. I was wondering if you could give me a top three that trades in Canada and a top three that trades in the US...May one ETF too if possible. I understand that rates wont go up over night. I just want to start accumulating now for a 5-7 year hold to wait for rates to rise. I would prefer it if they paid a dividend as well.

Thanks so much
Jimmy

Q: I have the following 4 companies in a conservative, "steady-eddy" portfolio: T, SPB, SLF, and BNS.

I have cash to add two more Canadian companies. What would you recommend in order to add some diversification to the above 4 but to maintain a conservative portfolio?

Thanks,

Q: How would you rank these 3 for growth for a younger investor over the next few years if you had to choose only one?

Q: Hello: I hold shares in SunLife in a Registered Account. I am hoping that it won't be affected by the Alberta wildfires. Do you have any reason to suspect the stock price would not be affected? Many thanks, I learn from your site every day.
Marilyn

Q: In a recent reply you talk about Sunlife's better "growth profile". Obviously this is very important in determining which companies to consider. However, I am not sure how one best determines this. Would you have some guidelines on what to look for using SLF as an example?
Many thanks for your considered response.
Mike

Q: I am reviewing my 2% holding in PWF and would like your view of a switch over to SLF. Since 2013 I have watched it tread water. It is my main sector holding but is below my cost point. In doing the switch I am taking small loss plus a small drop in div payout, but having reviewed both feel I will be gaining a stronger a company in SLF. Do you think SLF will outperform PWR going forward or is it just best to sit tight. Thank you

Q: I am a retired, conservative, dividend-income investor with a pension, CPP, and mostly dividend stocks (AD, AQN, ALA, BCE, BNS, CPG, CGX, ECI, FTS, PBH, RY, TRP, WCP, WSP, WEF, ZLB, XIT, Sentry Cdn Inc, RBC Equity Inc, Sentry REIT, Annuities, Fisgard Capital).

I have a roughly 10% weighting in energy. I hold CPG in my Cash account and have a potential capital loss available. Listening to the CEO yesterday, it looks like the dividend will remain small for the foreseeable future.

Two options = sell and replace with a better dividend player, capturing the Loss. Or, continue to hold CPG as this seems to be one of the "go to" names as oil recovers. While I would like more steady income, it is possible if I switch energy names that the new holding would then cut its dividend.

Under consideration are BNE, VET, FRU, SU, CNQ, ZEO, XRE. Are there others that should be on the list? I don't want a small cap and I'd prefer an oil name.

I have tried my usual filtering with P/BV < 2.0, P/CF < 6.0, Div > 3.0% and Beta < 2.5 (not sure if you want to consider beta in this exercise because you want the bounce) and don't get anything that makes sense.

It is normally all about total return, but steady income is more important.

Help and thanks in advance...Steve

Q: Back in April you recommended SJ, KXS, OTC, and PBH to someone who was starting a TFSA , and all except for SJ have taken off...
I am trying to help a Senior who doesn't even own ONE stock .
I presume in his situation would you recommend the usual SLF, and BNS ?

Now that these stocks have already performed so well , should he wait for a summer pullback on these ?... or are there others that he should consider ?

Thanks so much

Q: Good morning Team. It is 9:44 Tues morn and both POW and SLF are climbing. I would have thought the opposite. I own approx 1.75% of each. Both are under for me but should I shave or sell one before they begin ???? to drop as I suspect they will??? Also ..may I suggest that all of us and 5i put the day and approx time in the Q and A as often we dont know when a question was asked and sometimes timing is important. Just a thought..Much thanks as always

Q: Hi Team ... I am up nicely on BNS and will be selling some in order to maintain a proper weighting within my portfolio. I'd like to redeploy the proceeds within the sector and am looking for a company offering a nice yield as well as good growth potential. I'm leaning towards Fiera Capital (FSZ) and would appreciate your thoughts. Also, any other candidates I could be considering?

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

Q: Hi 5i: I've been intending to switch SLF for TD for a while, but every time I go to pull the trigger, SLF goes up. Do you think that is a good move right now? My motivation is that banks will do better than lifecos until rates start to move up. Any comment on my choice of bank - I already have BNS?

Q: I am thinking of taking a small position in Sunlife Financial, what are your thoughts given the following information ? I already have positions in Manulife, Great West, Power Corp. I realize that Power owns Great West but both are good companies. I love Canadian dividend paying companies and would probably never sell once acquired.