Investment Q&A

Q: I read your review of 2/23/17 which explains the financial fundamentals; ergo, would you consider this a good, safe, long-term buy & hold? I am thinking of buying for my wife's account. She currently holds FTS in one of her accounts. This would, by comparison, be a small holding vs the size of her total portfolios.

Q: Do you foresee that BEP, VNR, AQN or RNW would be impacted by a US BAT tax? Thanks.

Q: So I am looking at the numbers and BEP.UN seems to have flat to declining revenue and declining FFO/share the last 3 years.
What is it you like about this stock? The growth recently seems pretty flat at best. Am I missing something?

Q: I am retired and use the revenue from my RRIF to fund my retirement. I am overweight in financials and energy.I need to add to utilities as I only have 1 stock KWH.UN. I am considering FTS, AQN and BEP.UN. Would like to add 2 from this list. Appreciate your thoughts.

W

Q: Of all of the Brookfiekd companies, which one would you say had the best growth potential over the next five to seven years, regardless of yield and risk, thanks?

Q: Your response to a recent question asking which of these companies to add to:
"BIP has grown the dividend by 16% and BEP has grown the dividend by 35.5%. We would use history as the guide here and side with BEP.UN."
Consider over the past year BEP.UN share price increased by 7.5% whereas BIP.UN increased by 36.5%. Over 5 years BEP.UN gained 46% but BIP.UN gained 132%. In my history book BIP.UN wins hands down notwithstanding the difference in dividend increase last year.

Steve

Q: BIP.UN and BEP.UN both released their Q4 results in the last two days and both raised their payouts. I currently hold both stocks. If I'm to increase my investment in only one of them, which one would you prefer in terms of longer term growth and further payout increases down the road? Thanks for your insight.

Q: I am looking to add renewable energy companies to both my US and Canadian portfolios. Buy and hold for 5-10-20 years. Can you make some reccomendations?

Q: In a TFSA, 5+ year hold, if purchasing today, would you buy ALA, BEP.UN, or FTS.

Q: Which of these three companies (BEP.UN, SPB, and VNR) would you favour at this time?

Q: If Canadian interest rates remain the same (or even go down) this year, while US interest rates rise, what effect would this have on Canadian companies/stocks in the telecom (T), insurance (SLF), bank (BNS), and utility (BEP.un) sectors? Thanks in advance!

Q: I am interested in investing in green energy - ie wind/solar/other. Can you please recommend a way to gain some exposure to green energy companies that are involved in solar, wind or other such "green" means of energy production?
thanks in advance.

Q: Hi, i'am thinking of selling Bep.un, I read an article saying it has a $33 target,and is paying out over 100% on AFFO,it also goes on to say because of its unique structure it has numerous conflicts of intrest ,therefore is a weak position for its unit holders.
Just wondering if you somewhat agree and if I sold,what two or three replacements could I buy with a good dividend.
Thanks,Brad

Q: Thank you for your reasoned response e to my question about the negative view on BEP. UN presented by Dividend Sensei in Seeking Alpha on Monday. Here is his response to your analysis. He emphasizes AFFO, you emphasize cash flow. I would appreciate your comments on his comments. Thx for your ongoing excellent service. Frank

Q: i am concerned that owning pipes and parkland (which I do, for income) is going against growing headwinds, and there is a growing international trend toward cleaner energy, renewable energy, etc. I don't think I need dump all of these now, but at some point, don't you think we should be lightening up. Or is it such a longterm issue I need not worry about it. i want to be ahead of the curve.

If you agree, then what would you recommend instead for income, in the areas of clean energy and renewables?

Q: Please comment on this mornings posting by Dividend Sensei inSeeking Alpha where he is very bearish on BEP.UN.
Thanks
Frank

Q: WORKING ON GETTING THE SECTORS BALANCED--HAVE 3 UTILITIES AND ONLY ONE TEL COM--WANT TO ADD SEVERAL THOUSAND TO EACH SECTOR---WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST?
THANKS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Q: In my 35-stock portfolio, I have a 9% overall weighting in the following:

ALA - 3%
ENB - 2.5%
TRP - 2.1%
BEP.UN - 1.4%

I am assuming that 9% is an "okay weighting" for this group (?) but my main question is, whether or not you see too much overlap in these stocks.

I know this group provides a mixture of storage and pipelines that move shale oil, crude, gas, etc. I also have exposure to renewable energy which has kept me from investing in other power-related stocks such as Fortis and Canadian Utilities.

Do you have any concerns about the weighting or overlap?

By the way, the only energy stock I have is TOU - 1.2%, if that makes any difference.

Thanks.

Jim

Q: I know you like BEP.UN but have heard some criticism about lack of transparency in reporting - what they actually own-etc. Is this a legitimate concern and what would be your second choice in the renewable power field?
Thanks Jim

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

I find that we need to buy some more in the Utilities sector, to keep to a 10% weighting. We presently have about a three-quarter position in each of AQN, BEP.UN, and FTS. Do you think that INE would be a good addition to this mix or is it too similar to AQN and BEP.UN? We can buy and sell XUT commission-free, but I notice that ZUT (not commission-free) has a better chart. Should I increase our positions in each of the three we already have, buy a new one, or top up with XUT/ZUT? Or is there a US ETF in this sector that looks compelling? Or perhaps in the present "climate", could the utilities sector weighting be reduced below 10%? What sector should take up the slack?

Thanks for all your great advice which has been and continues to be very valuable. A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you at 5i and the members as well.