Investment Q&A

Q: Small TFSA started last year and now looking at bringing it up to the maximum with contributions this year and beginning of next year. Would like to try and grow it towards $100,000 and then in about 4 years transition more to income producing holdings to augment pensions. Could you please comment on the current holdings listed below and suggest where to top up, replace or add and to what %. Prefer Canadian holdings to avoid U.S. tax issues.
Many thanks as always

KXS 30%
BNS 25%
BEP.un 10%
SIS 10%
GC 9.5%
PHO 6%
TSGI 6%
GUD 2%
COV 1.5%

Q: The federal government has said they will ban single use plastics by 2021. Is there any specific company/ies on the tsx (preferably) or nyse that will benefit from this glowing global trend? thank you

Q: Hi

My question is about structuring and managing a portfolio across multiple registered and unregistered accounts. Please forgive if this question has been asked before.

Between 4 family members (including two young children) we have 11 trading accounts on the go, including 5 unregistered (3 Cdn and 2 US), 2 tfsa’s, 2 rrsp’s, and 2 resp’s. My approach to date has generally been to try to diversify within each account and try not to duplicate between accounts, with an eye to overall diversification.

This results in three problems (at least): sub-optimal diversification within and across accounts, too many holdings (which are difficult to monitor) and a low average $ value per holding. For example, 11 accounts times ten positions per account is 110 holdings. As for low value, a 10% holding on a $50,000 registered account is $5,000, which represents only 0.5% of an aggregate $1,000,000 value (example).

I have been thinking of treating all of the accounts holistically rather than individually while accounting for tax considerations of course. My goal is to try to get the number of holdings down to 20 - 30, with an average value of 3% - 5% of aggregate portfolio value. I find the main difficulty to be in structuring the lower value accounts.

Two approaches I have been mulling over:

1) Scrap the individual account diversification approach and perhaps only hold 1 - 3 positions in lower value accounts. This approach would probably mean that no account on its own will be diversified but the aggregate portfolio will be (hopefully).
2) Try to maintain the account diversification approach by investing in only one etf per account until the account eventually reaches a size sufficient to hold more positions (then I suppose the approach would flip to the first approach). The idea being that each account would hold a different etf (and at least be somewhat diversified) that would contribute to the overall diversification of the aggregate portfolio.

Do you have any comments or guidance on managing multiple accounts? How do investment professionals manage their own family accounts? Any best practices that you are aware of, or good articles that you can direct me to? Any considerations besides tax; for example, how do you apportion risk between family members and accounts?

Thanks
Derek

Q: I need to sell one of these three. Which has the dimmest outlook? Also the one with the strongest prospects, please.

Q: Can I please get your thoughts on the stability/financial health of INE and RNW, the sustainability of the dividends, and the growth outlook over the next 2 years. Thank you.

Q: Hi
Several questions have referenced your "excel spreadsheet of monthly dividend payers". It sounds very useful but I have been unable to find it. Is it available to all members?
Thank you................. Paul K.

Q: Do you have an update tks.

Q: Best bets today! Returned from a holiday to find the tight stops I left were pretty much all triggered. What are your buy recommendation cdn and us....2-3 of each? I am not a buy and holder so looking for stocks with a tailwind in the present market.
Thanks

Q: With lng pipeline going ahead and hnl announcing contracts in bc the stock does not seem to be reacting well. Your thoughts

Q: I am under water on LIT , general play on Electric Vehicles .
What are your thoughts on this strategy and is there a better play .
Telsa news seems positive ....

Many Thanks,
Greg

Q: HI, I have USD cash, and have decided to balance out some US holdings with US cash with gold exposure. Can you give me a few options to participate in gold. Perhaps your favorite small to mid cap gold plays and a gold bullion etf exposure? Looking for any help here. Thanks.

Q: Hello 5i Team

I very much appreciated the excel spreadsheet of monthly dividend payers.

Is there an easy way to obtain the months with which the quarterly dividend payments are made (i.e. Jan/Apr/Jul/Oct; Feb/May/Aug/Nov; Mar/Jun/Sep/Dec) for the TSX60, TSX300, and/or US listed stocks other than going to the individual websites?

Having this list I could then analyse which companies to buy in order to provide essentially equal monthly dividend payments based on the quarterly payments.

Might be interesting project for a student research assistant, if such a person exists at 5i Research.

Thanks in advance.

Q: What would you buy today from the BE portfolio based on prospects and valuation (leaving aside portfolio weighting considerations)? Thanks!

Q: Hi 5i team,
Thank you for your answer on Eidos Therapeutic on 21st, June. I own this stock and has gone up 30% + thanks to your positive comment ( at least the ceo has bought 28m in shares), I usually hold on to my winner and let it runs, but I do not understand why it gone up so fast within a short period of time with no news.

As stated in your answer, the company has no revenue and is still losing money. Do you see further upside for this stock ? Should I continue to hold ?

Thank you for your excellent service and helpful advice as always.

Q: Royal Dutch Shell has been heading down in the last little while.. what can you tell me about this company?
Thanks so much!

Q: Our family had dealt with Izzie and Mo , ( Boyd Auto Body in Winnipeg ) for over 50 years, I was reluctant to believe that this could ever become the great performing stock it has become ( and I only own 100 shares ) . I keep on thinking “ this is absurd, it can’t go much higher“ ... Can it ?
Thankyou

Q: Good morning, i have taken the Canadian Securities Course, but what else would you recommend to get more educated and familiar with all of the financial ratios in a company, thanks? They seem to have different meaning from industry to industry.

Q: Can you please provide some insight on the overall prospects of the company going forward please thanks.

Q: I know you have stated that "growth" stocks are best to be held in your TFSA.
I just turned 70 - I had put Dollarama and Savaria in this account and Dollarama is recovering but Savaria is not, to date, although I know you still like it.
The problem is that when you have it in this account and things don't work out, you can't sell and claim a loss vs putting it into your Non-RRSP account.

Shouldn't your age and time horizon come in effect when deciding on what goes into each account.
Thank you
Margaret

Q: This is a follow up question regarding where to place XEF for tax efficiency. You Stated "These points could be argued, and could be variable based on one's exact situation and tax rate. But we would generally agree with this assessment."

Just wondering which points in my argument could be questioned. Also, if my corp is taxed just under 15% (small business) and my personal tax is low, does the reasoning fit better?

Thanks again,

Fed