Investment Q&A

Q: EIF has been drifting lower the past few trading days any word as why? Don

Q: Any reason/news for the 3% drop in the stock.

Q: I am primarily interested in income but do not want to risk my capital. If interest rates move up, say 75 basis points this year, how detrimental would that be to the stock price. Would they consider reducing the distribution? Thank you, Bob

Q: I own TD shares and I'm also a customer. All the analysts and experts seem to love this bank, but based on the way they have treated me and their other customer issues I am starting to doubt this view. I think when your service is this bad - and yes dealing with any of the Big 5 banks is no picnic - its only a matter of time until it works its way to the bottom line. Thoughts?

Q: Which do you prefer for future growth. SLF or MFC.

Q: These receipts were issued at $31 and are now trading around $29, if the deal with WGL doesn't go close you get your $31 back. If it does close you get a share of ALA 1 for 1 for $31, in the meantime you get the same dividend as ALA which they just increased. What's the downside if any. The deal is supposed to close approx. in Q2 of 2018.

Q: I am going over our investments and am looking to put in a bit more zip by rearranging a few holdings in a well balanced portfolio of only stocks. In our RIFF I am considering removing 3% AW.UN and replacing with HLF. The dividends are similar and short term it looks like HLF is attracting some buying after tax loss selling and longer term corporate policy shift to efficiencies and developing more healthy products suggests a bit more potential capital gain for HLF. Please Comment on longer term risk for this change.

Q: Generally one can find a yield of between 4% and 6% for preferred shares and junk bonds. I am leaning towards pref shares for the higher yielding portion of my portfolio. I realize bonds are higher in the order of liquidation but there seem to be a number of higher quality pref shares that yield close to junk bond yields.
1) Do you agree with my thesis?
2) What is the lowest credit rating would you would accept for bonds and pref shares?

Thank You

Paul

Q: I am considering the purchase of some Transalta preferred shares. Before making a move, I would first like to know whether Transalta has made any progress reducing the debt on their balance sheet in the past year. Your comments are appreciated!

Q: I already have a 3.9% position in KWH.UN and would like to add another 3% position in a utility. I am leaning toward AQN but worry that I am putting too much into the renewable sector. Should I be concerned and buy FTS instead for diversification purposes ? And is a 7% utility portfolio weighing appropriate ?

Q: Please give me your opinion on this/MKZ.UN. It has a high dividend, and appears to have done well in 2017 and prior.

Thanks & Happy New Year

Q: Gordon Pape wrote an article on Fixed income vehicles that was published in the December 28 edition of the Globe and Mail. My question is on the Pimco Monthly Income Fund ETF. Apparently the fund has gained 6% in the last 5 years. can you comment on the fund and the ETF. Would you recommend either for the fixed income portion of a portfolio? Thank You.

Q: Hello 5i team,
What is a good ETF that tracks the tsx broad market that pays a decent dividend. Is CDZ a good choice or do you have another suggestion that would be a counterpart to VFV.
Thanks,
Andrew

Q: Hi 5i team,
What would be examples of high yield bond ETFs within Canada?
Thank You,
Andrew

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

My wife and I each hold both BCE and T in our RRSP/RRIF accounts. We are overweight Telecom, and trying to reduce the number of holdings. I note that T has beaten BCE for the one and two year periods, but BCE has beaten T for the three and five year periods. We would consider one of these stocks as a "hold forever". Also, not that it's pertinent, but we're BCE clients for our landline, internet, TV, and cellphone.

Given that 5i has dropped T from the model portfolio, if we were to keep only one of these two, which should we keep?

Thanks, and Happy New Year to all at 5i and our fellow subscribers.

Q: Do you think the reduced tax rate in the US, and/or the faster write off rules, will make Alaris’ business model less attractive to the US companies it invests in?

Q: What is your opinion on ZPL and ZPS as income investments? I am looking for yield and security of principal as well - would one or both of these ETFs fit those requirements? Would these fare well if the equity markets have a significant drop?

Q: Hello Peter, Ryan and crew.

I am retired and rely on investment income of about 4% dividends/interest. Because I no longer wish to take the time necessary to monitor 50 stocks and 10 bonds, I have been looking for some good income funds or ETFs to replace the individual stocks and bonds that I currently own. The ones I have found have distributions that meet my needs, but do not appear to have the underlying earnings yield to justify the distribution yield, so they appear to be paying me back some of my own money every month. Can you recommend some income funds or ETFs that pay out at least 4% and actually earn what they distribute? Like 5i, I am also sensitive to fees.

I have been a 5i member since the beginning and I continue to be impressed by your knowledge and insight as well as the continuous improvements in the service.

I wish everyone at 5i all the best in the New Year.

Thanks

Q: Will US tax reform benefit Pivot? Are you able to determine to what extent?

Regards and happy holidays.

Robert

Q: Happy Holidays!!
Are you still positive on ALA.R?
At wait price do you consider it a table pounding buy?
What are the risks in buying it here at the $28 level?
Thank you