Q: Hi Peter and Team,

Across all accounts, our holdings in the Financial Sector include BN, FFH, GSY, MFC, SLF, and the CEW ETF. I feel that this is a fairly good representation but realize that the Canadian banking sector is quite low, and the US banking sector is non-existent in our portfolio. Portfolio Analytics indicates that we need more exposure in this sector.

Several questions; please deduct question credits accordingly.

1. TipRanks shows that BN has a P/E ratio of 125.13. Can this be true?

2. A recent question from a 5i member asked about Sagicor SFC, which prompted me to investigate it further. I realize that it’s a small-cap stock, but noticed that for the 3 month, 6 month, and year-to-date periods, it has excellent momentum (which I know you like) and has a really low P/E ratio of 1.51, which I assume to be correct.

3. Because I feel that Trump tariffs are more of a possibility than not, I’m in the process of adjusting some sectors but not all, in case the tariffs don’t happen.

4. Would you endorse a small holding in SFC, (say a half-position) using proceeds from the sale of more tariff-vulnerable stocks?

5. Finally, could you suggest some Canadian-domiciled ETFs that would give us needed exposure to both the Canadian and US banking sector?

As always, thanks for your assistance that helps us to make informed decisions.

Q: Seems like US banks could perform well this year. What would be a good ETF to best capture growth?

Q: Good morning,

My holding of XLF is down quite a bit and although I[m still positive on the US Financial sector in the long term, I'm thinking of selling XLF in my US Non registered account to harvest some capital losses for the 2022 tax year. I would appreciate your thoughts on the following two questions:

Q1. What are your thoughts on the US Financial sector for the next few years;

Q2. Would you kindly recommend a suitable proxy for my XLF holding that I could purchase on the US stock exchange.

Thank you and I'll await your sage advice.