Investment Q&A

Q: What wouldyou think of a switch from ENB.PR,F into AQN as i am looking
for growth not just a dividend.Ihave a large loss on ENB.PR.F ,but i dont think it will give me much capital gain.
Thanks Phil.

Q: Hello 5i team,
Thank you for your help today- what I’m hoping to get some perspective on is tactics one could do to grow a portfolio- what you’d think wise or stupid, please.
In TFSA, two holdings happen to be up: AQN by 35% and NPI by 21%. Everything else is in the minus by -30 to -35% due to the current situation as generally they’re ok businesses, like two banks, phone co, etc.
Tactically, would it be an idea to sell the two that are up, and buy a few which are quite down now, then in due course replace what was sold?
I was thinking of more banks like BNS or BMO, and PPL, CNQ,SU, and KEY.
The idea being that the gains over time would be more than the growth in price of the two being sold, thus netting an overalL growth in funds.

In RRSP, two are close to break even, just a couple hundred dollars each in the red, namely T and NA.
If sold, I was thinking of BIP, BPY, and maybe SU, CNQ, and BMO- fairly similar to the TFSA idea.

I like dividends, I know SU just reduced; I’ve not heard if these others have/plan to. I think I’m fine with a 3-5yr estimation of recovery period for these ‘down’ stocks, if you think that’s likely.

I’d appreciate your counsel on this, thanks very much!

Q: Good morning,
I own AQN and I have noticed that since the beginning of May, BEP.UN has been trending up while AQN has been trending down. Usually they move together. Any idea why we have this recent divergence.

Q: I am looking at buying a regulated gas and electric utility company. I am considering AQN and FTS. Which of these would be your favourite and why? Is there a company that you prefer more than these for a long-term hold?

Q: Hi, Could you please comment on Algonquin Power earnings. Thanks

Q: I have a little money. Aqn or cae for growth over the next 3 years or other suggestions.
Is it time to cash in Gil . Did Gil drop their dividend. I follow your BEP
Thanks as always for your great guidance.
Steve

Q: Hi Peter: When I sit back and take a look at the big picture and review how my portfolio performed during COVID-19 (so far), I try to see what lessons I can learn, then turn to how to apply those lessons to make my portfolio stronger.

I am a retired, dividend-income investor. I am a huge believer in asset allocation and have designed a portfolio, in my opinion, to be reasonably well diversified, although heavy to Canada. It WAS roughly 70% equities (including 32% foreign content) and 30% fixed income (roughly 15% insured annuities, 15% Fisgard Capital...both averaging in the 5-6% pre-tax range and minor cash). My equities are mostly blue chip, dividend payers, as you can see above. The 3 mutual funds are a very minor part of my portfolio, especially Eric's Energy Fund (<2%). I also receive a company pension and CPP-OAS which, when included, drops my equities to roughly 32%.

I use various metrics to monitor my portfolio, such as P/E, P/BV, P/CF, P/S, Beta, ROE, Div growth, Payout%, technical indicators like 200 mda. I am normally a buy-and-hold investor who trims/adds around a core position.

Periodically I measure how "at risk" my portfolio is relative to the overall market. I do this by prorating my portfolio using Beta. Based on equities only, I averaged 0.68 and for my entire portfolio I averaged 0.44. So, one would think that if the overall market (TSX) was to drop 30%, then I would have thought my portfolio would drop 44% to 68% of that, being in the range of 13% (overall) to 20% (equities only).

In actual fact, my entire portfolio dropped 27% from peak to trough vs the expected 13%...over double! I understand that EVERYTHING was sold off...almost no exceptions. So what do we learn from this and what changes should we consider? Do we accept that "sxxt happens" once in a while...you can't predict every event, accept it and move on? Should we consider increasing the cash component as a buffer? Or...is there something else to be learned here?

Thanks for you help...much appreciated...Steve

Q: If the CAD tanks against the USD, what are 5 or so Canadian companies that are best placed to survive and thrive, ie CAD inputs and USD revenues?

