Investment Q&A

Q: I am relatively new to your service, but have search around the site a bit and cannot seem to find anything that addresses what criteria you use in selecting companies on which to report. I wonder if you could elaborate a bit. Perhaps your answer could be added to the FAQ. Thanks....David

Q: Hello,

This is more of a request.

Is it possible to add an option to subscribe to forums and if subscribed to receive an email notification when new topics are created or topics are replayed to?

Thanks

Q: I'm looking for a complete ongoing updated list of shorts URL or website if possible. I believe it was posted before on your site but can't find it.

Many thanks.

Q: I was 10 mins late signing in to the webinar today and unfortunately was not able to partake (full). Will you be re playing sometime? Thank you, Maureen

Q: Can 5i tell me if bond coupons have "ex-payout dates". My transaction records show that the date coupon is posted is always on the nearest weekday to the maturity date of the Bond. I presume there is a posting lag, but I would like to know what date I can sell the bond and still get the coupon

I enjoy the service you provide And wish the team a happy Yearend and many more of them in the future.

Ernie

Q: Looking at building my USD assets and then investing it in Vanguard ETFs. Would you invest in the S&P500 or maybe the specific sectors such as consumer staples? If so, what percentage would you put in each sector? Ultimately I would like to invest in specific companies but there is no 5i US equivalent so this would seem like the next best alternative.

Q: I recall seeing a report on stocks that are good to buy at tax loss season, but cannot find it. Would you please guide me on how to find this report.

Q: I have some money in the Steadyhand Small Cap Fund, which recently changed managers, now Joe Sirdevan from Galibier. Do you know him and his track record at Jarislowsky, where he was previously? Would you recommend him as a money manager?

Thanks.

Q: Hi 5i: As part of my RIF portfolio I hold three ETFs, namely one S&P (45%), one TSX (35%) and one for developed ex North America (20%). Do those percentages seem reasonable to you? I also have a chunk of the portfolio reserved for fixed (safe) income, so I'm not worried about safety, just efficiency.

Q: In response to another subscriber's question you said you "...would be more comfortable with Nestle. It trades at 19X earnings, with a 3.4% dividend. Debt is high, but so is free cash flow. Solid earnings growth is also expected from the company. It does not have a great record of beating earnings estimates, but overall we think it would also be fine as a consumer sector investment."

Nestle trades as NSRGY on the pink sheets. What would be the tax treatment if I bought and held this in my RRIF account? My understanding is that Swiss withholding taxes would be deducted at source and the after tax yield would be much less than 3.4%.

Q: Magna pays their dividends in USD. On their website they indicate that their dividends are "eligible" thus eligible for DTC. How does one be as tax-efficient as possible, not pay brokerage a conversion fee for USD to CAD conversion, and apply DTC? Cannot apply DTC if held in TFSA or RSP.

Q: Hi Peter and team
When making a diversification spreadsheet of my portfolio, how can I properly allocate my stocks in to the different groups like tech, telecom, energy etc?
Is there a place where I can find out.
Thanks
Margita

Q: There seems a fanatical feeling that Reits and Utlities will be impacted by a higher interest rate moves by USA.How does that affect Canadian companies if Canada doesn't follow suit or by very little interest moves.Which Reits do you feel won;t be impacted ?

Q: Why do you only show CTC.A (non-voting). Is there a reason one shouldn't buy CTC (voting) other than that CTC.A has a better yield? I assume you don't believe owning non-voting is a big deal.

Q: Dec 05/16 ? asked by Shyam.

I believe your answer is incorrect as follows:
Buying the stock today (Dec 5/16) would settle in 3 days on Dec 8/16. But the stock is already trading ex-dividend on Dec 8/16.

Q: I am not sure if my question was cut of. I did it on my phone. I would like to get your perspective on the number of companies that should be in various portfolios e.g. Income portfolio, growth portfolio and capital appreciation portfolio. For example 20 - 5% each, 10 - 5% each and 20 - 2.5 % each or some other combination.
mike

Q: My 20 year old son has asked Santa for a book about investing this Christmas. He has a sizeable investment account, having received inheritance gifts from both his grandfather and uncle. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.

Q: I have a portfolio consisting of mostly stocks, but also some etf's (ex IWO, ZPR, etc...) and BRK.B. Could you offer some advice on how the ETFs and conglomerate companies fit in to overall sector allocations? For example, in my case I have very little consumer discretionary exposure via stocks, but obviously some through IWO & BRK.B. I'm trying to figure out the best way to measure these for sector allocation purposes.

As always, thanks for the great service.

Q: Hello 5i
I have been reading a great deal of your responses that include comments implying a short term top developing in many 2016 good stocks.
Rotation out of the winners.
Year end Selling
Manger Positioning
Easy to sell winners for cash

And on the other side, 5i continues to recommend many of these names as investable today.

How is an investor to reconcile buy recommendations(at what feels like short term high) with declining stock prices and the scepter of a January pull back after the 2016 tax year passes.....and when the typical selling period begins for previous year winners?

If one is not a trader, what investor action is to be taken to ensure long term success with volatile names that appear to be in decline today?

(as a note: I may not be in some of these names without 5i.....good(a few nice gain positions-thanks) and bad(dealing with volatility)

Thanks
Dave

Q: I have a question about this press release about share repurchases from CGI Group. The CGI group is intending to repurchase Class A shares on the TSX. I'm a holder of shares of CGI on the NYSE. Can you tell me more about how this will affect my investment and are NYSE shareholder getting the short end of the stick?