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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Hello 5i Team

Further to the reader’s question about US$ denominated dividend deposited into US$ denominated accounts at RBC Direct Investing.

I experienced the same issue with RBC Direct Investing and they explained as follows. I will use Brookfield Infrastructure
Partners (BIP) which I hold in a US$ denominated account.

BIP transfers the total dividend to Canadian Depositary for Securities (CDS) for all the BIP shares held by CDS (in excess of 100 million shares) on behalf of Canadian Brokers. This dividend payment (in US $) is converted to C$ (unclear whether its BIP or CDS) at “wholesale” rates.

CDS then transfers to each Canadian Broker (i.e. RBCDI) the Canadian dollar equivalent of BIP dividends held by the individual brokers (i.e. RBCDI). RBCDI then buys US dollars for dividends deposited into US$ denominated accounts. There is a difference in the exchange rate between the dividends received from CDS and the transfer to individual accounts. This results in the small discrepancy between dividends declared and dividends received.

The result is for 1,000 shares of BIP

BIP declared dividend = US$0.43 x 1,000 shares = US$430.00

RBCDI deposited $0.429544 x 1,000 shares = US$429.54 a difference of $0.46

Sometimes it works the other way and RBCDI deposits a slightly greater amount of US$ than the equivalent original dividend amount.

Other US $ stocks do not seem to have this issue, as I mostly hold US domiciled companies in my US $ accounts. It may also be a result of how the dividend issuing company transfers funds to CDS.

It is annoying as I originally purchased BIP on the NYSE and expected to receive the declared dividend amount.

I hope this explains the matter to the reader.
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on September 11, 2025
Q: What are your current recommendations for US$ dividend ETFs? (US, not CDN) Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Richard on September 11, 2025
Q: Hello 5i,
In a US $ account, I hold AEM, TRI FSV WCN and BIPC. I just checked my RBC direct investing account and the dividends for BIPC and WCN are off (a bit). As far as you are aware, should i be receiving the full dividend without conversion nicks?

Also, on the 5i site I used to be able find the USD beside the dividend listed for the companies I track that pay divies in USD. That is currently not the case for the full set. Has your data source changed? Or perhaps the policies at the companies changed?

TIA!
Read Answer Asked by Kat on September 10, 2025
Q: I will be simplifying my RRSP portfolio whereby it will be mainly comprised of ETF's that can give growth as well as income that i can use to draw on when RRSP are converted to RRIF.

Can you provide me ETF's / Index funds suggestions for:
S& P 500 index
Global large cap index ex USA
Dividend appreciation index ( large cap) for Canada and US

Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Mario on September 10, 2025
Q: Please comment on TRP valuation and outlook in the $71’s. The stock is doing well despite many negatives including: a PE near 20x (historically high?), a forecasted decline in EPS over the next 2yrs, a massive debt load which keeps rising, and uncertainty in Analyst estimates (evidenced by a wide target price range). I’m looking at lightening any riskier positions heading into fall and I expect at best TRP is a Hold.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on September 10, 2025
Q: High-Dividend yield ETFs.

Could you list 2 in Canada & 2 in the USA?

Are there any European High-Dividend yield ETFs.?

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Ross on September 10, 2025
Q: Good morning!
I am a dividend investor, almost totally in higher paying blue chips and sector specific equities. I rely on those payments for my income. However, I am considering an etf as a possibility to lower risk , but am not very familiar with the offerings. A brief look about wasn't encouraging, as it seems that often the dividends paid may decrease over time, and not necessarily in sync with govt interest rates as you might expect. As an example, I thought XRE would be a good one, paying over 5%. Their distribution 10 years ago was 8 cents. The most recent was 6 cents. This does not keep up with inflation, a key part of my requirement.
All that being said, can you suggest Canadian etfs that pay a high dividend, one that increases with inflation? Thanks for your ideas! ... Paul K
Read Answer Asked by Paul on September 04, 2025
Q: Your thoughts please on this TFSA used by a retired banker that is very simple but has vastly outpermormed the TSX. I realize only 3 sectors are covered but looks to be all quality companies?

Thx
Read Answer Asked by blake on September 04, 2025
Q: I am slowly transition my portfolio from individual stocks to ETFs. I am looking for ETFs that will focus on dividend payers (in the US and Cdn markets trading on the TSX) and Hamilton has recently come out with CMVP and SMVP which are purported to provide good income and growth with less volatility. They also have leveraged versions which I am not opposed to as these would be 10year investments.
Would these be good choices or would you recommend other ETFs with similar objectives.
Read Answer Asked by Bruce on September 04, 2025
Q: I bought a large amount of PSI because it’s listed in a 5i model. I don’t follow Canadian markets, so I buy 5i-recommended Canadian businesses without much checking. PSI shares have only sunk in value. Why is PSI in your model (other than for dividend) ? Is it worth holding ? Is it an attractive takeover target ?

My question (admittedly a leading question from one who is weary of these losses in tax-deferred accounts): is it not better to shoot this thing and be done with it? You are still holding PSI which makes me think I must be wrong. Am I ?

Is PSI's *business model* viable, really sustainable ?

Sometimes a business I hold does nothing for long periods and just sits idle, or still. Then, suddenly it jumps like a rabbit, and the share price jumps and away we go. A forced metaphor perhaps but intended to to illustrate the sell-indecision. BNS is an example of such ‘rabbit’ — but it’s only after years that I am finally now breaking even, showing a small loss. The long wait is often not worth the opportunity costs.
I am baffled why PSI is favored at 5i.
:ao:
Read Answer Asked by Adam on September 04, 2025
Q: Good Morning,

Here's a "What would you do?" question.

Retired income investor, Like to yield at least 4% on any equity. Look forward to dividend increases.

Regarding BCE.

Hold 330 shares in cash account. Down 51%. Effective yield 2.54%.

Hold 1,100 shares in RRIF. Down 39%. Effective yield 3.15%.

May be wrong but I don't see the dividend growing any time soon.

Thinking of booking a loss in my cash account but unsure about RRIF. Do you see appreciation in nearish term

What would you do?

Thanks,

Dave



Read Answer Asked by Dave on September 04, 2025
Q: UMAX = covered call, UTES= covered call + 1,25% leverage. In a downtrend, UTES would probably go down around 25% more than umax (ex -10% vs -12,5%...) and ZUT.Since the markets are presently high +the economics, do you believe that there could be a significant probability of a downtrend in 2025 and in such case ,would it be safer to sell UTES for ZUT now (or another stock), in order to reduce the risk ?
Read Answer Asked by Jean-Yves on September 03, 2025
Q: Good morning,
I was looking to buy some of a Canadian telecom stock and was wondering if you had any preference between Rogers, Telus, and Bell?
Thanks

Good morning,

Follow up to my previous question. Which company do you think would perform best in a higher inflation environment? Also do you think the the Telecom sector could perform well in an inflationary environment and what other sectors besides hard assets would perform well.
Thank you very much.
Read Answer Asked by Aidan on September 02, 2025
Q: I note that this company appears to have stalled, do you have confidence in it returning to past valuations and more? Would proposed rate cuts not help? Is this company a good investment for the foreseeable future?
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on September 02, 2025