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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 have about 5% of my portfolio in CPD ETF. So far it's been a nice, steady-eddie performer with a good dividend. In fact, it's been moving steadily upward for the last year now. But when I look back on its history it has been anything but a good performer. It was almost $20 in 2007 and is now just over $13. Why was this such a lousy investment for so long and what has reversed so strongly in just the last year? I don't see any point in its history when it went up so fast except in 2009. More importantly, is this likely to continue for a while or do you think it will revert to its previous behaviour?
Read Answer Asked by John on March 16, 2021
Q: How do you like Preferred's these days? I've recently replaced some of my bond ETF's with ZPR. I understand they carry equity/credit risk but do you see pref's as offering better protection against rising rates? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Curtis on March 09, 2021
Q: Preferred shares fit into the income part of a portfolio and also can be a fixed income substitute if one can tolerate the extra volatility (especially now given bond yields and potential for rising interest rates). In the past 5i has suggested CPD over DIVS for etf exposure citing the fee differential. Two questions (1) what is your medium term outlook for Canadian preferred shares and (2) given complexity of different preferred share issues and an inefficient market, is there an advantage to the active approach? (Please explain why or why not - thanks).
Read Answer Asked by Barbara on March 01, 2021
Q: For the fixed income portion of the portfolio, do you have any recommendations / suggestions (ETF, private fund, mutual fund, specific bonds). Realistically, hoping for a return between 3 and 6%. I am ok to take some risk. Looking for a decent risk/reward investment. Long term hold.
Read Answer Asked by Pierre on January 18, 2021
Q: Good morning,
I am a retired investor with a 50/50 asset mix and an equity focus on solid dividend payers with some growth prospects. As a bond matures in my RRIF, reinvestment opportunities in fixed income are unattractive. With projections saying low rates will continue for some time, I'm wondering if it would be a good time to buy a rate reset preferred stock ETF for income, and as a hedge against future rate increases. I would appreciate your thoughts, and if you support it, which ETF would you suggest?
Thank you.
Edward
Read Answer Asked by Edward on December 15, 2020
Q: You continue to hold XHY and CPD in the income portfolio. My understanding when purchasing these was that they would perform well in a low interest rate environment. That has not been the case. I am about breakeven on them over the past 3 years with dividends included. What is the investment thesis for holding them now that interest rates are already so low. Is it time to move on?
Read Answer Asked by justin on December 09, 2020
Q: Good day,
I hold BEP.UN;BEPC;BBU;CCL.B;ENB;EMA;H;FTS;CTC; and BAM in a non registered account and thanks to you I have done very well following your Q & A and portfolios. I am down 43% in SU; down 23% in CPD; down 16% in IPL and 6% in POW. Would you add to the winners? Add to the temporary losers or ADD new ones. After today, am tempted to add to SU for sure. Have RRIF and TFSA with pretty balanced sectors. Overall, Overweight in Utilities, Financials and okay with that. Many thanks, Paul
Read Answer Asked by Paul on November 16, 2020
Q: Hello 5i,

I am looking to create a sector diversified portfolio, that will provide dividend income
each month throughout the year? Preferably yields over 4%, reits, and etfs are acceptable. Even better would be payouts at the beginning of each month?

Thanks for your help
Stephen
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on November 12, 2020
Q: For a balanced portfolio with the next 3-5 years in mind, what are your suggested weightings in preferreds, utilities and high yield bonds. Given low interest rates preferreds in particular seem like a place investors will go to seek higher yields with some opportunity for growth.
Read Answer Asked by Curtis on October 15, 2020
Q: Hi Team,

I'm considering reducing my fixed income portfolio allocation in favour of adding some Preferred shares/ ETFs And some Utility stocks. What investments would you make to accomplish this portfolio change?
Read Answer Asked by Ian on October 13, 2020
Q: Hello Peter, I am intrigued after reading that a Canadian can earn about $50,000 per year of dividend income without paying any income tax. I know about your income portfolio of course, but with a view to maximizing just Canadian eligible dividend income, what would you think of the following portfolio of 14 stocks. Equal weighted, the stocks would yield 5.3%. (Disregard lack of market diversification; this can be achieved in one’s registered accounts.) Also, if one wanted to pare down the list to 10, which 4 would you delete?
BCE, CM, ENB, FTS, CNQ, AQN, CPD, FSZ, MG, KBL, POW, ALA, BIPC and NTR. Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by James on August 27, 2020
Q: Good morning 5i. I am considering "parking" about 10% of my portfolio in "cash equivalents". Are CVD and CPD your preferences in this case as I see they pay out roughly 5% which seems a reasonable risk/reward scenario? Are there other options or recommendations that you might consider? Thank you in advance.
Read Answer Asked by Peter on August 25, 2020
Q: Trying to make some 'secure' income of 5% or more. I've heard that Split Corp preferred shares may be a more stable route to go. Any advice in this regard? Could you also recommend a few Split Corp, or regular preferred shares, that meet that criteria of being 'super safe' but yield at least 5%?
Could you also please recommend any websites that cover the preferred space well.
Thank you very much.

PS: I asked a similar question a couple days ago but I don't think it was received.
Read Answer Asked by Toge on August 11, 2020
Q: I cannot fathom why investors would buy rate reset preferreds when the resets will virtually all significantly lower their current dividend. The MINIMUM rate resets, to my mind, are the only preferreds to buy and there are many good companies paying between 5 3/4% and 7% and this rate will not drop. Additionally, if and when rates increase they could be paying an even higher dividend. No one seems to ask about minimum rate resets! Am I missing something?
Thanks
Phillip
Read Answer Asked by Philip on August 04, 2020
Q: Just reading about the new limited resource capital notes (LRCNs) that RBC is issuing to institutional investors at 4.5%. Since these pay interest, they are better for the banks than equity because they can deduct interest payments but not dividends. For investors, dividends are preferable from a tax point of view but I am wondering if banks are going to try and reduce traditional preferrred share offerings and issue more of these LRCNs. This is probably why preferreds have gone up recently. How do you see this playing out?
Read Answer Asked by Maria on July 27, 2020
Q: I have no exposure to fixed income and wanted to know if there are any other that you were preferred over this list? I am looking at buying all of these names each for a 5 % weight.

Thanks
Read Answer Asked on July 23, 2020
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