Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Peter & 5i,
Wishing you and the staff a joyous holiday season!
Would you see any red flags in this portfolio for a conservative investor needing the dividends for cash flow. The portfolio would be 50% equities and 50% fixed income - 5 year laddered GIC's.
Here are the stocks and their proposed weightings:
Financial Royal Bank RY 5.7%
TD Bank TD 3.6%
Sun Life SLF 4.4%
Power Corp POW 4.0%
Utility Fortis FTS 5.7%
Brookfield Renewable BEPC 4.2%
Algonquin Power AQN 2.2%
Comm TELUS T 4.7%
Bell BCE 4.1%
Cons Staple Costco COST 4.3%
Loblaws L 4.0%
Cons Discr. Magna MG 3.8%
Restaurant Brands QSR 2.4%
Industrial CN Rail CNR 5.2%
Savaria SIS 3.6%
Energy Enbridge ENB 4.6%
Suncor SU 2.9%
Materials Nutrien NTR 4.3%
Real Estate BMO-Equal Weight ZRE 4.2%
Tech Thomson Reuters TRI 4.8%
Health Evolve Global Health LIFE 3.8%
ETF BMO-Low Volatility US ZLU 8.7%
iShares-US Equity-Hedge XSP 4.8%
Thanks so much for the fantastic service.

Q: It's curious that Fortis seems to be thriving in December despite the market being spooked about impending interest rate hikes. None of the other utilities seem to have benefited. To what do you attribute their upward momentum and would you buy a utility today given likely interest rate hikes?

Q: Hi Peter,

In this downtrend market could you please give your three best stocks to buy for 3 to 5 years hold in each sector in canada and US as well ?
Thank you for your best advise on this platform.

KT

Q: I'm replacing ZWU and ZWC since I would prefer to hold stocks at this point. What 5+ stocks would you recommend to replace ZWU and ZWC each. Thank you.

Q: Which one would you choose: fortis or capital power

Q: Thank you for your response to my last question. As a follow-up, do the four utilities stocks that I currently own (BEP, FTS, AQN, NPI) offer adequate diversification within the sector? Just wondering if I should add to these (in the best to worst ranking you provided) or is there another utilities name (Cdn nor US) that you would add to be better diversified and if there is, would you sell one of my current 4 utility stocks or just add the other name?
Your insight much appreciated,
Doris

Q: Hi, I am looking to add to my utilities and currently have partial positions in BEP, FTS, AQN and NPI, none of which have moved much of late. I am looking at adding FLNC as a partial position thinking that it may have more growth potential.
1) Can I get your opinion of FLNC for long-term hold/moderate risk tolerance?
2) Can you rank the 4 stocks currently owned from best to worst, again with a long-term time frame/moderate risk?
Thank you as always for your insight.
Doris

Q: Hi team,

I have the following partial positions (less than 2%) and am looking for guidance on which ones look like good adds. Please rank in order and also provide a target price.
AC, ABNB, ATZ, DOO, CSU, ENB, FTS, KXS, MED, PXT, PINS

Q: I am trying to steer my and my husband's TFSA's more toward growth. The stocks listed are some of the stocks in our TFSA's that I am considering swapping out in favour of growth-oriented stocks on my watchlist. Can I get your opinion? Do you think that any of the listed stocks have enough growth potential to belong in a growth-oriented TFSA?
Thank you, Doris

Q: I know you like all of the above. As you look through2022 (so 12-18 month horizon) how would you rank each of the 3 stocks on a scale of 1-10 - and what relevant significant opportunity/risks do each face.

Thanks,

Terry

Q: Here is the current EV/EBITDA ratios for the following energy producers (lowest to highest): CPX (8.3), BEP.UN (9.3), NPI (11.6), FTS (13.0), H (14.0), AQN (16.5), BLX (17.4), INE (37.1). CPX seems to be a top contender for value, with lowest P/B too at 1.49. Considering all factors, please rank from best to worst, in terms of possible best total return over the next 10 years.
Thanks!

Q: For a longer term (5-10yr) dividend hold we currently own AQN and are wondering if adding or replacing it with another such as EMA, FTS or NPI is prudent given AQN's flaccid performance over the past 18 months.
Thank you for sharing your insight.

Q: Hi 5i,
I currently use my TFSA as my primary investment vehicle. As such, I've been trying to keep it as diversified as possible which has resulted in purchase of both growth stock and dividend stocks across various sectors. Examples of the dividend stocks include: TD, FTS, and T.

I am close to maxing out my contribution for the TFSA and now find myself in a bit of a pickle as I want to move out the dividend stocks in favor of growth names.

My plan now involves:
- selling the dividend positions in the TFSA
- opening a new RRSP account and re-buy these same dividend stocks
- redeploy the 'freed-up' cash within my TFSA into growth names

1.) Are there obvious pitfalls you can see with this strategy? I can't see any issues other than being a little clunky in execution.
2.) What are your current top-5 growth names (regardless of sector)

Thanks,
Kyle

Q: Hi. Are there any Canadian companies that meet the U.S. dividend aristocrats criterion of having increased dividends for at least 25 consecutive years?

Q: Earlier this year we created an equal weighted 'balanced' portfolio of 30 Canadian companies in a non-registered account. Most were chosen from companies either covered by a 5i research report or included in a 5i model portfolio. The remainder were chosen, based on the 5i Q&A section, from what appear to be 5i sector favourites. All purchases in the portfolio are made with the intent to be long-term holds (10+ years).

As per an earlier question we posed, we then increased our positions in 12 of the 30 companies. At this time we would like to increase our investments in 6 of the remaining 18 companies. The intent is to increase the other 12 in approximately 4 months. Which 6 would you add to today? Please rank them, include a small blurb explaining each choice and suggest an entry point. Thanks!

Q: I have a 1.7% weighting in Fortis, which is the only utility I own in my RRSP. I'm hesitant to do so because of their gargantuan debt levels. With total liabilities of around 33.4 Billion, this is higher than their total market cap of around 27 Billion.
Net Debt to EBITA ratio around 6.2x , and low interest coverage of 2.3.
Free cash flow also only covers around 11.5 % which is quite low.
So do you still see Fortis as an attractive investment for a 10 year hold ?
Thanks !

Q: Hi 5i,

Portfolio analytics is recommending that I reduce my utility holdings 12%. I have held AQN (3.4% weight), FTS (4.3%), BEP (5.2%) and BIP (5%) for four years and do like the dividends and renewable energy aspect. Today's TD analyst comments also gave me pause about being overweight utilities: "As WTI oil and energy prices have recovered over the past year on rising interest rates, alternative energy and utilities in general have underperformed. We believe that a potential rise in interest rates on improving COVID-19 trends and impending
tapering, along with the renewed relative strength in the energy sector, will
further pressure the utilities sector." My questions for you:. 1. where and how would you trim from the above holdings? and 2. your thoughts on the analysis outlined above. Thanks for your guidance.

Q: What is your view on Fortis for a retirement portfolio? Is there another safe utility stock that would provide better growth? Would you ever hold both Fortis and Emera in the same portfolio or is that duplicating a similar type of holding.

Q: Hi, I have read that several U.K. utilities have recently collapsed given soaring wholesale natural gas prices and the inability to pass costs on to customers. Could the same thing happen here and if so which companies might be the most susceptible? Could any of the above companies be impacted? Thanks.

Q: Please advise 5 top defensive growth stocks - Canada, US or global.
Many thanks for your advice.