Investment Q&A

Q: Retired (70 yrs old), dividend-income investor. Been meaning to ask this question for a long time. We run a concentrated portfolio of roughly 10 ETFs and 10 stocks, plus fixed income on top. Our pro-rated MER for the equity ETFs is 0.64 and for the entire portfolio is 0.38.

I use the ETFs above that are sector ETFs (like HHL, NNRG, XIT) as my proxy for the sector and am ok with the trade off of paying fees for a sector ETF instead of having lots of stocks.

I then add my individual stock selections to achieve my targeted Asset Allocation for the entire portfolio (like AD, BCE, FTS, GSY, RY, NWC, PBH, TRP, WSP, etc). I weight each of these relative to my risk tolerance.

Does this make sense to you? Does my "sector ETF" make sense, especially with a potentially large weighting in one ETF. Virtually all of my ETFs are capped at around 7% of the equity portfolio and the stocks are capped at 5% max.

Your thoughts on my strategy and on my MER....thanks...Steve

Q: Retired, dividend income investor. NRGI (the income ETF of Eric's) has been around since March 07/22. I've owned it since Oct 2022 and am basically flat.

The last question on NRGI was roughly a year and a half ago. What are your current thoughts on it's performance since inception and how it looks going forward?

For perspective, this is a smaller position for me, while I have a very full position in Eric's NNRG ETF (which has done incredibly well for me).

Thanks....Steve

Q: Could you give me the current assets for NNRG and NPP314?
For CRA, I guess these 2 are the same ?
Thanks a lot.

Q: I manage my daughter and her husband's investments. They currently own the above equities (except XST), plus fixed income. I would define them as conservative investors.

Regarding their asset allocation, I am still in the process of building out their portfolio. They are a little light on Consumer Staples. I was trying to find a suitable ETF and came up with XST.

Q#1 = What are your current thoughts on XST? The constituent holdings actually look pretty good. The various rates of return also look good.

Q#2 = Are there other ETFs that I should consider? I couldn't find a BMO version. I have read the past questions on XST and it appears to me that XST is the front runner (compared to VDC and XLP), when looking at past performance.

Thoughts? Agree?
Thanks for your help...much appreciated...Steve

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I hold AQN in my RRSP, bought it in 2011 at $5.60 (not a typo) and have trimmed it multiple times due to asset allocation. Not that it matters, but I am still up 15% over my ACB.

Looking forward is what really matters. AQN is up roughly 20% from it's low of around $9/share. Q#1 = Do you think AQN can continue their short term performance?

I hold AQN, FTS, TRP, NNRG, NRGI, and utility-energy stocks held within CDZ, ZLB, ZWC. Q#2 = What conservative utility or infrastructure stocks should I consider that might "fill the gap" in my current holdings? Please list 4-6 stocks for me to do further research on.

Q#3 = Should a component of "renewables" be a consideration? That was one of the reasons for holding AQN. Ideas?

So the bottom line is = what's done is done. AQN appears to be starting to recover and there is always the chance of being bought out.
1. Hold of sell,
2. Replace with what,
3. Include renewables?

Thanks for your help....Steve

Q: I heard that Eric Nuttall is now out of VET. It's my only oil & gas stock that is under water at this point. What is your opinion? It seems to have declined due to the fall of natural gas in Europe and the extra tax levy. Do you think it has fallen enough to now be worth holding, or is there another oil and gas stock that you like better. I'm thinking maybe FRU or even NNRG.NE, Eric's fond? Or do you have another one?
Thanks

Q: I received a Dividend Distribution Reminder from RBC regarding a NNRG dividend...$4.18/share. Ex-div date of Dec 29/22 and payment date of Jan 09/23. I've kept the email and reread it several times.

I would have expected the share price to drop roughly $4/share on Dec 29, but I have seen no share price movement anywhere near that level.

Can you shed some light on this? I have gone to Eric's website and see no dividend notifications. Could this be a mistake somewhere in the RBC system (doubtful)? Or...is there a chance I might receive the cash equivalent of the dividend on Jan 09/23 (I know...pipe dream)?

Confused...thanks for your help...Steve

Q: Happy owner of Eric's NNRG....got a $4.18 dividend notice...roughly a 9% yield. Why such a large dividend? I'm not complaining, I own it in my TFSA and plan to buy more shares. Just wondering why...any ideas?

Thanks...Steve

Q: Hi, I am in the camp that fossil fuel industry will be a place to be in 2023. With that said do you feel it is better to be in a fund such as NNRG or XLE or to be in individual companies either CDN or US? If so, can you give a few with some good dividends that you would recommend to look at. Thanks

Q: Can I have the beta #'s for NNRG and NRGI?

I am doing an overall portfolio beta rating.

Thanks...Steve

Q: When NNRG reaches my next target price, I plan to do some additional trimming (for asset allocation reasons, as well as to fund some topping up of existing positions in my TFSA.

In which order would you add to the following, based on where we are at in the market cycle and where you see the best current value: XIT, PBH, PLC. Please add a brief reason why the sequence.

Thanks...Steve

Q: Thank you to David for thinking he was correcting the USA-Canadian split in my NRGI question.

However, he was quoting the NNRG ETF, not the NRGI ETF.

Just so nobody else makes the same, easy-to-do mistake, here are the splits (effective Aug 31/22) for both ETFs, taken directly from the Ninepoint website:

NNRG = 83% Cdn and 9% USA

NRGI = 17% Cdn and 82% USA

Thanks for posting this...Steve

Q: NNRG has fallen radically recently.Would you find this attractive at this level?

Q: Hi Peter, can you please provide your view on the Ninepoint Energy Fund? I think it is managed by a former Sprott PM unless I'm mistaken.

Thanks,

Chris

Q: How would you rank the attractiveness of NPP314, NNRG, and the new Ninepoint Energy Income fund, and why? Are there any alternatives would you prefer for getting Energy exposure now, if so what? Thanks

Q: Nine Point has an Mutual Fund and a ETF version of their energy fund:
Do they hold the same companies?
If so - why would one buy the more expensive MF over the cheaper fee ETF?
Also - could you detail the fees for each version.
Thanks

Q: I sold VET last month as a tax loss harvest and bought NNRG as a replacement. I'm thinking of now switching back to VET. It seems to have done better than NNRG over the last month. Would you endorse this switch back? This is for medium risk profile and an already existing portfolio of oil & gas stocks.

Q: WTI is at a 7 year high today, but the 2 etfs are down. What am I missing? Thank you

Q: I am wanting to add to my energy holdings I am looking at XEG versus NNRG which would you consider a better choice
Keith

Q: It's time that I trim my above portfolio of 13 oil & gas stocks to sector weighting. Which 6 stocks do you think should be first to be trimmed? Please list the stocks in order from the first to be sold to the sixth. This is for medium risk profile. Also could you list a short reason why you think it should go for each of the six stocks.

Thanks