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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: I am puzzled by the recent strength, of PRU US. PRU has had ratings upgrades. TipRanks ™ ‘top analysts’ rate is as “Strong Buy”. RBC Cap has it as at outperform. All of the several financial sites I looked up rated PRU as a buy or above. FT of London has made favorable comment on Prudential Group in the past year. (MFC has also been showing signs of life only some of which is attributable to winning litigation this week). It is generally accepted that interest rates in the US and Canada will remain low for more than a year. These LifeCos are holding up well... why? What gives? SLF is doing well, but SLF has non-overlapping operations and has had better strategies than MFC.

Question: would you sell PRU and deploy proceeds elsewhere? Would you expect PRU to appreciate more than dividend plus about 3%, that business prospects for the LifeCos will improve? Although PRU looks great value, its ROE, ROA, ROIC look poor--- but then I see conflicting ratios and metrics… your Bloombergs or service provider would have the deeper stuff of substance that I always want to see before buy/sell decisions.
Read Answer Asked by Adam on March 21, 2019
Q: Hello,
I own ATA and AIF in my RRIF account, both of them suffering a small loss. I would like to replace one or both of them with ECN. What is your thought? I usually like to hold stocks for at least 3 years. Thank you very much.
Herbert
Read Answer Asked by Herbert on March 18, 2019
Q: Hi,
I already own some MA but I want to add more exposure to this sector. Which of these companies would you suggest for a long term hold with minimal volatility? (I'm not sure why why my TD webroker trading platform lumps CRM into the same category as the others but it does?)
Is there a credit card ETF you like?
Also, are there any equivalent Canadian stocks?
Read Answer Asked by Graeme on March 18, 2019
Q: My thoughts, further to Dale's inquiry on March 12. I also received notice of PWF's plan for a buyback of 8% of their total shares. I won't be tendering my shares for a few reasons. I like the 5% dividend. Back in May 2018 they announced a 6% div. increase, and there may be another announcement coming this spring. Also, PWF will only advise the actual share price given for this tender, after the deadline to tender has passed. The range given is anywhere from $29 to $34.
I will stay on the sidelines. A sound decision?
Read Answer Asked by Robert on March 18, 2019
Q: I have owned JPM, TD and BNS for a few years. The thinking was it would enable me to spread my investments outside of Canada. Given the lacklustre performance of JPM and the fact that TD has significant US assets and BNS is international, I am thinking of swapping JPM for VISA (or MC if you think that is better) to get financial assets that may act just a bit differently than the banks. Does this thesis make sense?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on March 15, 2019
Q: Although securities are " held in segregation ", what specifically ensures that beneficial shareholders (non-registered ) are protected from a legal( registered) holder's liquidity issue ? My question relates to the possibility, not the probability of a liquidity issue . The question relates to large portfolios which are well beyond the scope of the CIPF protection . As an aside , I would note that , contrary to conventional wisdom , Canadian banks , although much stronger than many others around the world, are not really " well capitalized " . They meet and exceed very weak regulatory standards and regularly pass related stress tests . Over leveraging produces very good returns on too little capital . An informed analysis of all of our major banks balance sheets should raise the issue of possible risk associated with weak regulatory standards regarding capitalization .
Read Answer Asked by michael on March 15, 2019
Q: Hi Team,
Any concerns about the recent headlines that Toronto-based Brookfield faces scrutiny from Democrats (in the US) over its deal with Kushner company for 666 5th Ave. in New York. It involves (minimally, reportedly) the Qatari investment fund.
Thanks very much, Michael
Read Answer Asked by Michael on March 15, 2019
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