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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: Hi,
For an income investor, BCE is looking pretty good right now. I have about a 3% position now and I was thinking of bumping that to 4.5% once the dust settles a bit. Was there something in the recent quarterly report that you'd be concerned about over the long term?

Thanks,
Gord
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on August 03, 2018
Q: Hello 5i,
We too have ECI stock. Thank you. Tendering is new to me. After a Google search we have enough information to be dangerous. Our portfolio is with RB. We only see an option to sell. Can you help by explaining how we tender our stocks? Is it easier just to sell? With FTS and AQN at 5% weighting we are not sure converting to 100% BIP shares is the best plan for our portfolios. Any help is appreciated.
Thank you
Debbie and Jerry
Read Answer Asked by Jerry on August 02, 2018
Q: Hello, like many other investors I have an happy problem today, thank you. I have read all the questions on ECI today. Let's say I have 1000 ECI shares and I choose to tender my shares, does this mean that 750 ECI shares (75%) will be sold for a cash deposit in my account and that 250 ECI shares (25%) will be rollover in BIP shares at takeover date? The ECI price on TMX Money is $28.88 right now, do you think this price can fluctuate significantly in the meantime of deal completion? Thanks, Gervais
Read Answer Asked by Gervais on August 02, 2018
Q: I have a question about CGI, which I've held since 2013, so I've done very well with them, but they don't have a dividend policy, so I'm feeling that the capital gain that I have is being lazy and not working for me without any divvy income to offset. If I was going to sell half, what would you suggest would be a good 3 to 5 year replacement to consider? I tend to favour medium to large caps, and mostly dividend payers. I also have Open Text and Syzlogist as other tech holdings, in a fairly diversified portfolio that includes international and US etf's. I currently do not have any resource/energy (I was thinking Vermillion) or consumer (I was thinking Loblaws or Metro, Dollarama looks expensive still)holdings.

thank you,
Read Answer Asked by g on August 02, 2018
Q: Hello 5i,
Sorry for another ECI/BIP question, but the questions to date that I have seen haven't addressed my question.
Given the dividend that ECI currently pays out of cash flow, and that BIP will ultimately receive that cash flow, and the nature of the funding, might it be reasonable to expect that BIP would increase their dividend in one of the first two quarters of 2019? Or, would their acquisition make debt re-payment a priority do you think?
Obviously, I know you cannot read the minds of BIP's Board and Executive team, but given their financial ratios, I though you might have some insight.
Thanks!!
Cheers,
Mike
Read Answer Asked by Mike on August 01, 2018
Q: Hi 5i,
Just a comment in relation to BIP.UN’s buy-out of ECI. I have held both of the securities for a number of years. ECI shareholders who have not previously held BIP.UN should take a careful look at it to determine if it is appropriate for their needs. ECI pays a fully eligible Canadian dividend on a monthly basis at a higher yield, relative to the recent past price range of ECI. It may be that the takeover premium makes BIP’s yield higher but only by dramatically lowering ECI’s. In contrast, BIP pays a quarterly distribution that is not an eligible dividend, is broken into three categories for tax purposes, and is paid in $US. Depending on one’s brokerage account set-up, some people may find that they are paying a currency transaction fee on each BIP distribution. It is important to be sure that BIP is really the kind of vehicle one wants to own. I hold BIP in an RSP account and it works well for me in that context but I would probably not want to have it in another kind of account. In regard to tendering to the cash and shares offer, people may want to consider how many BIP shares they would expect to end up with. If one’s ECI holding is relatively modest in the first place and one is likely to receive only 25% or less of the value in shares, a person could end up with a BIP holding that 5i would advise selling as “too small to have a meaningful impact on the portfolio.” If that is the case, it may be better to go for all cash (or sell it all at once in the meantime) and avoid paying a transaction fee later on an unnecessary tag end.
Cheers!
Read Answer Asked by Lance on August 01, 2018
Q: you have had multiple questions on this stock, i own 10,000 shares, for me a small position and the stock keeps getting creamed, divvy near15% monthly, all my 30 years of investing experience tells me something is wrong, but 5i says nothings wrong, even has it in its portfolio, the company says nothings wrong, but the markets saying everythings wrong. please comment. dave
Read Answer Asked by david on August 01, 2018