Investment Q&A

Q: 5i

I have cash in both TFSA's and regardless of sector what 3/4 stocks would your top picks be to be purchased in a TFSA


W

Q: Interested in placing direct investments in China, Japan & possibly India. Trading market must be US. Primary interest is Technology & Space.
This will be completely separate from our current traditional investments as reviewed occasionally with you over the years. Aside from established players in the above markets, I would consider vertically specialized ETFs that have a strong Bloomberg rating. Please deduct accordingly. Thank you.

Q: Recently came into inheritance of ~£100,000 and looking to purchase a basket of 5 - 10 global ETF's (minus Canada) on the LSE with the proceeds. Currently well diversified within Canada through RRSP, TFSA accounts etc. Seeking growth and income and mindful of MER's, would very much value your recommendations.

Thank you

Q: Hello team,

A couple of years ago you advised that your 'ideal sector classification' would be as followed:

Consumer Cyclical
Consumer Staples
Retail
Financials
Real Estate
Health Care (CDN)
Health Care (US)
Capital Goods / Industrials
Transportation
Information Technology
Internet / Software
Telecommunication Services
Energy
Gold / Silver
Materials
Utilities

I ask this question every 6-9 months when I am doing sector re-balancing. Given today's market conditions, what would be your ideal weighting for each of these for an investor who has a long time horizon and is a 7/8 out of 10 on the risk scale?

My current weighting breakdown is:

Consumer Cyclical - 12%
Consumer Staples - 9%
Retail - 2%
Financials - 9%
Real Estate - 1%
Health Care (CDN) - 3%
Health Care (US) - 2%
Capital Goods / Industrials - 14%
Transportation - 3%
Information Technology - 8%
Internet / Software - 15%
Telecommunication Services - 4%
Energy - 3%
Gold / Silver - 2%
Materials - 8%
Utilities - 4%

I find myself usually becoming overweight in Consumer Discretionary and Info Tech / Software as most of your top picks are in those categories. Any thoughts on where I should be scaling back / adding to?

Please deduct multiple question credits. Thank you.

Q: Hi there, I currently have no exposure outside of the TSX and the Canadian market. I know ETFs are often recommended as good ways to get exposure outside of Canada but I was doing research into mutual funds and the new Fidelity Insights fund managed by Will Danoff seems like it is performing well. In addition, it sounds like his Fidelity Contra Fund in the US seems to perform quite well over time. What are your thoughts on him as a fund manager and the Fidelity Insights fund for outside of Canada exposure? Also, there is the standard version and a currency neutral version - which I presume implies hedged and unhedged. If this will be a longterm position, which would be preferred between the two? Thanks for your guidance!

Q: I note from the financial section of Financial Post that most of the 52 week highs are being posted by preferreds. I thought they were supposed to decline in periods of rising interest rates. Can you explasin why this trend?
Thanks

Q: In your model portfolios you hold 20-25 stocks. I am selling a home and expect to have about $750K to add to my existing $500K. I have always had a preference for keeping my holdings in a particular company smaller and thus having more diversity than that. In my new plan I would hold about 40 to 45 stocks. I am retired and a fairly conservative investor and focus on income but would add some growth in the new plan. Am I trying to diversify too much?

Q: On Oct 13 a question referred to a 'forever stock' with CNR being one pick, what are some of the others?

Q: Hi Peter,

Please list 10 stocks that could see some tax-loss selling but could also rebound next year (good fundamentals, value, etc). I imagine that CRH and CBL could be two candidates? I don't mind any riskier stocks as well.

Thanks in advance.
John

Q: I am retired, living on dividend income and looking for more yield to supplement my income. Thanks to 5i, I recently became familiarized with covered calls and chose ZWU yielding 6.5%.
Now I am interested in Debentures. I recently read in 5i Q&A a question on CSU.db debentures that guarantees 6.5% plus inflation rate to yield 7.5-8%, and your response was that it's a quality security.
Regarding Debentures, are they simply traded like a regular stock with scheduled dividends paid that can be bought and sold as I see fit without penalty?
Debentures seem like a low risk way to get a higher yield as the price hardly seems to fluctuate. Is this an accurate assumption?
Would you recommend for an income investor to invest 5-10% of portfolio into 1-2 debentures for higher yield? If so, can you recommend 1-2 that look most attractive for a 1-2 year hold?

