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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 taking over my portfolio from my full service broker after many years.
In my RRSP I have $ 15,000 Of Life Banc and Split Corp and $ 15,000 of the Preferreds

Could you explain what split shares are. and if they are a good investment.

The current yield is over 11 % How do they sustain a yield of 11 %

I need to do a lot of rebalancing of the portfolio to make it alot more diversified Should I keep these two issues

Thanks for your great wisdom

Paul
Read Answer Asked by Paul on October 30, 2017
Q: The acquisition announced yesterday is very accretive addition to ECN's business. A purchase price of only $100M US adds 22% to net income. ECN raised $2.7B US from asset sales earlier this year, so the war chest is full. Am I missing something (debt paid down from the the $2.7B?) or is this a company on the verge of much bigger things?
Read Answer Asked by David on October 26, 2017
Q: hello 5i:
referencing "Dennis'" question of October 20th, BNS AT1 hybrid security.
Can you expand on the answer? I'm having a great deal of trouble trying to find out EXACTLY what this is. And, if the statement, this debt is cheaper for the bank (Hymas), then won't all banks be doing this? Or, what about non-banks? And what effect do you see this having on the preferred market? Would this increase the yield of new prefs being offered, as older prefs will be seen as less attractive? Many questions here, but as I said, I am having trouble finding answers anywhere else, not subscribing to Hymas as there maybe answers there.
thanks
Paul
Read Answer Asked by Paul on October 26, 2017
Q: Clarification please: 5i's response to Edgar's question on how split corporations work was, "If a certain net asset value is not maintained, common dividends will cease to protect the preferred shares." The sentence sounds as though the preferred shares will stop being protected. Is it more accurate to say, "If a certain net asset value is not maintained, common dividends will cease IN ORDER to protect the preferred shares"? Sorry about the caps but wanted indicate the difference between the two statements. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Jerry on October 25, 2017
Q: Thoughts on Equitable Grp? The company has double digit revenue and ebitda growth over the last 5 and 10 years, yet trades at a relatively low PE and ebitda multiple. I know it has been painted negatively with the debacle at Home Capital but the macro outlook for alternative mortgages in Canada seems very positive to me? With the big banks forced to clamp down on mortgages with new rules coming into effect Jan 1 and Canada continuing to be a great place for immigration, particularly with what is going on in the US, won't demand for housing continue to biased to the upside? Consider this for a medium term view - say 3 years. Sometimes I get caught up in my own biases for a particular outlook so I would be interested in your views. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Richard on October 23, 2017
Q: What are your thoughts of this closed-end fund? It has public and private investments, trades at a discount of course and with leverage to financials. I also wonder whether there would be a potential tax hit as I see they have gold acreage in Quebec carried at $0 ACB. I wonder what your opinion of management is - something here? Thanks! as a follow up to my question just asked, if you were to buy, would you look at the voting or NV shares? Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Michael on October 23, 2017
Q: Regarding asset allocation, I need to do some trimming and adding. I need to trim RY and use the proceeds to add to ZWE. In a perfect world, I'd like to nail both dividends, so I wanted to bounce the plan past you.

The ex-div date for RY is Oct 25 and the ex-div date for ZWE is Oct 27. So that means I would get the RY dividend if I sell on or after Oct 25. I would get the ZWE dividend if I buy on or before Oct 26. Did I get this right? Thanks, Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on October 20, 2017
Q: Hi 5i:
Thank you for the continued great advice, insight, and the opportunity to renew at the existing membership rates.
I would like your opinion on an article in the Globe and Mail last week – Scotiabank’s AT1 security a hit; other banks expected to follow suit.
BNS issued 1.25B$ internationally through a sale of a new hybrid security that has many of the attributes of a preferred share, but is legally classified as debt. This note qualifies as additional tier 1 capital, pays interest at 4.65% for 5 years and floating thereafter, has no scheduled maturity and converts into equity in times of distress. The new hybrid security also gets around the 25% tax on any passive income generated by investors who are not resident of Canada.
There are more details in the article.
If other banks follow suit what do you think will be the effect on the retail rate reset preferred share market in Canada? Would there be a probability of the banks redeeming their preferred shares currently issued when the first redemption option comes due and replacing with this new hybrid instrument?
Thank you.








Read Answer Asked by Dennis on October 20, 2017
Q: On the company website for FC, I see a note that "dividends are treated as interest income for income tax purposes under the Canadian Income Tax Act."
I own some shares in FC and I acquired them expecting that the dividends paid would be taxed as dividends (Oops! Now I know differently). How then is it that a dividend can be treated as anything other than a dividend and what is the reasoning for a firm paying a dividend that gets taxed as interest? Why not call it what it is...interest? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Rob on October 20, 2017
Q: Hello - I have been following TSU with interest since it's IPO in late June. It's had a nice run over the past 4 months. I'd like to know what your take is on: (1) the recent announcement that the company is hoping to have a 1 for 10 share consolidation followed by a 10 to 1 share split, and (2) whether you think it has potential as a good growth stock. Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Martha on October 18, 2017
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