Investment Q&A

Q: BIP.UN: owned for a very long time in N.R.A. Bought 1000 shs @ 48.16 in 2016 - now have 2250 shs (paid in dividend) so my A.C is very low. ($21,40) Price has been stagnant for quite a while: hold or sell and buy something else?

Q: I have held a large Position in BIP.UN in my RRSP for many years. The equity has done OK but in looking back wonder why my Financial Advisor didn't suggest i rotate this into BN or BAM to gain max returns.

I don't need the income and it seems alot of BIP.UN's return comes in the form of the dividend which is not treated favorably within a Registered Account so BIP.UN seems not best for RRSP.

How would you suggest i better allocate these funds within a Registered Account between Brookfield companies to gain max benefit and at what price(s) would you suggest the switch?

Just on a side note i previously also held BEP.UN and my advisor suggested it was rated a Sell by Veritas so i let him sell at a very inopportune moment ($33). He claimed Veritas had a Sell on all Brookfield companies. Is Veritas a reputable rating Agency because they seem to just dislike any and all Brookfield entities?

Q: Could you please rate the Canadian stocks below for total return over the next 5 years.

Perhaps these ratings would work (or other ratings you think are better) ...
F for fair
A for average
G for good
VG for very good
E for excellent

The stocks are:

BAM
BEP.UN
BIP.UN
EMA
FTS
NA
POW
RY
SLF
TD

Thanks.

Q: My portfolio is income based. I have capital losses in BCE, CAR,UN and ENGH. What order would you sell them in or should some be held? I am looking to replace some or all with the following; BIP.UN, NWC.UN and/or RCI.B. How would you rank them for acquisition?

Q: Questions on PPL:

- Can you please provide a bear and bull case for PPL?

- How is its balance sheet compared to TRP and ENB?

- Is PPL different enough from TRP and ENB that one could own all three?

- If one were to own all three (and if BIP.UN is also owned - which has pipelines too) what overall total percentage range of Pipelines would 5i be comfortable with?

Q: Hi 5i: I have a full position in BN. Thinking of selling partial positions in BAM or BIP and/or PRL. In addition to add to the torque of RIFs considering adding partial positions in ZDC, VHI and ELVA. Please rank the order of the sells and the order of buys. Your opinion on this strategy is much valued. Thanks

Tom

Q: I am thinking of selling BIP.UN; held in a TFSA where growth is something of a goal. It has not done much for some time and I have good sized positions in other Brookfield entities. What is your current outlook for BIP.UN…worth holding or time to move on? Possible replacements could be GSY or PRL; if there is a move, which of those 2 would you favour? Many thanks for your excellent service.

Q: Hello 5i Team

Further to the reader’s question about US$ denominated dividend deposited into US$ denominated accounts at RBC Direct Investing.

I experienced the same issue with RBC Direct Investing and they explained as follows. I will use Brookfield Infrastructure
Partners (BIP) which I hold in a US$ denominated account.

BIP transfers the total dividend to Canadian Depositary for Securities (CDS) for all the BIP shares held by CDS (in excess of 100 million shares) on behalf of Canadian Brokers. This dividend payment (in US $) is converted to C$ (unclear whether its BIP or CDS) at “wholesale” rates.

CDS then transfers to each Canadian Broker (i.e. RBCDI) the Canadian dollar equivalent of BIP dividends held by the individual brokers (i.e. RBCDI). RBCDI then buys US dollars for dividends deposited into US$ denominated accounts. There is a difference in the exchange rate between the dividends received from CDS and the transfer to individual accounts. This results in the small discrepancy between dividends declared and dividends received.

The result is for 1,000 shares of BIP

BIP declared dividend = US$0.43 x 1,000 shares = US$430.00

RBCDI deposited $0.429544 x 1,000 shares = US$429.54 a difference of $0.46

Sometimes it works the other way and RBCDI deposits a slightly greater amount of US$ than the equivalent original dividend amount.

Other US $ stocks do not seem to have this issue, as I mostly hold US domiciled companies in my US $ accounts. It may also be a result of how the dividend issuing company transfers funds to CDS.

It is annoying as I originally purchased BIP on the NYSE and expected to receive the declared dividend amount.

I hope this explains the matter to the reader.

Q: Hi Guys;

I own FTS in my non registered account and I am looking for a complimentary holding in my TFSA. Which of the companies listed above would you prefer and why?

DON

Q: This may, (or may not) be a stupid, amateur question:
Some BIP.UN metrics are good, but the PB is 14.97 and PE !,011.45!
How can one buy something like that?
This is an extreme case, but you now frequently recommend stocks at 40, 50 and higher PE's. Leaving all else aside, that, at minimum, is a sign of a stock priced to perfection, no?
Thanks for your comment.
Jerry

Q: I am an income investor as I live off the dividend stream I receive. I recently started a small position in BIP.UN. I have a full position in EMA. EMA seems to have had a pretty good run lately and also I believe they have reduced their projected dividend growth rate over the next few years. I am thinking of selling my EMA position and shifting it to BIP.UN as BIP.UN seems to have more upside on unit appreciation, a higher dividend and perhaps a higher dividend growth rate. Thoughts on this potential swap??

Q: Confused by the reaction of these 3 names. EMA/FTS up materially and BIP.UN down so far this year. Thoughts on why? Also on EMA with a 29% return YTD the stock must be stretched. Would you suggest a switch to BIP.UN?

Q: at todays prices and looking forward for dividends and growth which stock would you buy today , bip.un or ppl or none. do you think we are overbought in this market [tsx and dow] and will have a pullback come fall?

Q: BIP has been slumping of late and the RSI is below 30. The pundits say buy hard assets and infra structure should fit the bill. What am I missing? Looks like a good entry point here. Please comment. Thx.

Q: how do you expect BIP to perform, now that we have more clarity (maybe) on tariffs ?
Both div at this level and share price not drifting any lower

I want to build a position in it as a "retirement" stock.
I have BIP.UN and BEP.UN at 3% each.

What are your fav options in this category currently?

Regards,
JR

Q: What are your thoughts on BIPC earnings. Please advise if I should add on weakness today or what price do you consider as great buy.

Thanks for the great service

Q: I have about a 6-7% position in each of bep.un, bip.un and BN. I am thinking of adding a bit of BAM (eg.3%) But i am wondering if adding bam would duplicate too much of the components of the other three. Would Bam add much to my portfolio is there too much duplication?

Q: Currently I hold Fortis (FTS), Hydro One (H), NextEra (NEE), and Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP.UN) in the utilities space. I have been thinking of adding Capital Power (CPX). Could you please rank the five in terms of best overall expected return over the next few years? Would you consolidate any? Thank you.

Q: I can't keep all these Brookfield companies straight. If you want some growth with a dividend, for a long term hold, which would you prefer and why?

Q: What is the RISK % out of 10 for each of these three stocks?.....Tom