Q: 5i guys!
Taxation clarity.
TFSA; Mostly hold Canadian dividend paying stocks and ETF's on the TSX.
Hold a Canadian ETF with US stocks. Withholding tax applies I believe.

RRSP; US Exchange American dividend stocks and ETFs.
My fuzziness.
TSX listed companies that pay dividends in USD.
Ex. AQN. OTEX.
As a canadian company purchased on the tsx is this tax exempt under TFSA?
Or does it fall under the withholding rules as an American stock unlike RRSP's exemption.
*take another question credit*

If in fact exempt. Does Questrade convert for free. I am curious if I should allow the conversion since I purchase with canadian in my TFSA. Or save up the USD and perform Norberts Gambit once in awhile.

Really enjoying everything you have to offer.
Fantastic and many thanks for all the investing improvements.

Q: Hello! First time question-asker and first-time investor, although I've been researching for about a year.

I'm looking to create a mixed-income portfolio leaning towards risk. This is not a retirement plan, I'm fairly young (under 30) and okay with some risk - looking at a 5 year timeline. The companies I'm considering most closely are above, with guidance from 5i I've landed on these. Question is, can a member of your team gauge the 'health' of this portfolio selection? Would you start with 14 companies, or a smaller number? Do any of the companies above strike you as over-valued at the moment and I should hold off? Would you even consider these selections high risk or relatively safe? Would you dump savings (>10k) into your first time investment with the above selection, or way too risky given the current climate?

Q: B of A Securities downgraded AQN to a Underperform with a $13 price target. Have you seen their reasoning on this and do you feel they have some merit in their analysis?
Do you still consider it one of the better utilities in Canada?

Q: B of A just downgraded AQN to under perform. I am assuming that is because they feel it is overvalued and not because of the upcoming quarterly numbers. Consensus is still a buy. Your thoughts?

Carl

Q: I am looking for safe dividends and believe all of these companies meet that criteria (although recognizing that nothing is for sure these days). I would like to buy 2 companies. Which 2 would you pick from this list?

Q: I wish to buy a defensive utility in a non-reg acct that will qualify for DTC (not sure if ETFs above qualify for DTC). I am aware of different div yields. Is there any significant difference in risks that stand out to you? Plse rank in your order of pref for purchase (already own EMA but would purchase more).

Q: If I am enrolled in a drip, is the stock purchased at a discounted rate or the market price of a stock. I own the listed companies; are any of those are eligible for a discounted drip purchase price? or do you need to buy them directly from the company to qualify for the discount.

Q: My two largest holdings are BEP and AQN ... with dramatically reduced power consumption, should I be looking to pare down these positions ?

Q: Retired dividend-income investor. I'm sitting on 15% cash that I created by taking profits and harvesting some losses. I have mapped out how to redeploy this cash to hit my asset allocation targets, both by sector as well as by individual holding. I had originally designed the re-entry on spreading the purchases over 6 months. Given that we now have information on different countries indicating that they MIGHT be showing signs of COVID slowly recovering and that the stock market is forward looking, would you adjust the 6 months time frame to 4 months? What's your crystal ball tell you...redeploy a little faster?

Also, the above equities are those that are candidates for topping up. Which would you hit up first?

Thanks for your help...Steve

Q: Hi,

Do you agree that many REITS and utility companies are historically way overvalued considering their lack of growth?
If I was to invest in REITS and utility companies for the next few years, could u pick 2 REITS you like for US and 2 for CDN exposure?
Could you also pick two utility companies you like for US and 2 for CDN exposure?

Q: I'm looking to take positions in the following sectors. Could you please recommend 2 stocks in each category to hold in a non-registered acct.

-Utilities
-Healthcare
-Real estate

Thanks as always, Dave

Q: I have the following securities in what I consider a balanced portfolio. The fixed income portion doesn’t show here because it consists of OAS. CCP. Plus two other pensions.
I’m thinking of sell part position in MMX ( small loss);and ARE to realize a capital loss while at the same time raising some cash for the next pullback. I like TFII . We need to keep the food chain moving. Trucking an important part . The other is cargo jet. Am I on the right track . Your opinion. Or would you look elsewhere given the current holdings.