Investment Q&A

Q: Hi there,

I have a question regarding allocation and trimming. In the beginning of the year I had rebalanced my portfolio and started with ~4% weighting in 25 names spread over the Balanced Equity portfolio. Many of the names have performed well and have been growing nicely since. A the same time I have been adding new funds (via work bonus, tax refund, monthly contributions etc) to my portfolio. In many cases this has taken the ~4% starting position lower as the overall total portfolio amount has increased. I know you suggest being prudent and trimming names that have done well, however as I continuously add money to my portfolio, the names that have done well are not necessarily increasing in overall portfolio weight due to new funds being added. As new money enters in my portfolio I have been adding new names (versus adding to the starting 25 positions - my portfolio is currently about 28 names). In this situation, how would you recommend trimming the winners that have gone up over the last 4 months?

Thanks!

Q: I recently subscribed to 5i, the ETF update and the Canadian Money Saver Magazine. I have been learning lots and you guys do great work!

I just finished university and am looking towards building my first portfolio. I have been comparing the various models portfolios from 5iResearch, the Canadian Money Saver Magazine Model ETF portfolio, and Couch Potato. I have an understanding about the goals and strategy behind all the model portfolios except for the CMS Model ETF portfolio. Similar to how you break down the model portfolios on 5i, can you provide an overview of what the CMS model ETF portfolio investment strategy, investment suitability/risk tolerance, and targeted annualized returns are.

Thanks for the great service you provide! Look forward to being a long time member!

Q: Is there a way to easily find free cash flow? What metrics do you like to focus on ?

Q: A comment on your response to Ken today on defining a half/full position.You totally confused me with the short answer sent him. This link, perhaps, explains thing s more precisely:
https://seekingalpha.com/article/3361795-what-makes-a-full-position-or-half-position-in-a-dividend-growth-portfolio

Q: Peter; In your experience are there any comparable times , I.e. Nixon, as to what the market does during an impeachment? Thanks. Rod

Q: Could you please state your latest sector allocations? Thanks to your recommendations,my tech.allocation has grown to 28% of my portfolio.

Q: I have seen large gains evaporate. Most of us operate on gut feeling or when pain of loosing becomes unbearable.

Please give your criteria to sell. Are these criteria available to individual investors. Thanks.

Q: Just an observation, wouldn't be better if (at least for the companies covered, and maybe for the ones mostly asked by members) when results are available or something unusual happens to a company to provide an overview of the situation? I think this will cut on the clutter and having many people asking about the same thing and probably more important save you time and for us to have timely information.

Publish at your discretion.

Thanks
M

Q: Many comments are made about diversifying outside Canada; Europe is thought to have good potential. I would like to take a look at it and thought to go with an ETF. But I am very uneasy about "Brexit" and every fund I look at has a 20 % or more weighting in Britain. Can you suggest an ETF or other suitable product that has no British exposure? Thanks for your help. BTW, first time question for me...I quite enjoy your work. Leonard

Q: An interesting comment I read on CNBC from Warren Buffet when he was asked why he invested in IBM instead of Amazon or Google he said:``in one word stupidity``. Made me feel better about my own !

Q: Hello,
I have some cash that I would like to invest but my investment horizon is limited to 2 or 3 years for this portion of my portfolio (planning to buy a house and would like to inject a sizeable cashdown). What would you recommand as an investment. Thank you.

Q: A couple of times I have asked a question, NOT changed the option to 'private' but the answer has come back as 'private'

fwiw

Q: My current portfolio is concentrated on 4 sectors of; Technology,Materials,Consumer/non-cyclical,and Industrial,total of 12 stocks mostly of your Balanced Portfolio.So far they are doing very well.
To balance my portfolio I want to add 7 new sectors : Real Estate,Financial,Healthcare, Energy,Utilities,Consumers Cyclical and Telecommunication,for holding term 2 to 3 years.

Please provide me with your current favorable choice of stocks for each of my 7 new sectors to buy now.
I prefer CAD stocks but I have no problem with some of US choices.

Thanks Andrew

Q: Hello,
Is it possible to use a portion of my RRSP or LIRA to invest in an apartment building ? How complicated is it in terms of forms to fill and accounting. Would the net rental income remain tax free in a segregated account ? Thank you for your help and please fill free to include website with relevant information in your answer if you know any. Thank you.

Q: If a Canadian who has lived in the U.S. for the last 10 years moves back to Canada, and wants to start a TFSA, what would his contribution limit be.

Q: I appreciate your suggestion for a low monthly fee (or free) stock tracking program. I was satisfied with Yahoo Finance but the changes they made to their program last week make it no longer functional. I did my export my data from Yahoo to Google Finance but it is somewhat limiting.
Thank you for reply.

Q: Hello Peter, Ryan et al:

A while ago you had shared your experience after reviewing portfolios for the members. I vaguely recall you talking about sector allocation , asset allocation and such.
Is the magical number of 100 k per year income/withdrawal ( that seems to the number most articles seem to suggest that one needs to retire comfortably) realistic in the current climate? To me it looks as though one needs enormous amount of money to generate this kind of steady stream of money.

What type of portfolios you suggest to would be seniors to generate this kind of steady stream with a lot less money!
I know you can only give broad stroke suggestions.

A suggestion: You can also through your blog give your recent experience after reviewing members' portfolios, of course masking the identity etc., That will be useful.
Thanks in advance.

Q: I have less than 2% cash in the U.S. dollar portion of my RRSP and would appreciate an idea or two for something speculative with a reasonable expectation (if that's possible) of success.
Thank you

Q: I must convert my RRSP to a RRIF this year. I want to add about 10 good company stocks that have 1,3,5&10 year compounded returns > 10% to boost the overall annual performance. I have identified the companies and now I want to pick the least volatile ones. I have data regarding beta, return on equity and debt to equity. I'm inclined to do my selection based on the lowest beta, highest ROE and lowest debt to equity in that order. Does this seem effective to accomplish my goal and/or can you suggest a more effective selection process? Thank you.

Q: I'm looking at very long term investing. I like the buffet/jarislowsky style. I'm thinking years if not decades. If you had to pick 4-5 stocks that should be in a portfolio looking that far ahead, what would they be? I'm looking for strong management, good growth and consistent dividend growth in sectors/businesses that have very low probability of becoming obsolete. I understand that these are going to be big short term growth stocks, just a good foundation for a portfolio to be supplemented with some higher income and more speculative short term growth stocks.