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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 own bce in my rrsp account. I know it has a good dividend but the stock has been flat for the last few years. I was wondering if you could recommend another dividend stock that was relatively safe but would have a bit more growth potential.
Read Answer Asked by scott on February 02, 2021
Q: I am looking at putting together a portfolio of set-&-forget Canadian dividend-paying stocks, in what will be my only unregistered account, making up about 30% of our overall portfolio. The registered accounts (70% of portfolio) are now all in mixes of VGRO, VBAL and XAW.
My emphasis is on stable large cap companies, with a sprinkling of smaller cap, low beta, decent and growing dividends. I expect to draw down the capital at 6 - 7% per year (in addition to the dividends). Beyond the drawdown, capital preservation is secondary to the income.
What are your thoughts on the following mix? Additions/deletions?
Communication: BCE, T
Consumer Discretionary: CTC.A, LNF
Consumer Staples: NWC, PBH
Financials: BNS, TD, SLF
Industrials: SIS
Materials: SJ
Real Estate: CRT.UN
Energy & Utilities: ENB, AQN, FTS, ACO.X, BEP.UN (or BEPC)
My other thought is 100% CDZ but I'm not very impressed with the historical returns and the (relatively) high MER.
Thanks. Lotar.
Read Answer Asked by Lotar on January 26, 2021
Q: I am looking to "trim the fat" from my TFSA, which currently holds 20 stocks: ATD, BCE, BMO, BNS, CCO, CM, ENB, FFH, PDYPF, INO.UN, LAS, NXE, NWC, NA, NTR, PEY, PZA, MJJ, TRP, WELL. Are there any positions that raise red flags with you? In addition, could you suggest 3 or 4 value picks suitable for a long-term hold (20 years plus)?
Thank you!
Read Answer Asked by Sarah on January 14, 2021
Q: 50-yr old investing for retirement. Have historically been a dividend fiend but open to juicing the growth side a bit more as a result of the excellent advice I can now obtain from 5i. Considering adding to either my consumer defensive/staples allocation or increasing international exposure (the latter via an ETF). Hoping you might help me deploy a half position in an RSP and jump in one direction from a corner of the fence (and understanding you can't personalize such advice) - considering initiating a position in NWC (CA), PBH (CA), or WMT (US) or adding to an existing position in ZWE (European covered call ETF). My current geographical exposure is 34% US; 33% CA; and 32% International (XEF, ZDI and ZWE). My total covered call ETF exposure is around 8% of my equity portion and geographically diversified. Other suggestions for staples and international ETFs will be appreciated. Thanks for the great service!
Read Answer Asked by Mark on January 12, 2021
Q: Hi 5i,
This may well be 4 questions, so please deduct points accordingly.
Portfolio Analytics indicates that I'm underweight in Communications Services, Consumer Defensive, Industrials and Consumer Cyclical, and I'd like to top up these sectors.
I try to be a balanced investor and like income, but I don't mind taking on more risk and little or no income on something with a solid premise. Especially right now I'm looking for companies that are poised to benefit from the return to (more or less) normal life that 2021 might bring.
My present Communications Services weight all comes from the following ETFs - TXF, ZDI, DISC and ZWU. Can you provide a few Canadian equities to look at in this sector at this time, other than the big four?
My present Consumer Defensive weight comes mostly from NWC, with a smidgeon from ETFs like ZFI and DISC. Are there two or three Canadian equities in this sector you'd currently recommend looking at?
My present Industrials weight is in FTG (which I'd be happy to sell unless you think it has the potential for recovery in the coming year), QST and XBC. Are there another two or three Canadian names you presently favor in this sector?
And finally, my only Consumer Cyclical other than whatever might be in the listed ETFs is NFI (although I'd have thought it would properly be classified as an Industrial). Again, could you recommend two or three Canadian equity names that might qualify as viable Consumer Cyclical holdings going forward?
Thanks a lot and Happy New Year!
Peter
Read Answer Asked by Peter on January 06, 2021
Q: Hello Folks:
What is your opinion of these companies:
Caterpillar, cummins, cosco, walmart
I currently own caterpillar, cummins and cosco. Cummins and cosco have turned out very well. while caterpillar has struggled. Do you think industrials have much upside?
I am interested in what consumer staple businesses or others you may recommend such as cosco, walmart, touche card etc. to see us through these strange times.
Thank you very much
brian
Read Answer Asked by Brian on October 07, 2020
Q: Retired dividend-income investor. Looking to add to my Consumer sector. I already own PBH, NWC, PLC. I am looking to add one more name, preferably with a dividend > 3%, although dividend security and dividend growth are more important than todays yield.

