Investment Q&A

Q: I tried to pull a stock list of B+ companies based on your reviews. Your thought on investing as an equal weight portfolio with a 5 year horizon.

Thank you!

Q: Balanced Equity Portfolio (Cdn & US Stocks): If 5i were just starting business today what 20 stocks would make up the portfolio?

Q: Hello,

When is the special dividend being issued for Leon’s? I purchased a bunch of shares end of last month would these be eligible? Thanks.

Regards,

Shyam

Q: I have cash for a new full position. I run an mix of your balanced and income portfolio for my cad exposure. Of the above names which would you add a full position right now. I am also considering just batting for the average with SPY or XEF. balanced shifting to income follower, 5 year window looking for good entry point into one of the names above.

Q: What do you think the latest news regarding the furniture tariff will have on Leon's?

Thanks...Steve

Q: Over the next few months, I plan to buy the 5 stocks listed. Not sure if there is a preferred order of purchase. This will be in a non-registered investment account, where dividend accumulation and safety of principal are the main goals. Buy and hold forever. I keep all of my growth stocks in my TFSA, and I have most of those recommended by 5i. Could you please recommend an ordered sequence for purchase of these 5? (If you see one.) Thank you for continued great service.

Q: I need in increase my portfolio weightings in Consumer Cyclical and Utilities. I currently hold AQN, BIP.UN and FTS in Utilities in roughly equal amounts and hold QSR and LNF for Consumer Cyclical with QSR double the holding of LNF. Should I add to my current positions to increase my weighting in both sectors or consider adding new stocks?

Q: Earlier this year we created an equal weighted 'balanced' portfolio of 30 Canadian companies in a non-registered account. Most were chosen from companies either covered by a 5i research report or included in a 5i model portfolio. The remainder were chosen, based on the 5i Q&A section, from what appear to be 5i sector favourites. All purchases in the portfolio are made with the intent to be long-term holds (10+ years).

Our intent is to increase our investments in the 30 companies over time. We have recently increased our positions in BIPC and MG. At this time we would like to increase our investments in 10 of the remaining 28 companies. The intent is to increase the remaining 18 in approximately 6 months. Which 10 would you add to today? Please rank them, include a small blurb explaining each choice and indicate an approximate buy price. Thanks!

Q: Leon's pays a regular dividend of $0.16/share/quarter and has also announced a special dividend of $1.25, both effective Sept 08/21 (DOR).

All else being equal, my understanding is that on the ex-div date the share price should drop $0.16 due to the regular dividend. Is the same true for the special dividend....in other words should we expect the share price to drop $1.25 as well?

Thanks...Steve

Q: So LNF is putting up growth numbers similar to a hi flying tech company and has a PE ratio of what 11?
Help me understand why it isn't north of $30. Is there anything in the Q report you could see holding it back? What is needed to raise its valuation?

Q: Thoughts on the quarter from Leon's. Do you like the special dividend or would you prefer to see the funds reinvested in growth or put towards a sustained quarterly dividend increase?

Q: My TFSA is pretty much the way I want it. But now I'm organizing my non-registered account. First, Is there too much overlap between BAMR and SLF. (if so which one would you prefer). Second, Is there too much overlap between FTS and H (if so which one would you prefer. Could you put all of these in rank order, best fundamentals first. Finally, should I just take equal sized positions in all, even position sizes end up being quite small, like somewhere between 1.5% and 2%. If you think those size positions are too small I will eliminate the last 2 or 3 from your rank ordering. I mainly want the dividends in a set and forget style setup, and I will add to positions as funds come available. Thank you again for excellent insight and advice. I learn an enormous amount from the Q/As daily.

Q: Hello: I'm looking for several buy-and-hold "forever" companies. When I die, they will go to my children. Could you assess the above in those terms and rank order them, best first. I know you like all of these companies, but I"m not sure if you like them "forever." If you think I should drop any, please note. And if there are a couple not on the list that you think could be, also please note. Thank you for continued excellent service.

Q: LNF is held in a portfolio whose mandate is income and capital preservation. There are a total of 12 equity positions. LNF seems to have some concerns about imported furniture and recently had a small downgrade from an analyst. I am wondering about switching to, say, TRI. Would such a switch be good, this portfolio with its mandate. Thank you for your excellent service.

Q: I want to maximize my total return over the next 5 years without taking on excessive risk. Would switching LNF for TOI set me up to accomplish this goal? If the switch will increase risk beyond my expectation, can you suggest another company? Thank you

Q: The listed companies each carry about a 1% weighing in my portfolio. There are no tax implications and I am positive on all of these. I am trying to reduce my overall holdings to about 25. I believe each company has its merits but I will never hit a home run with such a small investment. Can you advise which ones you would keep and consolidate or perhaps suggest something else to put all of the proceeds toward.

Thank you

Q: With the recent news about Canada imposing tariffs on some furniture imports how do you see this impacting Leon’s in the short term?
Do you see this as a good entry point longer term?

Q: I seems to me that LNF is (or has been in the 6 months I've owned) more volatile than any of my other holdings, going up or down frequently as much as 2 - 3% on a daily basis, and often in the absence of news.
What might cause this? I have no particular concerns (unless you tell me I should have <g>) and am not considering selling, but am curious.
Is it because of their small size/market cap, relative to my other holdings (banks, BCE, Telus, Enbridge . . . ), because their shares are relatively thinly traded, or something else? It's almost enough to make one sell on the up days and rebuy on the down days, since they're so close together time-wise and so far apart price-wise . . . just kidding!

Q: I have a half position and am in the process of building a full position in Leon's....just read the article (thanks David) about the 300% tariff on furniture sourced from China and Vietnam. I have gone to Leon's website, trying to get a feel for the potential impact on Leon's and could not find the information I need....hoping your sources and search engines are better.

What percentage of LNF is based on furniture?
What % of furniture is impacted by these initial tariff rates (% sourced from China and Vietnam)?
What is the likelihood of the final tariffs being similar to these initial ones?
What is the overall impact on Leon's and their business model going forward (when you net it all down, does the tariff have a significant impact on their overall business)?

Thanks for you help...Steve

Q: There was a question about why Leon dropped (although I see it was up by the end of the day). But it could have been the shock of reading about the tariffs being imposed as per the CBC story today:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/furniture-tariffs-1.6043863