Investment Q&A

Q: I hold IFC with a decent profit (held since $63, registered acct). You seem to think it is OK but I don't see it on any of your lists of favorites. BEP.UN you rate as one of your few A's. Would you reccommend a switch?? thanks, Jim

Q: Hello,

I bought Intact Financial a few years ago for the rising dividends. But every year seems to bring increasingly catastrophic floods and forest fires. Am I picking up nickels in front of a steam roller?

Q: Hello 5i Team, I would like to reduce my financial sector holdings from the current 19% to 15% or less, mostly as a defensive move against the potential of a sector "down-draft". Currently hold POW-2.0%, IFC-3.0%, MFC-2.5%, and BNS,TD,and RY at 3.5% each. I am leaning towards eliminating POW and trimming each of the banks to get to the target (income from POW is great but also the only one I am underwater on and I'm not a huge fan of income at the expense of loss of capital), but I also know you don't feel the need to necessarily hold 3 banks so could just sell RY and call it quits. Trading fees not a consideration. Would appreciate your thoughts as always,

Regards

Q: what do you think of the transaction? will the subscription receipt trade on the tsx and if so what is the symbol?

Q: Just joined your service and am looking to reproduce your balanced portfolio. The only insurance company I currently hold is IFC. Would you recommend switching out to a life insurance company (SLF) especially with the predicted direction of interest rates?

Q: Hi 5i I know you like IFC , could you also give me 2 other insurance companies you like other than life insurance companies. Thx Gerry

Q: Good morning. Question is your current thoughts about Intact. Last time you posted something was in 2015 at least publically. Wondering what you think and if this has any potential for say one year, three year and five year out? Thank you.

Q: Despite the expenses with Fort Mcmurray fires IFC stock price had a fairly reasonable year in 2016.With higher int rates presumably coming and mabe a year without so many calamities what would you think of it going forward?
Thanks and best of the season
Larry

Q: Good morning Peter,would you please list these 4 stocks in preference order .Thank you !

Q: tYour opinion, please, on recent earnings and future growth prospects for IFC. Thanks Jim

Q: Good morning,

I own GWO and IFC for an aggregate position of about 3.5% in my portfolio. What do you recommend as a guideline allocation for "insurance" in one's portfolio?
If I'm low at 3.5%, would you recommend I add to my existing holdings or initiate a position in Sun Life?

Thank you,
Robert

Q: Which of these 2 stocks do you prefer primarily for income but also some stock appreciation.
Thanks

Q: I am surprised that the Intact share price has been going up, despite the (presumably) large claims it will have to pay due to the Alberta fires. In fact, it is now at the same level as it was before the fire broke out.

Any idea as to why the fire does not seem to have had any significant effect on the (current) share price? Thanks!

Q: How does the disaster (fire) in Ft McMurray affects the earnings and stock prices of IFC ?
thanks

Q: What kind of long term dividend growth would you expect from this company? Can they keep up the historic 8% annually for the next ten years or is this asking too much. Their company presentation claims that they have a naturally higher ROE than other insurers. They do not seem to be aggressive investing their float like Fairfax is. Thanks.

Q: Good morning 5i Research Team, Can you please advise on the current valuation and ST outlook for Intact in light of current economic conditions in Canada. Do you see this as a good buying opportunity now?

Q: Could I get your opinion on the Q3 earnings and weakness in the stock. Thanks,

Q: "We’re increasingly of the view that quarterly earnings are mostly noise,” she (Eileen Mercier, director at IFC) said. “I tend to think of the income statement in most industries as a work of fiction. It has become so complicated that most people can’t understand them or read them anyway.”

If we de-emphasize the importance of the quarterly report, in part because it is unaudited and therefore open to manipulation, should we therefore pay far more attention to the audited annual report, especially the MD&A section?

I know that 5i looks at the quarterly numbers partly because so many questions come from subscribers on assessing reported and expected numbers. What I'm curious about in the 5i process is what percentage of the company research process is put into analyzing the annual reports of say the last 5 years of an average company?

The whole article on quarterly reporting is here: http://business.financialpost.com/legal-post/the-case-for-ditching-the-quarterly-financial-report-mostly-noise

Q: I own a half position in Intact (IFC) and its had a good move upward since early November 2014. Do you think it is now fully/over valued and does it have more upside in 2015? I don't have any other P&C insurance companies. Are there others that have more upside going forward?
Thanks, Tim.

Q: Hi 5i,

I hold both SLF and IFC in my retirement account. Are they different enough that I can hold both or should I get rid of one? Do you still like IFC for growth and dividend growth? I also hold several other financials: banks and REITs so I would remain diversified. Thanks!