Investment Q&A

Q: looking back it looks like ALA and IPL have been base building for about 15 months. Is that significant or is the price of crude the only factor in the pricing? What does your reply say about the viability of technical factors in stocks like IPL and ALA?

Q: My birthday always prompts an RRSP review and the magic age of 71 is not that far away so I am slowly transitioning from equities to safer, dividend yields as I won't need the funds for quite a while after I have to convert to a RRIF.
I have just initiated good positions in Hydro One and the new ECN preferred. I am looking at Enbridge and Altagas for at least a ten year hold and would be happy with just the dividend. I already have a good chunk of Interpipeline.
Are pipelines in particular and dividend companies in general looking at significant headwinds with interest rates slated to rise, probably quite a bit, over my ten year plus timeframe. I'm looking for investments that I can park and collect without undue concern.
If not them, then who, with the criteria outlined?
Thank you.
Steven

Q: I'm starting an income portfolio. What do you think of 5% in each of the above? Thanks.

Q: I am considering adding TRP for diversity as a third holding to IPL and PPL which I already hold, despite the lower yield. Do you agree with this choice or do you suggest something else in pipelines.

Q: Can you comment on IPLs recent Q results and specifically their payout ratio improvement? Thank you.

Q: Hi Peter &Ryan
When I look today at IPL Q1 results they are in my opinion good .
They market yawns at the results as I said in the past this has been a core holding and they results indicate that I am right but the market does not agree .
Perhaps I am DEAD RIGHT
Kind Regards
Stan

Q: Can you please rank the three pipeline utility companies: IPL, PPL, and ENB. I'm particularly interested to see your thoughts given the PPL/VSN deal and the big drop in PPL's share price.

Thanks!

Q: Currently I own the shares of IPL in my income portfolio. I see that PPL and VSN outperformed IPL in term of price appreciation.
Should I sell my IPL shares and buy one or both of the above mentioned stocks, or should I keep my IPL shares and add either PPL or VSN to my income portfolio. Will this be too much exposure to the same sector?
Between PPL and VSN which one do you prefer?
What is your recomendation?

Q: Hi Peter &Ryan
I held ipl in a reg account for many years and now appears to be range bound .my thoughts are to exit the position and move on .
Any thoughts for a replacement?
Kind regards
Stan

Q: I hold the above companies (pretty much at equal weights) in my Utilities portfolio. I need to trim because I am overweight in the sector. Perhaps I should reduce the number of holdings by 1 full position. May I please have your opinion. Thank you.

Q: I have owned IPL, PPL & KEY for many years & as a result have built up substantial capital gains & continue to receive very healthy monthly dividends. My question &/or query is whether to continue with these very staple equities or sell all or part to better deploy funds in other sectors. I do not NOW hold any direct oil or gas investments; having sold all in early 2015 as I firmly believe the oversupply of oil & gas will only continue to grow throughout the world until we have replaced it with alternate technologies. Your comments are always appreciated. Thank you.

Q: Which co. do you prefer and why IPL or ENF. I already hold ALA and RNW. Thank you

Q: My RIF contains FTS, AQN, EIF, KXS, ENGH, IPL as well as XLF, VWO, & KRE US ETFs. I have held ENGH since 2012 & IPL since 2009 for a large CG of nearly $400K. With the somewhat flattening of these 2 over the past 2yrs. I was thinking of selling at least 50% of each. I have somewhat resisted this move over the past year simply based on overall excellent results as well as the high quality of each company. However, it may or may not be time to lighten up & add some new diversity. If you agree with this change, I would have approx. $200K to invest in at least 6 new equities & would appreciate your recommendations. Thank you.

Q: If you could purchase only one of ALA, (Altagas) or IPL,( Interpipeline), which would it be and why.

Thanks for the great service, David

Q: I'm building a non-registered account with companies that pay out a fairly high dividend (tax efficient for the dividend tax credit) and with an emphasis on growers. In particular companies that have indicated their intention of growing the dividend 5-10% annually and in some cases provided timelines as well. Looking for steady increasing income from this account but also hoping the increasing dividend will provide a floor for the stock prices against increasing interest rates expected over the next while. Time line 5-10 years.

For example, ENB who have indicated 10-12% dividend increases through 2024 (choose this over ENF who has indicated 10% increases through 2019). This should take ENB's dividend payout up to around 9%+ based on the current stock price. I've also included ECI in the account so far.

BEP/BIP don't fit the bill due to the distributions not being tax effective.

Looking for more ideas, perhaps 5-10 that I could consider adding to gain some diversification as well.

Thanks!

Q: My energy holdings are ENB, IPL, TRP and PKI. I wish to reduce energy exposure and have targetted IPL or TRP. Div income is not a consideration although held in a non-reg acct. I am in favour of selling IPL however some TRP metrics tell me maybe it should be TRP (TRP ROE = -11%, EPS = -$2.76 although recognize TRP is approx 5x market cap of IPL). Both are good companies and recognize I have some duplication. I welcome 5i thoughts for long term hold based on numbers, projects, etc.

Q: Two Questions:

1. I am overweight in these 3 pipeline/utilties due to run of share prices, ala,ipl and ppl should I trimm back all 3 or sell one, if you were to sell one which would it be?

2, With the recent sell off in energy stocks Vermillion is holding up better than most especially compared to similar companies such as Esso and Exxon, is this another sign of what a good core position Vermillion is or should we expect Vermillion to decline?

Thanks again for the great valuable source 5i provides.

Q: In pursuing my goal to maintain a well-diversified portfolio, I am trying to decide how and even why to differentiate between pipelines and utilities. Both sectors operate in regulated sectors (at least in Canada), both sectors will be adversely affected by higher interest rates due to debt levels and both sectors generally pay reasonably attractive dividends. As for their differences, I see utilities potentially performing better as the economy improves and the pipelines more affected by politics.

Should these sectors be treated as different when composing a portfolio or can companies be "mixed and matched" under a more generic "regulated" or quasi "fixed income" part of the portfolio and thereby treated as almost the same?

If your answer is "yes" would you endorse a switch from IPL to AQN for better long term growth with less volatility? (taxes not an issue)

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: I am a long time holder of Inter Pipeline (IPL). I have a diversified portfolio that includes nearly all of the holdings in the BE model portfolio. When Enbridge was added to the model portfolio, I took a pass and figured I would just stick with IPL. Although IPL's share price has generally lagged ENB, as of late it has been outperforming and I am wondering if now would be a good time to switch. I know that ENB is much larger, but IPL does pay a higher dividend. Without any tax implications do you think a switch from IPL to ENB makes sense for a 5-10 year timeframe?

Q: Hello 5i Team....Would you prefer IPL or PPL in the present market environment? Also, could you elaborate on your reasoning? Many thanks for the awesome job that you do in answering all the member questions.