Investment Q&A

Q: Ala fixed rate preferred shares look interesting. Which series of preferred look most attractive. Given that preferred share dividend must be paid before common it would appear that their yield of between 5.5 and 6.75 should be relatively safe.

Q: When one reads the balance sheet are the pref shares included in the long term debt.

Q: Hello 5i Team, I am having trouble understanding the recent behaviour of preferred shares in general. I would sooner not repeat the loss I took several years ago, and until recently had thought my current set-up was “safer”. However, I am now in danger of heading underwater on all but BCE in the following list. Do you see any “red flags” in these holdings going forward that might signal Sell?
BCE.PR.H (Ser AH)
BPO.PR.N (3.782% CUM 6.5 YRRY)
FFH.PR.G (3.318% CUM 5 YR RT RST)
BEP.PR.K (5% CUM MIN RT RST)

I note that CPD has also been moving down more or less in concert with my individual holdings.

Would appreciate your thoughts/insight here.

Thanks,

Q: ZPR is around 75% fixed reset and floating. I would have expected the unit value to rise this year as 5 year rates have moved from around 1.8% to 2.3%. Instead, the unit value has dropped around 7% ytd. Has the spread on preferreds to bonds widened or is there something else going on? Thanks for any insight.

Q: HPR has dropped from the 9.60-9.70 range to below 9.00 in the last while, including yet another big drop today. I always thought a managed Pref ETF would not drop as much as the overall market during a correction and that it would be a defensive holding. Apparently not a correct assumption. So, what is happening with this ETF - should I sell and buy something more secure like a Utility, buy more of this ETF or what? My goal with this part of my portfolio is lower risk.

Q: Goodmorning
What are your thoughts on the 2 above preffered shares?
continue to hold or move on?
Thks
Marcel

Q: Thoughts on this ? Any suggestions for preferred shares in current interest rate enviroment

Q: I own CPD in an OPEN account. I am still trying to understand Preferred Shares, even after watching Ryan's very good presentation about it. I am still trying to figure out why the fluctuations in CPD, outside of bond yields, and interest rate fluctuations i.e. should I sell these now for Tax loss selling or keep and buy more perhaps. It might be helpful for me to understand how I can buy an individual preferred share in my TDInvestor account, then I could see the difference in share price to common? A few questions here....
Thanks
Marilyn

Q: Can I get your take on Dundee Corp. for a 5 year investment.
Thanks for all you do!
B.

Q: Hi,
My question is regarding the EFN.PR.C preferreds. Are they worth holding onto considering the overall company situation? My goal here is to protect capital at this point for this particular account.
Your take on these things is always appreciated.
Dawn

Q: Hi. I own Artis prefs (AX.PR.G). Given their financial results and the dividend cut (with the cut going to buybacks, growth and debt reduction), would you feel better or worse about the prefs today vs yesterday? Thanks

Q: Hi Guys: I hold an Altagas Preferred (ala.pr.e) which is down significantly over the last year. I hold it principally for the yield so I am not too bothered by the drop, unless of course I begin to believe that the company will have to default on its debt obligations. This seems (to me at least) a pretty unlikely scenario, notwithstanding all the current drama with its debt and stock price etc. Please give me your opinion in this regard. With thanks, Don

Q: I purchased ECN.PR.C at $25 because it paid 6.25% and, as a rate reset in a rising interest rate environment, with a guaranteed 6.25% minimum(!), it sounded great.
It has gone down from day one and has little interest. Should I pick up a few more shares at $21 with a juicier dividend or let it go and look elsewhere? If it doesn't go up with increased rates, when will it?
Thanks.

Q: My question relates to the latest type of prefs , the minimum rate test preferred. As a broker who has been retired some time.i am knowable about the rise and fall of prefs as they relate to rising or falling interest rates. But I struggle with understanding the minimum rate reset prefs. For example ECN.PR.A pays a 6.50 % div based on issue price. Given the current 5 yr rate the reset would be above the minimum rate. No matter what you would get 6.5%.
I know that other factors influence the trading price eg quality and the market itself etc.
Is this type of investment , all other things being equal that you would buy for the short as well as long term. I’m a very senior senior.

Q: Hello,
The ALA.PR.U preferred has fallen like all other ALA shares.
If they cut the dividend on the common, could they just as easily cut the dividend on the preferred?
My intentions are to generate USD income and still take advantage of the dividend tax credit.
Would you suggest I hold off from averaging down?
The yield (in USD) is appealing. Thanks

Q: Is this a good time to buy ENB.PR.U ?
Just like ALA.PR.U , the USD income is appealing.

Thanks

Q: Question about preferred shares in general.
I will use a Pembina preferred as an example. PPL.PR.I issued March 31, 2015.
Rate reset date is December 1, 2020.
Issued at 4.75% - therefore initially issued at 3.91% + .85%.
Currently the 5 year government bond yield rate is 2.36% (I'm getting this from iTrade and to reset Pembina will use Bloomberg GCAN5YR. I'm assuming they are the same or close).
Therefore the reset rate will be 6.27% (3.91% + 2.36%).
I am assuming that Pembina will either reset the rate or redeem the preferred at $25.00 on December 1, 2020.
Two questions:
1. Is there anything else they can do other than reset or redeem?
2. If they can only do a reset or redeem then why has the stock decreased in value from above $25.00 to $24.25 this past week? I would have thought with the pending increased reset rate or redemption the preferred would be holding its value.
Am I totally missing something here?
Thanks so much.

Q: Why on earth would preferred shares be tumbling so much over the past couple of days? E.g. see ZPR, CPD, HPR etc. It can't be the threat of lower interest rates? Can it? And if so what does that say about the prospects for the economy and the stock market? Or is this an aberration and an opportunity to buy some preferreds?

Q: Do you have any reasons why all the Pref share ETFs have dropped by 1.5 % or more today - in an upward market; and why they have all dropped 7% or so this month, almost as much down as the common share market?

Q: Hello,
Just wondering why CPD Preferred ETF has been going down in October. I would assume the unit price would be going up in a rising rate environment. In fact the opposite is happening. I know its based on credit quality of the companies but there is a lot of high credit worthy companies in this ETF.

Thanks