Investment Q&A

Q: Hi there, going into 2019 I'd like to re-balance my portfolio to start the new year. I'd like to use your BE Portfolio as the Canadian exposure of my portfolio and add ETFs to add diversity. I'm in my mid 30's and have a 15/20 year outlook with a private DB plan at work. In terms of risk and volatility tolerance, I am okay with the profile growthier names in the BE Port (ie: SIS, KXS, TOY, CSU, PBH etc) but usually stay away from the Growth Portfolio names, as the volatility is usually too much for me. At first glance I was thinking of the following but am not very experienced and am completely open to your advice and expertise:

50% BE Portfolio
40% HXS/VFV
10% HXQ

Could you suggest a 1) TSX ETF only listed portfolio make up and 2) TSX and/or US listed ETF make up? Please remove as many question credits as required.

Thanks for your advice and guidance!

Q: Your update sent to subscribers on Thursday: "Amid all the negativity, investors can find solace in remembering that volatility is a part of investing in the market and solid long-term returns are earned by accepting this risk in the markets."
Your article on the Post on Friday: "One of the most important things to watch for as an investor is when there is a market or economic ‘shift’... We may be entering a shift in the economy right now. Companies are guiding to lower growth. Stocks have been weak. The market is in a slow train-wreck crash. The Fed even has indicated the economic party may be winding down."
The 'tone' in your Q&A section and all your updates has been to stay the course, don't sell, and even to add to numerous names. This is a completely different 'tone' than your article on Friday. Please clarify.

Also, your Balanced Portfolio has a significant growth tilt that doesn't seem appropriate at all at this time. Over the last 3 months, it's down almost 16%, 7% more than the TSX. Are you planning to 'shift' the portfolio?

Q: I see dramatic price declines for most equities in this portfolio. I have never seen a report to sell them or reduce...just the fundamentals are OK ... don't worry. I find there is a repricing going on where PE's used to be 15-25 are now falling to 10-15.
A constant buy thesis based on Company earning fundamentals does not take the PE revaluation into account. Your thoughts?

Q: What would the beta be of the B.E. portfolio versus the TSX?

Q: From your answer on November 23rd:
No, an individual would still need to hold global exposure to the US, europe and emerging markets as well as fixed income. In terms of Canadian exposure, we would be pretty comfortable with the portfolio as a more growth-tilted proxy to Canada but an investor may want to overlay one Canadian broad ETF just to smooth out the volatility a little, depending on portfolio size. This, or adding a selection of larger company stocks, would help overall diversification.

Can you suggest % or guidelines on each type of exposure to have a well-diversified portfolio? (US, Europe, emerging markets, fixed income, Beport, one Canadian broad ETF or larger company stocks).
Thank you

Q: Hi 5i,
My current strategy is to have a hybrid approach so that I have some of the income portfolio holdings, some growth and some from balanced. In addition I have taken the same approach with US holdings and UK/Australian (to a lesser extent) so my version is diversified (both by sector and geographically, well hopefully) and I think of it like a balance equity portfolio.
Generally how does this (balanced) approach compare to the income or growth portfolio which seems more targeted in its purpose. Are there persuasive arguments to follow one style over another?
Thanks
Mike

Q: Hi there, in the past, I’ve taken your balanced equity portfolio and have tweaked and adjusted here and there. I suppose it may be human nature to try and personalize things but I’ve become tired of altering it here and there as it’s become time consuming. I am now thinking to simplify and just try and follow your portfolio as close to a T as possible. This way I can just follow your buy, sell and rebalancing as you make adjustments. If I take this route, will mimicking your balanced equity portfolio give me a fully diversified portfolio? Thanks!

Q: Allocations in my Balanced portfolio don’t match recommended % in the 5i model:

Above: TSGI by 3%, PKI by 8.1%, BNS by 4.4%, WSP by 1% , CCL.B by 1.7%

Below: TOY by 1.8%, ENB by 1.1%, AEM by 1.2

Don’t own GC, CLS, SLF but Telus with 1.6% allocation. SLF own in Income portfolio.

% for all other stocks in my Balanced portfolio do match 5i model. My Balanced portfolio is for 5 years or longer hold, currently at -17.6% loss.

Would you be recommending any changes to my allocations considering current prices / market conditions? Thanks in advance for your valuable opinion.

Q: Do you consider the stage of the economic cycle or general market conditions at all when you make your balanced portfolio recommendations? Your balanced portfolio is down over 12% since Sept 1 and the generally pretty lousy TSX is only down 6.5%???

Q: Hi Peter
I have some money to put to work and am building positions in the 5i portfolios over time. I currently have BNS, MG, TSGI,WCP, WSP, AW and EMB. I am building a blend of income and growth. My question is what in your opinion, of the stocks that 5i covers, are most undervalued and oversold? (I am trying to stay away from the oil and gas sector.)

I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Alex Ribedn

Q: What is the reason that there are no ratings for some of the companies in your portfolios? In this case, what make them the candidates to be in there?

Thanks in advance!
Jane

Q: As a follow up to a question on CLS, which stocks in the three portfolios are on your "intensive care list" for monitoring, or do you keep a close eye on all the holdings?

Q: For your model portfolio percentage returns, did you include the dividends as part of the returns?

Q: Peter and team:
Regardless of sector and weighting, what would be the top 5 companies from your balanced portfolio that you would add to with any spare cash available at this stage of the recent "pull back"?

Thanks

Phil

Q: Hi Peter,
I observe that in your model porfolio you donot average down on a stock (may be i missed it). But if we have confidence in a stock and if the market is mispricing it should we not be adding more to get a better average (Buffett is and willing to buy more AAPL as it goes down). Lets say some one bought XYZ and it is down 50%, just in order to make it even the stock has to go 75% ( which requires a lot of patience). May be it is a personal decision whether to average down or not. However my opinion is that if 5i decides to average down we will get better guidance (and courage). I personally buy in portions (1/4) and try to keep my loss below 20%.
I have TSGI (-15%), TOY (-10%), NFI (-8%), DOL (-18%).
Thanks.

Q: Saw your list of "add now stocks" but most are tech tsig, sq, etc that pay no div etc...what non techs would you add along the lines of your balanced equity portfolio. I own SIS so was going to add a bit to it, what other materials, industrials or non-cycl also look attractive on the drop.

Q: With the recent market declines, what would be your top 3 picks in each of your portfolios?

Q: Good Afternoon,
Timely question I suppose with the market weakness today, I think the market is due for some weakness and volatility I'm not overly concerned by this. However, I am wondering what 5i's strategy going forward is in regards to the next recession?Perhaps we will find ourselves in a recession within the next few years, what will your strategy be for the B/E model? Can you see yourselves taking a more defensive stance , i.e raising cash, buying defensive sectors ( telecom, staples etc..) or just riding it out? I know the average recession is only about 9 months in duration.
Thanks very much.

Q: With the recent sell off, have any of the above stocks (contained in either the Income or Balanced Portfolios) reached the stage where you would call them "table-pounding buys"? In other words, has the market overreacted and the pendulum has swung too far?

Obviously, there is always the chance of a continued downdraft, but at some point you just step in top up your holdings.

The Income Portfolio is sitting on 10% cash...any thought to deploying some of it soon? Thanks...Steve

Q: Your Balanced Portfolio is down 7% since Sept 1 vs a really lousy TSX that's down 3.75%. Can you explain what is going on?