Investment Q&A

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor who normally holds for the long term. I own a half position in Manulife and am down roughly 7%, including dividends. My long term plan was to sell MFC and rebuy a second Canadian Bank (I already have a full position in Royal Bank).

I have compared the various metrics (P/BV, P/CF, P/S, ROE, technicals, analysts estimates, etc.) for the above mentioned banks as well as against MFC.

Looking at the banks in isolation and already with a full position in RY, I've narrowed it down to either BNS (International exposure and current laggard due to Covid) or TD (more US exposure and 1 year laggard). Of the banks that I do not own, please rank them in order of the best total return over a sufficient period of time for Covid to have subsided (1-2 more years for improved vaccination coverage?). Do you agree with my rationale?

If you include MFC into the bank comparisons, where would you place MFC in the rankings? I have read to buy the banks when their P/E is < 11.0 and buy the insurance companies when their P/BV < 1.0. This would lead me to buy TD (P/E of 9.7) or keep MFC (P/BV of 1.0).

So...keep MFC versus take the loss in MFC and then buy BNS or TD? Your thoughts?

MFC is held in a taxable account and I have no problem taking a loss.

Thanks for your help....Steve

Q: I know that ranking banks often is like picking shades of the same colour. At this point in time do you feel there is any "clear" division amongst any of the banks for investing purposes? Can you give your order of preference and the magnitude of the gap between each choice.
Thanks,
Terry

Q: Is TD a buy at this tine or a sell. & the reason. Where do you see TD going.

Q: I am going into retirement and below are the weightings of stocks held in my portfolio. Although the portfolio performed okay over the years, I wonder if there is too much concentration and would appreciate your ideas on diversification given the economic times we live in. My portfolio is about $2M with an investment loan of $150K for which I use the dividends to repay. Thanks. BNS 37%, TD 18%, CM 14%, BMO 14%, BCE 6%, SRN.UN 6%, RY 4%, POW 1%

Q: I hold the Canadian banks in my dividend portfolio and they have served me well over the years as a core hold.
Should I reconsider these holdings in light of new taxation rules being suggested?

Q: Which would you add to today for a longterm hold?

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: I would like to add a few (2-4) financial companies to my non-registered investment portfolio. Would appreciate 5i's help in ranking the above names based on total return potential for a 3-5 year hold. Please add any names you feel belong to the lineup, ranked appropriately, Thank you.

Q: Would like to create a 10-15 stock portfolio out the securities listed above, to meet my retirement income and growth needs, for a long term hold.
CPD is my current, imperfect proxy for the fixed income portion of my portfolio.
CVE, CNQ, SU would be the only opportunistic (and highly correlated) purchases, to take advantage of the current low valuations for the petroleum industry. These would be sold if the oil & gas market's prospects change.
Please rank all the securities on the basis of return potential over 2-3 years as the primary criteria,
Please eliminate any stock which does not have adequate balance sheet strength, from the lineup.
Please add to the lineup all securites that would facilitate the creation of a defensible, well-diversified, long term portfolio - especially if it is in a sector that I have overlooked.

Thank you for your expertise, and willingness to help me sleep a bit more soundly.

Q: Hi Folks,
I currently own the following in my RRSP account (weightings in brackets ) - PG (4%), TD (13.5%), BNS (10%), MFC (3%), ABBV (6.5%), PFE (12%), BCE (14%), T (14.5%), AQN (6.5%), BIP.UN (6%), and ENB (6.5%).
I want to reduce my exposure to TD, BNS, BCE, T and PFE to bring them in line with the others - can you suggest some names that will complement the portfolio, keeping in mind I am looking for Income with some growth - long term hold.
Thanks

Q: Hi Peter,Ryan and 5i team,
Our grandson’s RESP ( age 7) is overweight in technology having Descarte and Kinaxis. Both have done very well, Do you think it is time to rebalance or continue holding. Which company in your opinion should we sell if any.
If we sell, we would like to add another holding. Please suggest a couple of names that would round out his portfolio.
Thank you as always and enjoy the summer.

Q: I am overweight in the financial sector and own FSZ(under water) TD and SLF. I also own some ETFs that bring this to an overweight position. If I were to sell FSZ this would bring my weight to what it should be. My question is should I sell all FSZ since it is underwater and cut the loss or take some profit off TD and SLF and keep FSZ? These stocks are in a RRSP account.

Q: Please comment on the planned increase in dividends and stock buy-backs for the U.S, banks.
What is your outlook for these Canadian banks?
At this time, would you prefer U.S. or Canadian banks.
Would you prefer another financial entity over both?

Q: I bought all 3 of these banks a couple of years ago: Royal Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and TD. At that time all 3 of purchase prices were much lower than today's stock prices. I would like to add to my holdings of each. Would you wait until the prices come down a little, or is it more probable at this point that prices will continue to go up? Thank you.

Q: I am currently way overweight in Canadian banks and would like to gradually cut my overall exposure to about half of my present total value. Would you please rank the above stocks in light of each expected Total Return over the next 3 - 5 years?
Many thanks.

Q: hello 5i team, I am 68 years old. As I get older I like to simplify my portfolios. Above is my CDN holdings. I have a U.S. portfolio of about 15 blue chip companies.
from this list which ones would you keep and which ones to sell? and time frame to sell? now/ 6 months+?
I appreciate your guidance.
Carlo

Q: Do you feel today is a good entry point for the big Canadian banks? Would you please rank them in order of preference at current valuations. Also, please do similarly for US banks. Please deduct question credits at your discretion.

Q: You have mentioned several times that it is expected that later this year the big banks will be given a free hand in allowing dividend increases, is there any analyst guidance/guesses out there on what sort of increase is 'expected' from the banks over the next 1-2 years (and may be baked in to the share price at the moment). Or is it expected to be more a case of just going back to a more normal cycle of increases rather than catching up.

Q: I have the following companies in my RRSP account - I am looking to replace PG - can you give me some suggestions ? Something with some growth potential and dividend.

Thanks

Q: Are the banks still cheap in your opinion? Fwd PE for RY/TD 11.7x, CM 10.8x with the others around the same levels. What do you expect from them over the next 12-24 months?