Investment Q&A

Q: Hi- you mentioned SLF was one to pick at being signficant value. Why lifeco over a bank? What are the risks associated so say a BNS verus SLF and why do you prefer SLF.

Q: Hi 5i Research Team:

I have traded Forex before and am new to stock trading. 90% of my RRSP, RESP and TFSA is in cash and I'd like to avail the current market conditions by "gradually" buying the dips.. and holding it over the long term, 5 to 10 years. I understand that no one can time the market or its bottom.

After exploring the reports and questions on your site, I have identified the enclosed 29 stocks based on following criteria:
- Current Retracements of > 75% over 52 week high & low
- Dividend Yield > 5% (in some cases, like WEED, which is a bit risky, I understand there's no dividend in the near term.. and I am simply going for the upside swing over the next 2 years... same for CRON and Air Canada)

Considering my 90% cash position and strategy to partially buy in on dips over the next few weeks, can you please advise if my stock selection is sound. In addition to my stock picks, please advise anything else that I should keep in mind.

Thanks for everything you do. Much appreciate.

Q: In an earlier answer today you compared slf and bam and concluded that bam would be a better buy today. This comparison seemed odd to me as they seem to be very different types of companies. That aside, however, if you could only buy one of these two today, sector not an issue, which one would you choose and why
Thanks again

Q: Good afternoon.

I’m interested in which you prefer (1 and 2) in each category below.

ATD.B, PBH, MRU, L

SLF, TD, BAM.A, TRI

WSP, SIS, CAE

CSU, SHOP, ENGH, KXS

BEP.UN, FTS, AQN

Thank you.

Q: I’m confused by why you often suggest Sun Life as a suitable long term investment choice. Sun Life will be negatively impacted by lower interest rates and I haven’t understood what makes SLF so different from GWO or MFC. Can you expand a bit on the uniqueness of this pick?

Q: Hi, I was thinking of adding to Sun Life with its current low valuation and high dividend. This sounds morbid but a friend of mine suggested if there is a high death rate from COVID-19, then SLF might have to make out higher than normal payouts affecting its profitability. I realize this is not its only business. What say you sage folks?

Thank you, Michael

Q: I hear you when you say that we shouldn't be too involved in playing the exchange rate between the Canadian and American dollar. But would this not be a reasonable way: buy sunlife in American dollars, since i have them. If the Canadian dollar goes up i sell in canadian dollars. If it goes down, i still have my American dollars in Sunlife that i had before
Looks good but am i missing anything?
Thanks

Q: After the "blood in the streets" kind of day we have had today, March 12, was I "crazy" to add to my holdings of the aforementioned? Are their dividends as reliable as I perceive them to be? FYI, I am a year away from retirement at age 60 and value dividend income for a portion of my portfolio.

Q: HI Guys
I have never used any margin to do any investing but thinking of when I was around in 2009 and some CDN banks were yielding over 10% and wondering afterwards why I did not but more of these, suddenly, high yield "safe" investments. Afterwards it stuck myself how nice it would be to have that yield for life! So this time around I have no debt, a house paid off, and considerable assets, so was thinking of borrowing a bit to see if we could take advantage of this unfortunate downturn. So wondering if you could suggest 5 CDN companies to invest in, in 5 different sectors, and whose stock value has dropped considerably. Companies that have great risk management, have rock solid balance sheets, that are now yielding above 5%, and whose stock you could see substantially higher when the market swings up again, or at least will maintain their dividend. Thinking in terms of time - at least a year or two here.
Much thanks for all your guidance through these tough times.

Stuart

Q: I currently own BNS, BAM and GSY in my Canadian equity portfolio for a total weight in the financial space of about 12%. I am wondering if you would currently favour a switch to SLF from BNS, especially if I could crystallize a taxable loss?

Also a comment about the questions on market timing that you have recently received. If you are reacting to volatile markets it may simply be that you are not as risk tolerant as you believe!

Q: Top 5 picks for a Smith Maneuver portfolio of dividend paying stocks for someone in their late 30's?

Q: I know you really like BNS but with TD at a 52 weeks low, would you pick it over BNS for a long term holding. (Building a position for dividend income)

Also, can you explain me if there is an advantage to own 2 full positions of banks vs 1 of bank and 1 of SLF (knowing that its your top insurance company pick)

Q: I would like to trim or sell one of these companies for cash. If sector is no issue , which would be the better choice in this environment.
Thanks

Q: Hello 5i team,
I've held a good number of stocks you hold in your BE portfolio and I've managed to obtain a 14% compound annual total return in the last 11 years.
100% of my portfolio is in equities; I'll be shortly 77 years old and plan to reduce my equity exposure to 30%, with the above stocks in mind.
Your opinion is most valuable
Antoine

Q: Does SLF have a discount on its DRIP if so, what is it.

Thakns

Sheldon

Q: Have owned these for a very long time.Haven't done too bad just looking to maybe change things up.What's your opinion on these ones?Also can you offer a couple of ideas to replace these two.

Q: Between SLF, MFC and GWO, which one of these three has the best potential to provide the best combined return (growth plus yield) in a five year time span?

Past 10 year history has SLF way ahead of the other two at practically all annual intervals, but can this past history trend be continued? Thanks for your insight.

Q: I bought SLF a few years ago expecting to benefit from increasing interest rates. SLF has been a stellar performer despite the trend of lower interest rates this past year, especially at the longer end of the curve.
I’m certainly not complaining but am a little confused by the strong performance in a weakened rate environment.
Could you shed some light on the reason for their outperformance and prospects going forward. (I’m thinking of taking some profits)

Q: Hey guys,

The grandbabies are 5 yrs, 3 yrs and 6 months, a long time before university. We have SIS, GUD & SLF in their resp, like to add another name or two, please advised.
Thanks,
Jim
(CSU, SHOP, OTEX, BAM.A, BYD.UN, ATD.B, PKI, COST, NVDA are already at 5% levels)

Q: Much like KL's acquisition of Detour Gold, it doesn't seem that investors like Sun Life's arrangement with its subsidiary, Sun Life Vietnam Insurance and Tien Phong Commercial Bank (TPBank) which have formed a 15-year bancassurance partnership in Vietnam .
The agreement combines TPBank's distribution network with Sun Life Vietnam's market-leading life insurance products, giving 2.5 million TPBank customers access to a comprehensive range of innovative insurance solutions.

May I have your thoughts on the share price drop? Short term? Perhaps a switch to MFC is in order.

Thank you