Investment Q&A

Q: Hi,

Looking for a long term hold, preferably lo-volatility and some growth. I own the banks, AQN, BAM, and ZQQ. Can you recommend your top two picks and why?

Q: Would it be better for tax purpouses to sell my BEP.UN.LP shares and purchase the new Canadian Shares?
Thank You
Bill

Q: When BEP.UN trades with the new listing will the two listings be trading at the same price. They will both be trading essentially the same assets yet traded by different investor groups. Will this work as an arbitrage trade. Just Curious.
Thanks, Peter

Q: The payout ratio is about 100% of AFFO. What is your view as to the sustainability of the distribution including guidance for increases? Is this level of payout consistent with peers?

Q: Just curious. Who are those that can't buy limited partnerships like BEP.UN? Thanks.

Q: Your earlier answer stated: "The new corporation will have 'identical distributions' to the existing partnership."

Does this mean the distribution is essentially being increased by 25% (for existing shareholders) upon the formation of the Canadian corporation as distributions from 4 units becomes distributions from 5? Or will the distribution from 4 units be equal to the distributions from 4 units + 1 share?

Q: What happens to the dividend after the stock split. Will it increase by a factor of 4to remain equal?

Q: BEP is forming new canadian company. I hold shares of BEP>UN. Should we hold or bail. What they are doing sounds complicated to me.

Q: Lot of talk about their restructuring or maybe re-engineering. What about the miss on earnings?

Thanks

Q: May I have your comments on the quarter. Please explain what they are doing with the shares. A split?. Cheers

Q: Hello 5i Team
Further to previous comments this morning and apologies for the length.

Comments on the Brookfield family of companies, US $ dividends and tax implications.

From the Brookfield website:
Please note that the quarterly dividend payable on Brookfield's Class A Limited Voting Shares is declared in U.S. dollars. Registered shareholders who are U.S. residents receive their dividends in U.S. dollars, unless they request the Cdn. dollar equivalent. Registered shareholders who are Canadian residents receive their dividends in the Cdn. dollar equivalent, unless they request to receive dividends in U.S. dollars. Prior to the September 30, 2016 payment date, the Canadian dollar equivalent of the quarterly dividend was based on the Bank of Canada noon exchange rate on the record date.
Beginning with the March 31, 2017 payment date, the Canadian dollar equivalent of the quarterly dividend is based on the Bank of Canada daily average exchange rate exactly two weeks (or 14 days) prior to the payment date for the dividend.

What this means is the Brookfield entities "declare" their dividends/distributions in US$ and the transfer agent (Computerserve) pays the broker in Canadian dollars (as the broker i.e. beneficial holder is a Canadian resident ) regardless of whether the shares are held in a Canadian or US dollar denominated account. If the shares are held in a US$ dollar account the broker then "buys" US$ to pay the share owner's account. This results in a small under or over payment of the actual dividend/distribution depending on how exchange rates have moved. This is how my brokerage (RBC Direct Investing) explained it.

Further to the tax issues:
The limited partnerships (BBU, BEP, BIP, BPY) pay distributions which are recorded on a T-5013 (and not a T-3 or T-5). The distributions are a combination of eligible dividends, interest income, foreign income, return of capital and other items depending on the entity. Companies have until March 31 to issue each years T-5013 (similar to a T-3 issued for REITs) which results in delays in filing annual income tax. Therefore it is better to hold the LPs in a RRSP/LIRA/TFSA if you want to simplify your annual tax return, however if the entities are held in a RRSP/TFSA there may be foreign withholding tax that cannot be recovered. Previous years breakdown of the distributions can be found on the individual LP's web page. Each individual should review their tax situation with a their individual tax expert.

BIP and now BEP move to create a Canadian Corporation which will issue eligible dividends will make life much simpler from a tax perspective.

Q: Hello 5i,
Not so much a question as a comment: I went on the SEC website (EDGAR?)and looked up the filing for the BEP split and printed off some of the Q&A. There is a huge amount of information there and it might help if 5i could perhaps do a Blog on some of the more salient points in terms of some of the benefits, mechanics and risks. They do make the point under the "Risk" section that this subsidiary company will only be operating in two South American countries from what I can tell - Columbia and Brazil, I think.
Also, they seem to reiterate that this offering is a Special Distribution and is over and above the regular distribution and will not cost the existing unitholders anything, other than any applicable tax implications.
Lots of info to digest on this one, so any help 5i might be able to offer would probably be much appreciated by any number of members. It also appears that the completion date is as of yet undetermined but will be sometime in 2020.
Hope this is of some help.....
Cheers
Mike

Q: Will current share holders of BEP.UN get the one for four spin off in addition to the shares they now hold or is it in exchange for those trust units? Thanks,
Dave

Q: Can you comment on the restructuring of BEP.UN shares. Will tax reporting change under the new issue? Also seems to have a 4 for 1 consolidation which doesn't make much sense to me . Keith

Q: "This will allow more investors (those that can't buy trust units) to buy shares. We view it as a positive move. Shareholders will get one new share for every four held. "

What does this mean for someone like me who was just about to get into the stock , do I wait for this to wash out or do i get in now , also timeline of the "split" ?

I thought splits always went the other way 4 for 1 not 1 for 4 .. ?

For a regular retail investor in TFSA and my RSP the wording on the release is a bit confusing to say the least .

Thanks for any additional info .
Chris N

Q: BEP.UN: just announced a new structure involving the shares such that it becomes Canadian listed vs current structure of a limited partnership and the stock is up a fair bit on the news. We have owned this one for quite a while in a registered account. Can you explain this new proposal and whether this is still a hold?

Q: What percentage ownership does Brookfield Asset Management have in the other 2 companies?

Q: I currently own BIP, could you compare the two as a long term income hold.

Q: Hi,

BEP has taken off recently and despite the market's rush to safety and dividend paying stocks, I can't rationalize the quick increase. From my charting work, the current price is as high as it'll go in the near term unless it has some new sources of growth (i.e. acquisitions). I'll also note that its upward move comes with increasing volume, however in the past 2 weeks both price and volume have stagnated (which supports my thesis and chart that this has topped).

AQN, looks better at the moment - similar dividend as BEP, but with more growth potential.

For me, all points lead to selling BEP and looking to buy back in later or initiate in AQN. Can you convince me otherwise?



Cam.

Q: Hi,
I am looking for income and considering the above Brookfield companies. Would you please provide an overview of the different tax treatments of the income distributions. Are they best held in a registered or a non-registered account? Also, do you prefer one company over the other and if so why? Thank you