Q: Hello;
I am trying to understand/develop bench marks for stock screeners. I need input regarding 3 popular criteria; Price/Book; Price/Free(?)Cash flow and Price/Sales.
1. Please confirm suggest hurdle rates; Price/Book < 3.0; Price to Free Cash Flow < 10; Price/Sales ??
2. Which Cdn sectors can use these bench marks. I understand cyclical commodities have great seasonality/cycles and the above are not suitable. Please confirm and suggest sectors.
3. Should it be Price/Cash Flow or Price/Free Cash flow?

Thanks

Q: Gentlemen,
Following on questions about cash parking. My recommandation will be look at EQ Bank , Alterna Bank & Implicity, all virtual banks.
BR

Q: I opened a self-directed RESP for my new born. Do you suggest starting with ETF's or specific stocks? If ETF's or stock, what do you suggest is a good starting investment and dollar amount for ETF or stock given that we have at least 18 years before needing the funds. If ETF's first at what point do we start investing in specific companies? I guess I'm also trying to get an idea of how to build my sons RESP portfolio.

Thanks.

Q: Hi,
I am new to your website and service but find it great so far. I have not seen any discussion of stop loss orders. I use them on occasion to protect profits and cut losses, but sometimes with misgivings. Sometimes they save me money from a deteriorating position that I might otherwise be ambivalent about selling. Sometimes I just get stopped out and have to buy back higher. I am always trimming and adding and hence may be viewed more of a trader than a long-term investor, but that is my style. C'est la vie! Anyway, do you use stop losses in your portfolio management or do they not fit your approach to the market?
thanks
dave

Q: To Micheal,
Tangerine is offering a special interest rate of 2.75% on new deposits between Oct 4th -,Dec 31st. To a maximum of 500K. It's not posted on their website but I got an e-mail about with in the past week and just transferred cash to take advantage. I've banked with Tangerine/ING for over 15 years w/o any issues.
Thanks,
Kerri

Q: Hello 5I.
I was interested in your reply to Adam re his question about Loblaws as a "forever" hold.
You reply stated that a "forever p/f" should have exposure to at least one hi-quality Co. in each sector.
Could you give us your thoughts on one (or two) potential "forever" Cdn companies in each sector.
Much appreciated, thanks.

Q: I am about to start converting the cash in my sons (he is 21) TFSA and RRSP. He has $1,050 in each account right now and is in his budget to add another $4,000 to $5,000 in 2018. Should I start him with companies like PBH, SIS, ZCL? or should he start with an ETF or two for immediate diversification? Whatever he buys will be long-term holds (unless they are in the model portfolios in which case I will either hold/sell/buy as directed by 5i when you adjust the portfolios) but I would like to see his accounts growing steadily as well and help him get excited about investing. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thank you as always for the great service and information.

Paul

Q: David Driscoll was on BNN Market Call early last week, and while killing surplus time at the end of the show he underscored the importance of eliminating correlation risk in a portfolio (also mentioned in his point #6 here: http://www.bnn.ca/david-driscoll-s-top-picks-august-21-2017-1.835439 ). If I understood him correctly, this would mean not holding significant positions in multiple stocks within similar industries or with overlapping product/service offerings, presumably so that if one industry got hit, it wouldn't pummel two or more stocks at once and do damage to the portfolio as a whole.

Is this the thinking behind you not holding CSU and OTEX simultaneously in any of your model portfolios? Are there any [other] noteworthy correlations of this sort between any of the other stocks you cover and routinely recommend?

Q: I currently have a little over $250,000 in cash which I want to park in a "no risk" account.
One of the big banks has a deposit rate of 1.15 for $250K and 1.05 for less than $250K. My first question: Is this my best option or can you recommend something else? My second question: should I be concern with the CDIC Deposit Insurance limit of $100K and spread the deposit over 3 banks?

Q: In considering Vanguard and BMO ETFs for possible investment, my question is about the choices between CDN-hedged and, I guess, "non-hedged" variants of US and foreign ETFs. My impression is that the latter typically offer better returns. But does the risk of random currency exchange fluctation trump that advantage? Many thanks.