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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: My "advisor" is encouraging me to switch out of Telus and buy Royal Bank instead. Rationale: Telus "is a defensive stock and will not do well in a rising interest environment".

Telus is my only communications holding, and I already own National Bank in the financial sector, in a portfolio weighted to as-secure-as-possible dividend income stream with DRIP wherever possible.

Your thoughts on this switch? I'm reluctant.
Read Answer Asked by Lotar on December 11, 2016
Q: I own PWF.PR.L, RY.PR.O, BMO.PR.Z about equal amounts for a total of $150K which is about 5% of my holdings. They have been softening recently, is it time to sell and what would recommend? I have about 20% in bonds and balance heavily skewed to finance, utilities, infrastructure.
Read Answer Asked by Pierre on November 23, 2016
Q: Please comment on this preferred share issued by RBC. It is one of the new nvcc preferreds. It is currently trading at a premium to its par value at a current yield of 5.18%. Is this preferred a better choice to deal with changing interest rates as compared to previous types of preferred shares? Other than the fact that the bank can convert the preferred to common shares if the bank has financial problems, what are the risks? Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Richard on July 20, 2016
Q: Recent news of mass closures by Caribbean customers of their Royal Bank accounts due to sudden imposition of service fees suggests to me that Royal Bank either doesn’t know or doesn’t care what its customers want. It sounds like an idea generated by greedy head-office bean counters with no knowledge of what is going on in the field. If retail banking is all about service, then once the reputation for customer service is lost, won’t the business inevitably suffer ? In your opinion is this event a “tipping point” for the Royal Bank, presaging a similar abandonment by Canadian customers ? Or will Canadian retail customers simply shrug and carry on with business as usual ?


Read Answer Asked by Don on July 01, 2016
Q: 9:53 AM 6/29/2016

Hello Peter:

Today you made this distinction between "Safe" and "Secure" dividends in your answer to Grant asking about Superior Plus : "We would consider the dividend 'secure'. 'Safe' is a different category completely".

1. I am looking to concentrate on companies whose dividends you consider to be in the "safe" category, and which yield over 3.5% as these should/must be at least the main core of any pensioner's holdings for reliable income. This can be confusing to sort out since I presume that you will not consider all banks, utilities, telcos, REITS, Pipelines, etc. qualify as "safe".

2. So if you could sort out a short list of the few that qualify for the "Safe Dividend" category it would be most appreciated. I do understand that disasters do occasionally happen, and any company no matter how safe can get into trouble.

2. This brings up the problem of portfolio concentration caused by owning only a few names or sectors. Is it better or "ok" to just own a portfolio of only "Safe" dividend stocks, or are we advised to dilute the quality of our portfolios and own some less safe dividend stocks to supposedly "diversify" risk? This harks back to the people whose portfolio consists of only the big five Canadian Banks and who have done brilliantly for the past 50 years!

Your considered opinion on this issue will be most appreciated........ Paul K.

Read Answer Asked by Paul on June 30, 2016
Q: I was thinking that there would be some negative news regarding oil and gas loan losses and also consumer loans. With this as a backdrop I was wondering if you think the banks will see another sell off next week during their earnings release ? I see no real catalyst to drive them higher. Would appreciate you thoughts. Thinking about the last quarter and the money that could have been made by selling and coming back after the hit the banks took.
Read Answer Asked by STEVE on May 19, 2016
Q: For money that will be needed in 5 years I am considering investing in some of the new recently issued bank pref shares.

TD.PF.G ,RY.PR.Q, BNS.PR.E

Assuming the shares are all called in 2021 at $25 the current yields would come out to be approximately 4.5%. This would be equivalent to approximately 7.7% on an interest rate.(depending on income levels ) If the banks issued a 5 year GIC at 7.7% the lineup would be long.

With this in mind, is the only realistic risk based on the possibility of interest rates rising?

Also, any thoughts how much these would get hit if interest rates rose , say a full 1%.

Great service & many thanks.

Paul
Read Answer Asked by paul on May 09, 2016
Q: Good Morning
I hold 4 Canadian banks CM, TD, RY and BNS in an unregistered account. The bank stocks comprise just under 20% of my portfolio and each has approximately a 50% capital gain. My only other financial stock is a 2.5% position in PWF. Capital gains in my account this year will likely be taxed at 15%. I am considering selling one of the bank stocks (perhaps CM) and investing the proceeds in SLF. I have chosen SLF for it's relatively low valuation and secure dividend.
Is reducing the allocation to Canadian banks appropriate, or does the tax which has to be paid cancel the benefit?
Which bank would you sell?
Is SLF a suitable alternative or is there another company that you would prefer. I already have full positions in CNR and BAM.A.
Thanks
David
Read Answer Asked by David on April 25, 2016
Q: We have 2 Rrsp accounts. The first one contains mostly 5i recommendations with a focus on dividend income and some growth. We would like to structure the second account to be more conservative and withdraw the dividend income. We like the Canadian banks ie RY and BNS as the dividend is safe and pays well and even when there is a sell off in the banks (including 2009) they eventually bounce back thus preserving capital but in the meantime one just collects the dividend. i know you would say that we should diversify so my question to you is what other stocks would you suggest that pay a 4percent dividend and have the security of the banks over the mid to long term or until Interest rates increase to make GICs/bonds an option.
Thank you.
M
Read Answer Asked by Maggie on April 25, 2016
Q: Recently read an article in Globeinvestor entitled "It's time to check out the dazzling yields of Canada's big bank preferred shares" a recent offering from them pays a dividend of 5.5% and after 5 years is reset to 4.8% over the 5 year Canadian bond rate. My question is what would the symbol be or how could I purchase this,I trade online and that's the vehicle I would like to purchase them through,appreciate your answer ..thanks
Read Answer Asked by Greg on March 24, 2016
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