Investment Q&A

Q: I have set aside funds specifically for the purpose of establishing an income portfolio. While I understand your reservations in trying to time the market, could you recommend a strategy for deploying the funds giving consideration to the weak seasonal period for equities we are entering, the imminent elimination of QE, and the potential for incremental increases in interest rates starting within the next six months. Would it be wise to place the funds in money market, or even a short term bond etf like VSB or VSC, and wait till later in the year to begin the investing process? What ideas in the 5i income portfolio are buy-able currently? Many thanks.

Q: Model PF I am reviewing my weightings in various sectors and it is proving to be an equivocal process. I turned towards your PF to get some ideas and couldn't find anything relating to it. Is there somewhere to find this and if not, have you thought of doing so or, is there a reason that you don't.

TIA

Q: Hi guys ... I'm in the process of culling the last bit of crap from my portfolio (FLY and AET.UN) with the idea of replacing them with something much better. I'm looking for a couple of solid stocks that offer a realistic chance at 15-20% growth in the next year or so while also providing a dividend of at least 3%. I got lucky with PKI on a big dip a few weeks ago ... now I'm hoping to find a couple more. Any help would be appreciated. One caveat ... I'm already overweight in energy so I'd like to avoid that sector.

Thanks for the great service.

Q: Re: FLOT (US) - Floating Rate Bond
I currently have a large US$ cash balance in my US Trading Acc't which I put into TD's Investment Saving Account (TDB8152) to get at least a little bit of interest while the money sits idle between trades. Would FLOT be a suitable alternative to TDB8152? For instance, how would it compare in safety and yield, and are there any other alternatives to these that you might recommend for idle US$?
Thank you.

Q: i have a tendancy to trade and take profit more often than necessary and miss the further upside and downside also sometime,to decipline my self would it be wise to adjust to model growth portfolio and not worry about other stocks outside the portfolio?.Growth is my intention.

Q: Hi Folks:
I notice that ET is in your Income Portfolio but there is no report on it on your site. It has an ROE of 19% and a decent yield. Any bad news that we should know about?
Charles

Q: Peter and Team,

Is there a reason the model income portfolio doesn't contain any of the Limited Parternships that are spun off of the major pipeline companies? Examples would be TransCanada Pipelines LP or the Enbridge Income Fund. These generally pay higher yield and have less volatility than the common shares of the associated pipeline company so I would think this would have been a great pick. Are there reasons to avoid these vehicles?

Q: All of the stocks that I own are your recomendations. As per you suggestion I want the highest growth stocks in TFSA's. From your A and B rated stocks in the summary, which would you consider for the highest growth for TFSA's.
Thanks for your outstanding service.
PB

Q: Hi Peter,
I am wondering if you are nearing a decision on what to do with the cash in the Model Portfolio account?
Thanks
Mike

Q: Hi Peter and team, With some of the proceeds of our house sale, we'd like to invest in both the Income ($100,000) and Growth portfolios ($150,000). We will hold these in trading accounts since our RRSPs are maxed. Would you recommend starting the year now with an equal (5% each) distribution across the 20 stocks in each portfolio or is there an advantage to using the current weighting? Thanks for your thoughts!

Q: Hi Peter - Presently I have around $160,000 in cash. Should I wait for the correction (who know when that coming)or invest in the model portfolio with some changes to take into account that I am 65 and semi retired. So if I do invest in the model portfolio what changes would you make taking into account my personal situation?...thanks for your insight

Q: Hello 5i,

I manage 2 RRSPs in our household. I am running the income portfolio on the larger account and the model portfolio on the other without duplicating crossover stocks . Does this sound like a valid strategy?
I am adding 2 stocks to both accounts and would like you to give me your preference at this time.
For Income portfolio ENB, ET, L, SLW and VNR

For the Model portfolio AYA, CSS , FSV, CCL.B, and DSG

Thanks

Q: I prefer not to invest in gambling stocks and since AYA is in the model portfolio what would be your next best stock for the model portfolio?
Thanks

Q: Hello Peter and Team,
I am looking to add a little punch to the Energy sector of an otherwise diversified portfolio. Energy currently makes up almost 20%, so I am not looking to add, but to hopefully refine. I am considering a swap of Surge (SGY) for Vermillion (VET). I like them both, but am leaning towards the income feature of Surge as well as the continuation of good results as was indicated in the last Q report. Could I have your thoughts to this?

Q: Re: Model Portfolios
I'm interested in establishing a portfolio based on your models but as I did not buy the stocks on day 1 when they were created, I'm wondering if there is an optimum time to begin buying in an attempt to recreate and track the existing model portfolios in the current time frame. If I were to simply buy the listed stocks in the models today, I would be faced with the following concerns:
1) in the case of stocks that are rising and have appreciated significantly - have I missed the best part of any gains on these stocks already?
2) in the case of stocks that have not fared as well as expected in the model portfolio - have things changed to the point where you may be considering dropping a particular stock and replacing it with something else?
As the selections for the model portfolios were made some number of months ago, would you recommend establishing a complete new portfolio based on your models immediately and completely on any given start date, or is there some other criteria that you would use for building a portfolio from start?
Thank you.

Q: Balanced Portfolio?
You currently have a model Equity Portfolio and a model Income Portfolio. From subscriber's questions, it appears that at some point you will be adding a Growth Portfolio.
Would it be in the realm of possibility to add a "Balanced Portfolio" as well. This would not necessarily need to be a brand new researched portfolio started from scratch but rather a portfolio constructed from stocks selected by you from your existing Equity/Income/Growth Portfolios and just maintained in a separate listing.
With 20 stocks in your Equity Portfolio and another 19 in your Income Portfolio and potentially another approximately 20 more in a future Growth Portfolio, I would find it difficult to manage a portfolio with this many holdings. I would find it extremely helpful as I'm sure other subscribers would who seek diversification not only in different sectors but also between equity, income & growth, and be able to maintain them in one all-encompassed portfolio.
Thank you.

Q: Hi,
At the Money Show 2014 Randy Cass and Peter Hodson, the master of ceremonies, were promoting the average investor to go it on their own. Forget paying fee's to fund managers. I have bought stocks that are high on 5i's recommendation list: ACQ, BAD, and CSU, and have lost a bundle of money. Also on that list were AYA, SYS, and CF, which I should have bought, and then I would have made a bundle of money. As luck would have it, I picked the wrong three. Would you be able to bring to the forefront the ones with the most upside potential?
Thanks,
Dennis

Q: Would you use the income portfolio for an RRSP account and the model portfolio for a non- RRSP account?

Q: I am putting 31 000 into my wife's TFSA investment account. Perhaps 5 different stocks from the Model Portfolio which will result in growth and also garner dividends. Which 5 would you recommend and should it be all done at once or over a period of time? Thanks

Q: Have you ever thought of putting your model portfolios in an ETF?
This would make it alot easier for subscribers to buy into your portfolios as opposed to buying the individual stocks.