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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Re: your advice to Gary this morning.

Through BMO Investorline we transfer stock in-kind directly from RRSP to TFSA.

If there's insufficient cash in the RRSP, we'll contribute just enough to cover the withholding tax. So we don't have to sell any shares.

We're slowly winding down our RRSPs and transfer only enough, in low-income years, to be able to recover the withholding tax. (Seniors often have enough tax credits to make that possible.)
Read Answer Asked by chris on August 09, 2017
Q: I am going through my portfolio and finally looked at my balances per sector. Overall it isn't terrible, but I do have to make some changes. I have some Tech positions that I can lighten up and get down to 20% and I have some cash I can add. I have quite a few questions, so please take the credits needed.

Sector Percentage
Consumer Disc 11.75
Consumer Stap 6.41
Energy 7.28
Financial 16.16
Healthcare 5.12
Industrial 7.74
Tech 24.16
Materials 6.3
Telecom 3.69
Utilities 4.54
ETF's/Cash ~7


Should I consider Enbridge a Utility or Energy? Below i have it as a Utility. My other utility is BEP.UN. Should I add to one of these or add another position. They are ~2% each so I could go up on both, or add a third.

I see Magna and CCL are Consumer Disc, but can they also be considered Industrials?
For Industrial I have SIS, WSP, and QST. I was thinking of New Flyer and something else to get my industrial weighting closer to 15 %. Maybe ZCL or is that considered Energy? Or a US industrial?

Do you consider Chartwell Healthcare?(it is above)

Which sector should I focus on first and do you see anything that should be addressed right away. I know tech is heavy and the money should go to other sectors, but which area is lacking the most, Industrial, Utilities or International?

I have approx. 22% in US stocks, but I only have 1.75% IN TDB911 and about 5% in a few US ADR's for international exposure.
What ETFs should I look at to get international and emerging markets exposure?

How much of ones portfolio should go towards stocks Outside of of North America?

A lot of the companies I do own have international exposure such as CSU,MG,TOY,CCL,MX ect;

I am 39 and have fairly high risk tolerance if that makes a difference.

Thanks again for your great service and advice.
Read Answer Asked by Colin on August 09, 2017
Q: With so many potential valuation and growth metrics available, it's hard to know which ones are REALLY important. I would love to use a handful (3 to 6?) of metrics that I could use to screen companies in order to create a "to buy" list.
Do you have any recommendations for a group of "must-use" metrics?

(Some that I am considering are: EV/EBITDA, PEG, Price/Cash flow, P/B, Price to Sales, P/AFFO for REITs, Debt/Equity, Dividend yield, Dividend Payout ratio, and a company's history of raising the dividend)

Would I want to use different metrics for growth vs. value companies?

Also, is there some place that I can look up a company's metrics (i.e. EV/EBITDA, P/B, etc)?

Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Jonathan on August 08, 2017
Q: Hello 5i Team

1 - Is there a readily available list of all the Sector and Industry classifications which are assigned to companies. I have had no luck finding it on the internet.

2 - Are the Sector and Industry classifications the same for the Canadian and US markets?

The only method I have found is checking the individual companies on the TMX Money website. A slow tedious process.

Thank you for the great service.
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on August 08, 2017
Q: BNN sited a report(back tested 20 years) that stated free cash flow yield was the best indicator of how a how a stock will perform in the future. Are there any US or Canadian etf's that use free cash flow yield as the key metric for stock selection. Also can you provide the top 10 FCF yielding stocks in Canada. Is there a stock screener that provides this information. Thank you for your great service.
Read Answer Asked by Ian on August 08, 2017
Q: Greetings Peter and team,

Again, thank you for your logical answers to my previous questions.

In the 60s, a self-made, wealthy graduate of the Benjamin Graham, Columbia University program which warren Buffett praises, recommended that investors keep half of their portfolio in cash. When the market drops 10%, he recommended that they use a third of that cash to buy stock bargains. Today, that would be a US market index ETF. If the market drops another 10%, he recommended that they use all their cash to buy bargains, again, say a US market index ET. And if the market drops another 10%, he recommended the investors margin their portfolio fully.

I would appreciate your views on this seemingly risky approach to investing money not needed for near-term use.

Thank you,

Milan
Read Answer Asked by Milan on August 08, 2017
Q: Hello
Need some advice please. 62 and recently retired. RRSP's are almost maxed out but only a few k in TFSA account.
As my income is now at its lowest point (CPP),I'm
thinking I should start moving some RRSP funds to my TFSA?
I'm considering a mix of ETF's such as VAB,VCN,XAW or perhaps some of your Income stocks and funds such as CPD,XHY,BCE and BNS.
Note that I do hold most stocks in the balanced portfolio.
Thanks for your great service.
Gary
Read Answer Asked by Gary on August 08, 2017
Q: Just a comment, I’ve been a member since you launched your site. I read a load of investment things daily, and your offering is unparalleled. While I don’t ask many questions, I truly benefit from the Q&A every day, and of course the insight gleamed from your portfolios.

Since your company has grown a lot, obviously the demands - the sheer volume of questions alone - has clearly grown with it, because over the last while I’ve noticed a very big difference in your answers. They’ve lost the choppiness: the quick, short, get-to-the-point way in which they were always written. Now, they’re very smooth, all corners are rounded, very well-written quite frankly, so I assume that answers are now being dictated, and a ‘writer’ is putting them together for publication. Very nice, easy to read in a mellifluous kind of way. But I have to say, I miss the choppiness!

Had to comment on it, it’s just that marked a difference. Thank you for the excellent service, I look forward to staying with you until you hang up your hat!
Read Answer Asked by Warren on August 08, 2017
Q: The recent hand wringing (and rightly) over CRH (haven't owned for years) has made me question what rationale retail investors use to buy and sell. I understand why advisors suggest a buy and hold strategy. But can't understand why retail investors need to be tied to that philosophy. I'm making a leap and will assume most members of this site use a discount brokerage. Given the almost insignificant cost to buy and sell (assuming buys and sells of more than $10,000), isn't a more active approach to trading a reasonable proposition? I use technicals to take the emotion out of the equation and would love to know what buy and sell discipline you would suggest. Having personal buy/sell rules might help investors feel better about making these decisions.
Thanks for all your support and advice over the years.
Read Answer Asked by Kyle on August 08, 2017
Q: I would like to hear your opinion on holding a cash position inside a stock portfolio (not counting any sort of life emergency fund). I read lots of company (Berkshire, Apple, etc) are building up big cash position to better pull the trigger when a market downturn occurs. If it can temporarily be good for a company, is it the same for an individual investor ?

If we take my current situation, I am 27, no debt with a decent job income which I put steadily towards stock investing. I currently hold a 5% cash position as a buffer between my income and my investing. Do you believe it’s enough ? Is my strategy of buying over time with my income without building a larger cash position my best option ? Would you consider building a larger cash position 8 years into a bull run as market timing ?

Thank you !
Read Answer Asked by Julien on August 08, 2017