Investment Q&A

Q: Would now be a decent time to buy preferred shares since many are down . If so can you suggest a few that are safe with decent yields.

Q: it seems the fortunes of this company are at least stabilizing if not turning around. They are profitable and have negotiated a more favourable debt maturity structure. My main question is in regards to the short interest of around 18% - is this not a risky thing to do in light of the above? I read somewhere the short positions have actually been established as hedges by convertible bondholders - if the company tanks, the bonds sink but the short positions offset. If the company succeeds and share price increases, the convertible bonds can convert to equity at the lower conversion rate and close out their short position. Am I on the right track? I can't otherwise explain this huge short %

Q: Is this a safe investment for long term dividends. It is down a lot since it was pushed om me. Thx James

Q: I dipped my toe I the preferred share market at the offering of BROOKFIELD REN-A S-18 PFD in April. But being new to me I am hoping you can explain the ins and outs of what I purchased. I will be honest, I saw Brookfield renewable, 5.5% and the word preferred and hit the buy button. since that time it has steadily declined. the redeemable date is April 2027. Additional questions are: 1) on the redemption date will they be redeemed at my purchase price or market price? 2) the current yield based on current price is 7.31% would you buy more at current price? 3) for future reference when should an investor buy this type of share?
thanks for the great service. deduct as many credits as you feel is fair.
Todd

Q: I still have a lot of preferred shares in various Canadian companies, along with some in the CPD ETF. These were all legacy investments from a long-ago advisor. I am no fan of pref shares and now wonder if its' time to dump them all and go into true fixed income like laddered GIC's. I still fail to see a case for pref shares and also wonder whether I'm better to put the proceeds into relatively solid equities, like say ENB, SLF, T or the like. The dividends are roughly equal to my pref share positions and I know that equities can drop in share value. So do the pref shares, in my experience, but the prefs have such limited upside potential. Your thoughts please.

Q: this seems like it might be a hidden GEM. your thougths?

Q: As a follow up to Davids question today, re Fixed Floating Preferred Shares, can we trade these as stocks, without caring too much on rates. As was said in the question if one is buying 60 cents on a dollar, the price fluctuation is enough to compensate on the lower yield. It seems to be an attractive thing for fixed income of anyone's portfolio. I suppose the yield will be paid at the price the preferred share is sold.

Q: An interview with the Globe & Mail about ten days ago, David LePoidevin of Canaccord Genuity said "Our most exciting trade right now is the reset, fixed-floating preferred shares, which we’re buying at an average price of about 60 cents on the dollar. The dividends were reset about three years ago when rates were 0.5 per cent. The five-year is above 3.5 per cent, so the dividend increases are stunning. Not enough people are doing the math, but you can buy something that looks like it’s unattractive today, but in two years, you’re going to have a yield that might be approaching 9 or 10 per cent." Elsewhere he clarified that he is buying only non-bank preferreds.
What is your view on this? If you agree, what rate reset preferreds would suggest? Mr. LePoidevin mentioned BCE, TRP and ENB but no specific series. The tickers above are just my guesses.

Q: ECN.PR.C is currently at a 52 week low of $23.75 with a yield of 8.34%. Would you consider the dividend income to be relatively stable over the next 5 year period?

Q: Hi 5i Team

I'm trying to understand the timing of when a new benchmark 5 year Bank of Canada bond rate is set (and how it will affect fixed rate reset preferred shares) .

It looks like there is an auction for the 5 year roughly once a month. Do each of these auctions affect the benchmark or are only some designated for that purpose?

Thanks
Peter

Q: We own 10 preferred shares with BCE,BRF,BPO,NPI,PWF,ENB,CU. Overall we are down considerably on capital loss. But making a good return at these current prices. Question to you is, should we keep preferred shares for the current return or take a loss and sell them. Most are in registered accounts so no tax loss is available.

Q: Hi, Todd’s question about these preferred shares offered by Brookfield has piqued my interest. Appears to be a solid investment. What is the potential downside?
Thanks

Q: Peter, one of the worst 'safe' investments I have ever made has been ZPR. Looking for a somewhat enhanced yield and a bit more safety, my 2014 investment shockingly dropped by about 40% in a year! The explanation 5i offered at the time was the declining interest rates combined with ZPR's rate reset preferred share holdings. But now, interest rates are INCREASING and ZPR is again down - almost 20% in the past year, and 12% in just the last six months. I realize other factors can move prices, but I'm mystified how a supposedly more stable investment can decline so much, so quickly, both when prevailing interest rates go UP and when they go DOWN! Do you have any explanation that might make sense to a mere mortal?

Q: Hi
Canadian Pref Share Market seems to live in an environment of low liquidity and sell off no matter what other indicators imply about the future.
Today it seems strange that a pref share ( ENB.PR.D ) would trade at $17.50 (Yield: 6.37%) with the Reset Date approaching in four months.
With only a 0.75% raise by the BOC (between now and Feb 1, 2023) this share at current price will yield 9.76% on the reset. ( 8.69% without any change in Rates)

Is it just that investors will not pay for Pref Share future Resets?
Is ETF selling driving this share price as Managers are forced to liquidate as investor flee pref share ETF again?
Are investors holding out for a Bottom and then deploy cash to equities (high return) instead of Pref shares ( fixed return)?

What's up that a pref may be about to yield >9% and no one wants it?

Thanks
Dave

Q: Hello, I just received an optional conversion notice, from series 38 to series 39. Would you suggest converting in this case, or remaining with the original series 38 that I am currently holding? Thank you as always...

Q: Pref shares have been generally weak lately and today AQN-PR-A is down 8.4%. I see no reason for this. Your thoughts? Does it make sense to add to my position at this price? Effective yield is now 6.8%.
many thanks

Q: what preferred shares ETFs would you recommend now and why? Would you recommend preferred shares over bonds right now?
thanks

Q: I have a ladder of rate reset preferred shares that pay a nice yield. My anticipated yield when they reset is looking very attractive. They seemed to be in favour in 2021. Despite rising rates in 2022, they have had a very poor year this year (across the board, not just my holdings). Why is that ?

Thanks,
Mark

Q: hi. i own series 15 of ppl.pr.o they will not redeem but want to know if i want to exchange for series 16. what would be the pros and cons for doing so. and if i don,t do i still get b of c 5yr rate plus 2.92% thanks brian w

Q: Is there a site which lists the preferred share reset dates for the TSX. If not is it possible for you to list a few that reset after October 1 and rank them from best to worst?
Thanks as always, Bryan