Investment Q&A

Q: Good Morning: I would appreciate your advice in the following situation. I currently hold roughly 15% of my portfolio in a Hi-Yld savings acct. paying 1.5%. The benefit of course is total flexibility in case of a market correction where I see opportunities. The down side is the relatively low return on assets. I have been thinking about transferring some portion of those monies to CBO (or an equivalent if you know of a better option.) However, when I look at the fact sheet for CBO I see the following data: Weighted average yield to maturity is 1.72%; distribution yield is 2.84%, and the trailing 12 month yield is 3.23%. To my relatively novice eyes (esp. in regard to bonds and bond etfs) it doesn't seem that I would be getting that much of a premium, and I would be giving up some flexibility and there is always the risk of a continued decline in the share price (even though it is near its recent lows) thus erasing any gain in yield. There are a lot of issues here that I'm finding it hard to balance out and would appreciate any insight or suggestions you have to offer. Sorry for the length of the question. Don

Q: Hi,

I'm looking for an RRSP investment for my wife. What we have right now is a TD US INDEX fund. Chose this one because it has low MER and tracks the S&P 500. Can you give us other index funds that you can recommend be it US or Canadian with good performance?

Thanks,

Sunday

Q: Very useful. Do you have a suggestion for a ETF that uses both filters ( buyback and increased dividend ) to sort companys.
Great work.

Q: My portfolio consists of 6-7% Utilities. I would like to add AQN. With everyone targeting Utilities as a sector to suffer under higher rates, is this a good idea? If so would you suggest the common or the Investment receipts and how big a position.

Thanks to the Team


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Q: I'm looking for an income component to my portfolio. i already have decent exposure to large dividend paying companies (cdn banks, BCE, Telus, ENB, TRP, BEP, BIP, CU, VZ, MO). i have a small amount in bonds but i am hesitant putting more money towards bonds at this point. where else would you go to for income for a total return of 4%-5%? Riets (XRE)? Preferred shares? This will probably be a 3%-5% weighting in my portfolio and a long term holding. Thanks

Q: I am holding TIP in the US as inflation protection, however I am having doubts regarding this strategy. For real return type bond ETFs, an increase in the relevant CPI increases income, yet rising inflation will be met with rising interest rates on nominal bonds that will drive the price of inflation-protected bonds down as well, negating the benefit of the increased income on a total return basis. It would seem to me that real return bonds are only protection from a central bank that has lost control over inflation; orderly inflation not so much. Is this an accurate assessment?

Q: Good Morning: A two part question about CBO. First, what is the difference between CBO and CBO.A, and is one preferable to the other for retail investors? Second, and more importantly, I notice that the stated yield (on my BMO Investorline fact sheet) for CBO is currently 3.3%. In your opinion, would an increase in interest rates in the US be likely to affect this rate in a significantly negative fashion?

Q: I am looking to crystallize gains in PPL, and seeking an alternative in the pipeline/utility sector. I currently own ENB and TRP as well as FTS. What do you recommend for diversification in combination with those three?

Q: I have nice paper capital gains in ZRE,FTS and T and the MacD is telling me to sell all 3 securities. I don't want to stand by and watch the paper profit disappear although I am getting a nice yield. What is the proper way to manage this situation? Thank you

Q: These stocks are about 10% of my portfolios. To reduce risk and to improve cash flow I would like to increase utilities to 20%. Is this a good time to add to this group since most candidates are expensive and interest rate sensitive. Could I have your recommendations?

Thank you, Werner

Q: What are the US and Canadian companies, that have what they call a wide Moat? What would be your definition and criteria of wide Moat companies?

Q: Hi,
I am retired and 63 years old.
I have 50K in ALTAMIRA HIGH-INTEREST CASHPERFORMER - F
NBC200 in my RSSP waiting to be deployed. I will not need that money for the next ten years. I told my broker that this investment was not even keeping up with inflation.
He suggested to buy CUF.un (20000$) and PWF (30000$).
Would you think of better alternatives?
Thank you

Q: What is happening with Emera? I have made good profit, but is it time to sell?
Margita

Q: I bought AGU for the decent yield in my income portion of my portfolio. Now with the planned merger I am concerned that the new company may have a lower yield and likely be more volatile due to higher potash exposure. If the deal goes through would you be keeping the new shares in the income portfolio?

Q: Please give me current take on Supremex. Would you recommend to buy, sell or hold. Would you prefers others to this and if so what would they be and how would they rank

Q: I see that the public sector is entering a growth phase, what would be your top 5 public sector dept picks for an aggressive growth portfolio?
I'm thinking that Health would be a 'no brainer' replacement for condordia, oh but wait...the grey tsunami...so would that be a long or short position.
Cheers and happy Friday

Q: Your current opinion on these 2 companies in the US for a buy and hold investor? They have a good track record on dividends, the payout ratio's are not out of control and obviously a proven long term track record. On the more aggressive side, what is your opinion of HCP ?

Q: Hi Peter and Gang,

My holdings in companies under the Brookfield brand (BAM.A, BBU.UN, BIP.PR, etc...) account for about 15% of my portfolio. Although these companies are in different businesses altogether, I am just wondering if there is too much concentration on the Brookfield brand. Your thoughts and comments would be appreciated.

Harry

Q: Greetings: In one of your recent answers you indicated that best current GIC rates are in the 2.75% range. The best rates I see in Vancouver (2% one year, 2.5% fiver year) are with Oaken Capital, part of the Home Capital Group (Home Trust, Home Bank). Is Oaken Capital a pretty good provider? Are those rates in line with what I should expect? I intend to set up a laddered series with about $100K
Thank you

Q: I would like to have a decent return but preservation of capital is a priority. Please provide your opinion on CIBC Canadian Bond Index Fund – Premium Class CIB585. I am aware that you recommend the ETF CBO so would appreciate your comparison. This would be in a non registered account.
https://www.cibc.com/ca/mutual-funds/no-load-income/can-bond-indx-fund-premium.html

Thank you,