Investment Q&A

Q: The Globe ran a piece on assessing 231 Canadian Corporate Boards of Directors according to 35 criteria. A number of 5i portfolio companies such as SJ, WPK, DHX, ENGH, CSU, KXS, ATD, and PBH were in the bottom ranked third of the list, do you have any comment about that assessment? The way the criteria are structured, it would be easier for larger companies to properly diversify their Boards and get a higher ranking, but I was quite surprised to see names like GWO, OCX and FFH quite close to the bottom. A glaring stat is that only 12% of Board members are women.

Q: I noticed that when I tried to find the stock 'Capital One' that it came up under the 'Symbol' search button. If your system accepts 'Symbols' and 'Stock Names' perhaps you can change it to 'Symbol/Company'.

Cheers,
Graham

Q: Could analysts at RBC sold shares and then issue a downgrade, shake out the small investors since most trades are small, and then buy back the shares? In any case who is buying those shares today? Maybe we should not panic here. Thank you for your comment.

Q: There are a few Multi-Asset ETF available in USA such as DWIN, PCEF, IYLD, CVY, and GYLD. The Beta of those funds is about 0.50. Do you recommend any of them? Are there any Multi-Asset ETFs that are based in Canada?

Q: Hello. Where can I find Dividend Growth metrics for Canadian companies? Is that information available at no cost on the internet? I've searched but no luck so far. Thanks. I appreciate your help or input from other members.

Q: HI guys .if I hold US stocks in my TFSA ; do I have to pay US tax's on any profits or is it exempt like my RRSP or rif's as always Thank you GARY

Q: Good afternoon,

My question pertains to holding US equities in various accounts. Can you please validate or refute the following:

Cash account: US dividends are taxed as interest-50%, and a 15% withholding tax is applied which can be redeemed during tax season.

RRSP: US equities are supposed to be capital gains and divends tax free. However, I have noticed that some equities, such as limited partnerships have their dividend taxed at 38% with an additional 15 % non redeemable withholding tax. Can you confirm this, and are their any other types of US equities that are Exempt from RRSP tax sheltering?

I have also been told that US equity ETFs that are listed in the US are also have their dividends taxed. Is this true? And would this be the same for US equity ETFs that are listed in Canada (ex: those listed on black rock Canada website )?

Thank you for bringing some clarity to the issue. Any other tips you may have would be well appreciated.

Cheers,

KR

Q: From what I am reading/watching there's a strong possibility that Italians will vote 'no' on December 4th.

If this is the case do you agree that financial turmoil will follow?

Can you recommend a way to short Italy, in particular Italian banks? Preferably on the TSX. Thanks!

Q: Hi 5I team, please rank Tck.b, Hbm, Mpv and Fm risk and reward? Thank You.

Q: Now that there are 11 sectors in the Toronto TSX what would be your Sector allocations for a Conservative dividend and some growth oriented 45 year old investor.
Thank you.... Paul K.

Q: Peter and Ryan, appreciate all that you do both with this service and with your blogs and bnn segments.

My question/comment is valuation based. I began investing a few years ago and was taught/told and preached how important valuation plays as a factor in stock picking. A few years later said value/cheap stocks I got in generally underperformed while all the higher valued companies continue to appreciate. Just this past summer I held off on such stocks with strong fundamentals such as BIP.UN, CSU, NVDA, RBA and MTY because of "expensive" valuations only to continue to watch them go higher as I've seen this story play out time and time again since I began investing. So now I concentrate on fundamentals and technicals for confirmation and not so much valuations. I know you guys don't mind paying up for quality and growth generally so just wanting your thoughts and comments on the matter. Thanks.

Q: I am considering leaving my current financial advisor and going to a self directed rrsp Can you provide me with the steps i would need to take or provide me with a web site where i would be able to obtain this information thks marcel

Q: Comment on the odd lot fill for a board lot order: the same thing happened to me on a thinly traded US stock and I protested enough that the broker offered to charge just one commission instead of multiple to fill the order. One more reason to trade just US very liquid stocks and TSX stocks where this isn't a problem.

Q: I have a $700,000 portfolio 50/50 including a mix of ETF's and stocks - blue chip value /dividend. I also have $60,000 in a GIC ladder with Oaken many at 2.5%-2.75% in TFSA accounts. There is $200,000 in a cash account, $50,000 with Oaken at 1.75%. I am 70.
I am expecting an inheritance of $300,000. Should I put this in more GIC's with Home Bank and Oaken or start a new series with your Income Portfolio or is there another suggestion?

Q: Yesterday I put in a limited price buy for 100 shares of the ETF PEJ. It was filled with one individual stock. When I brought this to the attention of ScotiaItrade using their call centre I was browbeat by the initial answering person and then her supervisor. I did not know what the acronym AON meant and since I did not use the button on the order it was my fault I got a fill of one share. I have been using a discount broker for 19 years, am a fairly active trader and have never encountered this situation. I was told by the supervisor that board lots only apply to the TSX and not the US Markets. I would like to ask you if that is true and I will govern myself accordingly in future. In passing it took 26 minutes or so to resolve this issue. Now to wait till Friday to order 99 shares using AON.

Q: Hi 5I team, your 3 picks in the material sector and why ? Thanks always.

Q: Hello 5i team,
Recently a member asked about core american stocks to hold and you mentionned, amongst others, GE and JNJ, I believe.

I was wondering what would the best mix of American stocks be for a buy and hold investor who has a portfolio of about 30 stocks total.

Here are the ones I hold currently and my question is whether they make a good core holding?

Also, i plan to add JNJ and GE to this mix. Being large cap stocks, is there much advantage in buying these over times in several slices, or better to buy a full complement right away?

Here are the ones I hold, which I mentionned:
3M
Apple
Conagra foods
Ibm
Procter and Gamble
Pepsi
thanks once again for the great service!

Q: I was listening to David Burrows on BN last night, he believes the next 2 years could be quite good in some investment areas and not in others. Because of what he was suggetsing, that utilities, REIT's and Telco may be in the not so good area, I was thinking of selling my Telus, Artis and Dream Industrial.
I would like to rotate those funds into, financials, materials, technology and industrials in Canada in midsize companies. I was wondering if you might be able to suggest some companies with good growth potential that pay dividends in those areas.
If I make the change my core would start with Scotiabank, Royal bank, IPL and PPL, and a little bit of ECN.

Q: Thank you, Alphonse for your question. It was the CRA that I wanted to know about. I wanted to know whether I should eliminate my losses before the federalistas suddenly change the way losses are handled. Is that a concern?

Q: Looking forward to seeing Ryan on Market Call @ 10am PT.so have cancelled my previous appointment