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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: Since Canadian Reits have to distribute out their capital gains [and hence NOT reinvest in new properties] and with declining ROC components.....Is it time to re-invest in Canadian dividend stocks for those of us who depend on a rising stream of income.

Our reits face unfair competition from pension funds, which can reinvest capital gains tax free.

I have been in Cdn Reits since the late 1990's. Is it time to 'kiss then good bye'?

Thanks.

Paul
Read Answer Asked by PAUL on April 04, 2017
Q: With the trillions of dollars held offshore by US Corporations what would be the impact to European Banks when Trump approves the repatriation of these funds back to USA at a low tax rate. Would monies out of the USA be on deposit or held in government short term investments or US Treasuries. Would there be any negative impact to European Banks or local currencies ie Euro or pound etc when money is brought back to USA ? Bob
Read Answer Asked by bob on April 04, 2017
Q: Lester Asset Management is a small wealth management Company. They have made numerous appearances on BNN. For someone who wants a "No Fuss" Canadian portfolio of One or two ETFs like VCN & XHT and a small/medium fund like Lester Canadian Equity Fund, how would you rate the Fund & the company? Would you recommend another fund in the small/Medium class instead?


Thanks Team
Read Answer Asked by Warren on April 03, 2017
Q: Please do not deduct credit as minimal amount of time.2 part question on Ex dividend.Say the ex dividend is April 6 & I buy today which means settlement date of April 6. 1) Do I get the dividend? 2)Can I sell on April 6?.Appreciate U usual great services & views Congratulaions for your 5 small cap picks--PHO,ZCL.GPS,ITC & GSY--on NP,saturday & Van.Sun,monday.All had sharp increases today ranging from 2.47% to 9.2%
Read Answer Asked by Peter on April 03, 2017
Q: I've been wondering about growth vs. sector allocation. My portfolio is well diversified and has a growth bent due to my situation and not needing income for a number of years. The question is: when looking for growth, is it advisable to look for growth companies in all sectors? Or would you focus the growth more in certain sectors such as technology, and more stable companies in a sector such as financial? I need to add to healthcare, financials, telecom a bit but not sure if they are the best place to add small-cam growth, or look to find that in technology/industrial/discretionary. If in all categories what are best suggestions for small cap growth in health (other than gud), financials and telecom?
Read Answer Asked by Kel on April 03, 2017
Q: Having traded with the Active Trader Program with TD. which has ended, I am looking for a recommend on a new broker with a better trading platform than the new platform (TD-Advance Dashboard)which is deficient compared to ATP for Canada. I am happy with Think or Swim for my U.S. trading. Any suggestions. Platform is very important for active traders. thank you for what you do for subscribers.
Read Answer Asked by john on April 03, 2017
Q: I have taken back my portfolio from a fee based brokerage, and included were a number of preferred shares that I am considering selling so that I can concentrate on dividend growth stocks. These preferred's have increased significantly in the past year, and I think this may be a good time to sell, although some are still below their cost. I would keep any that you might think are worth retaining for their dividends.
The issues are Brookfield Office Property 5.15% Preferred P
Enbridge 4% rate reset Prefeered U
Fairfax Financial 4.75% Preferred M
Husky Energy 4.5% rate reset Preferred C
Industrial Alliance 4.3% Preferred G
Royal Bank 3.6% rate reset Preferred M

Thanks very much for your help on this specific opportunity and for your good advice on investments.
Read Answer Asked by doug on April 03, 2017
Q: Good morning 5i team!
I have a joint RESP account for my children who are 11 and 9.
At this time I have approx $85k in the account distributed as follows
$23 bond 2.10% mat June/2018
$22 k in VDY
$32K in VFV

I have a remaining $7k+ and wanting some growth, dividend with stability so I won't lose as it is a more short term time frame.
What do you think of the overall weighing of the portfolio and what would your suggestions stock wise be for the $7K.
Read Answer Asked by Sarah on April 03, 2017
Q: This is a follow up to a question I submitted a few weeks back that I should have been more specific about. I had asked about transferring our investments from the financial advisor we have been dealing with to a discount brokerage so that we can manage the funds ourselves and the relative pros/cons of transferring the investments "in kind" versus in cash. The transfer will involve a couple of RRSP accounts, a couple of LIRA accounts, a family RESP and a non-registered "in trust for" account. Any benefits/drawbacks of in kind versus cash transfer based on the type of account being transferred? We do plan to sell the bulk of our current holdings and start from scratch, but is that best done at the start or end of the transfer process - or does it really matter one way or the other? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Bruce on April 03, 2017
Q: Gentlemen,
Portfolio question on repeat selections,

In the 5i Portfolios there are some equities that are found in several of the portfolios, eg KXS, ENB, GUD, BNS etc.

Instead of repeat are there no other stocks in Canada that you can add that you like as much/more.

Surely another bank might add more variety on North American economy than the international as Scotia does. Is there no other healthcare opportunity than GUD who seems to be a little slow in deploying its capital?
Are there no other utilities that could diversify ENB? You always mention FTS very favorably.

Why repeat and not diversify with unique selections?

Thanks

Sheldon
Read Answer Asked by Sheldon on April 03, 2017
Q: Hello there,

Recently I had asked about your top 2 favourite growth ideas outside of your Balanced Equity Portfolio/Shopify and GUD and GSY were suggested along with OTEX (however you had mentioned this might give too much weighting towards technology). I presume GSY would still be one of your favourite ideas - but what would replace GUD as your second favourite idea, now that GUD is part of the BE Portfolio (which I have purchased along with CLS on Friday). Thanks so much!
Read Answer Asked by Michael on April 03, 2017
Q: Hello Peter, Ryan and 5i team. I am a long time holder of Mawer New Canada Fund. I purchased a substantial (for me) position in the fund for my RRSP many years ago before it closed to new investors. While I understand you are not fans of mutual funds in part due to the fees they charge - the fee on MAW107 is 1.4%) - this fund has consistently performed extremely well. This single fund currently makes up 14% of my self-managed RRSP portfolio, a 50/50 mix split between no-load low MER funds and individual North American small and large cap stocks. Is the 14% that this single fund occupies in my RRSP excessive in your opinions, or should I stay the course?
Read Answer Asked by Asher on April 03, 2017
Q: Hi Folks,

I am gradually building up a dividend producing portfolio. At this time I have positions in EIF, VET, BCE and AQN. I'm hoping to achieve a 4 - 5% dividend yield plus 4 - 5% appreciation. Do you think my return expectations are reasonable? What are your thoughts on my current holdings? Could you give me your 5 - 6 favorite dividend stocks for me to add at this time? Please deduct whatever number of credits my multi pronged question merits.

Thanks for the great service.

Dennis
Read Answer Asked by Dennis on April 03, 2017