I have looked at CTC.A, LNF, MG, PRMW and QSR. I have researched each using both fundamentals (beta, P/E, P/BV, P/CF, P/S, ROE) and technicals (higher highs and higher lows, above 200mda), as well as current analyst estimates.

CTC.A comes across as just "ok". LNF has already had an incredible jump recently, so I am hesitant to buy at current prices. MG is not bad, but shows a ROE = -1%. PRMW looks good except for the ROE = -9%. QSR also looks good, showing a ROE = +29% (I can't find P/BV and P/CF anywhere). The bottom line is there doesn't appear to be a stand out obvious buy. I am leaning toward one of MG, PRMW or QSR.

Would you please rank all 5 companies from best to worst for the following (assuming a 3-5 year hold):
a) Dividend security
b) Capital gain potential
c) Total return potential

Thanks for your help. Much appreciated....Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on September 04, 2020
Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. Looking to top up my Consumer sector holdings. Currently have PBH, NWC and PLC, which are more on the Staples side of things. I have a "full" weighting on each, relative to my assessment of their risk. Considering getting back into the Discretionary side...maybe rebuy LNF or MG. Could you run a screen of Canadian Discretionary stocks that pay > 3% dividend and overlay that with your ranking from best to worst...maybe the top 5 for me to consider.

Thanks for your help...Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on July 15, 2020
Q: Hello, I am planning to sell one of either ET or CAE or NWC to generate cash for the purchase of DocuSign. Which one of the these three would you sell? I understand that they are all good companies currently held in the 5i model portfolios, but I can't make up my mind. Regards, Gervais
Read Answer Asked by Gervais on June 01, 2020
Q: Retired and income seeking investor. These three stocks seem to have been underperforming. Would you buy them for relatively low volatility and reasonably good yields? How safe are their dividends?
Read Answer Asked by M on May 11, 2020
Q: Hi Peter: When I sit back and take a look at the big picture and review how my portfolio performed during COVID-19 (so far), I try to see what lessons I can learn, then turn to how to apply those lessons to make my portfolio stronger.

I am a retired, dividend-income investor. I am a huge believer in asset allocation and have designed a portfolio, in my opinion, to be reasonably well diversified, although heavy to Canada. It WAS roughly 70% equities (including 32% foreign content) and 30% fixed income (roughly 15% insured annuities, 15% Fisgard Capital...both averaging in the 5-6% pre-tax range and minor cash). My equities are mostly blue chip, dividend payers, as you can see above. The 3 mutual funds are a very minor part of my portfolio, especially Eric's Energy Fund (<2%). I also receive a company pension and CPP-OAS which, when included, drops my equities to roughly 32%.

I use various metrics to monitor my portfolio, such as P/E, P/BV, P/CF, P/S, Beta, ROE, Div growth, Payout%, technical indicators like 200 mda. I am normally a buy-and-hold investor who trims/adds around a core position.

Periodically I measure how "at risk" my portfolio is relative to the overall market. I do this by prorating my portfolio using Beta. Based on equities only, I averaged 0.68 and for my entire portfolio I averaged 0.44. So, one would think that if the overall market (TSX) was to drop 30%, then I would have thought my portfolio would drop 44% to 68% of that, being in the range of 13% (overall) to 20% (equities only).

In actual fact, my entire portfolio dropped 27% from peak to trough vs the expected 13%...over double! I understand that EVERYTHING was sold off...almost no exceptions. So what do we learn from this and what changes should we consider? Do we accept that "sxxt happens" once in a while...you can't predict every event, accept it and move on? Should we consider increasing the cash component as a buffer? Or...is there something else to be learned here?

Thanks for you help...much appreciated...Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on May 04, 2020
Q: I am looking for safe dividends and believe all of these companies meet that criteria (although recognizing that nothing is for sure these days). I would like to buy 2 companies. Which 2 would you pick from this list?
Read Answer Asked by David on April 17, 2020
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