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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: We’ve moved 60% of our cash position back into stocks which either had at least a B+ from you, or which you spoke highly of. After the selloff on 11 June we’re down overall about 1%. Not too bad but we’re wondering about how solid this portfolio is for more bumps to come. All are for holds of at least 2 years before taking some gains. Question - do you see any red flags before we invest more in these positions? Would you consider reducing any sectors and increasing others? If so, what would you drop and what replacement options would you consider? Presently, no sector exceeds 25% and most positions could be topped up. Previously, we had more dividend income. We are mid-sixties and the pension covers about half of our expenses. Many thanks in advance for your trusted views.
Cash - 40.2%
Telcoms (4.3%) - BCE 2.3%, T 2.0%
Cons Def - COST 2.6%
Energy – ENB 2.7%
Fin Svcs (21.9%) - BNS 3.3%, BAM.A 4.5%, GSY 0.8%, RY 0.8%, SLF 3.0%, V 3.4%, JPM 3.0%, MCO 3.1%
Health - MDT 2.8%
Ind (4%) – CNR 0.9%, RTX 3.1%
Tech (15.1%) - KXS 1.8%, SHOP 1.7%, CRWD 2.2%, DOCU 3.4%, MSFT 3.4%, CRM 2.6%
Util (6.5%) – AQN 1.6%, BEP.UN 2.2%, CU 2.7%
Read Answer Asked by TOM on June 15, 2020
Q: Hi General investing question. I have both ETF and actual stocks that are in the ETF. Less than 5 years away from retirement so still looking to build my portfolio. What's your opinion on holding ETF to accumulate income or buy the actual dividend stock and get both income and (hopefully!) growth? Thanks guys
Read Answer Asked by Kenneth on June 15, 2020
Q: I owned shares in Enercare which was taken over by Brookfield. I still hold the units that were exchanged for the shares. BROOKFIELD INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS EXCHANGE LP EXCHNGBLE LP UNITS.
If I exchange it will trigger a capital gain. In the meantime, the dividends are still being paid.
Is there any downside to keeping these units and not exchanging them?
Read Answer Asked by Ron on June 15, 2020
Q: If I had put $100,000 into RY 20 years ago with all dividends reinvested, can you tell me what it would be worth today?

This is not a rhetorical question. I recently came to realize that a close friend put $100,000 RRSP into RY in 1989 as he has now retired from there. As he is an unsophisticated investor, he just left it there. But as there have been withdrawals over the years, it is difficult to determine the actual growth. It is now worth a tidy little sum. This is, in my estimation, a significant argument for a buy and hold strategy although most would also argue for more diversification.


Read Answer Asked by Fred on June 15, 2020
Q: I know this is tough to answer but are there any companies out there you see today that could potentially duplicate the great returns of the SHOP,CSU,NFLX, LULU etc.. either in US or Canada? thank you
Read Answer Asked by Kolbi on June 15, 2020
Q: I hope you are all well, 5i has become a blessing for us,after big loss in March most of us have recovered from your advice.You have strongly suggested KXS,and some other stocks and they have performed very very well,can not thank you enough.
Is there or are there some stocks and sectors you can recommend (I know they might not be like KXS ).
Read Answer Asked by Nizar on June 15, 2020
Q: Imagine if on the day that Meng Wanzhou of Huawei is extradited to the US , China declares Apple products a national security threat and bans them. Just saying.
Derek
Read Answer Asked by Derek on June 15, 2020
Q: These five stocks make up my small cap portfolio that is by design fairly concentrated and aggressive. I recently added QST on the significant pull back. I’m thinking that it can weather the down turn (great balance sheet) and will likely be a 2x bagger minimum when things turn around. Are there any other small cap names like it, that have been hammered, will survive, and that you could see moving significantly in the next 12-24 months? Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Scott on June 15, 2020
Q: Afternoon 5i,

I am wondering for a longterm hold in an RESP.
Without worrying about sector as it's well diversified mostly through index etf's.
What would your top canadian small cap picks be?
That you would trust with the greatest growth, security and longevity.

As always thanks for the valuable insight.
Read Answer Asked by AJ on June 15, 2020
Q: As part of my shift from managed products to ETFs I need to top up all or a combination of ve, spy and xef. This will be a rather large transaction so I am leaning towards 25% of the amount in each ETF and keeping 25% in cash counting on covid related market dips over the next few months.
Read Answer Asked by Tom on June 15, 2020
Q: I have some shares of Twin Butte (TBE) remaining in an RRSP. I see records of occasional transactions via my brokers interface, ie 18,541shares @ $0.01 on June 11 and other periodic transactions most months over the last year or so. What are these transactions?
Is there any reason to hang on to these shares? Is there any potential problems with retaining them?
Read Answer Asked by Dano on June 15, 2020