What are your top 5 holdings?

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tedster
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by tedster »

I was thinking along the same lines. Get a portfolio of about 20 dividend (or distribution) paying stocks and live off them. Certainly I have run into a few high distribution ITs (or their ilk) which were well over 12% until their stock value rose. :D Any suggestions for a portfolio like this?

Safe assets like bonds are just as well stuck under the mattress.
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by EmperorCoder »

As a percentage of my net worth :

HBNC 33%
OZRK 19%
ANCX 16%
MA 11%
WFC 6%

Yes, I like US financials :thumbsup:
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by StuBee »

Interesting thread...

As a % of total portfolio (which includes cash)

ENB (10%). I sold around 1/3 of my position in February (at 37$...). So far, my attempts to bring this to a "reasonable" percentage have failed... (you can"t say that I didn't try :D )
RY (8.7%)
BCE (6.8%)
PWF (4.7%)
EFA (3.8%)

All other equity holdings are less than 3.3% of total portfolio.
I have a capital gain of 450% on ENB, 305% on RY and 80% on BCE. These three "winners" are the main reason why I can "boast" of a total portfolio 16 year CAGR (capital and income) of 6.6%.
I will be damned before I ever downsize ENB again :evil:
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by scomac »

StuBee wrote: I will be damned before I ever downsize ENB again :evil:
Obviously Nortel didn't visit you...

Greed's a bitch isn't it? :twisted:
"On what principle is it, that when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but deterioration before us?"
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Pickles
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by Pickles »

scomac wrote:
StuBee wrote: I will be damned before I ever downsize ENB again :evil:
Obviously Nortel didn't visit you...

Greed's a bitch isn't it? :twisted:
I sympathize with Stubee on this one. I reduced my holdings in ENB by 50% -- last May at $62.50 just before the split and again in December at $37. The first time I was taking some gain off the table but the second time I sold only because I (and others) considered ENB to be over-valued. It is more than a bit annoying to see ENB go up to the $41 range and to have analysts upgrade it further in the past week.

I guess my question to you, scomac, is: "Do you think the analysts are wrong? Did you, me and others here on the FWF err in our judgement?"

For me, the vexing part is paying tax on a gain that may not have needed to be crystallized, not losing the further gain ENB made. I'm not sure Stubee and me are greedy, just wondering if we were wrong to pull the plug and take a significant tax hit, perhaps for nothing.
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by Shakespeare »

Selling a portion of a holding that is deemed too large is risk control. Further gains are irrelevant to that goal.
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by 2 yen »

As regulars will know, I've also struggled with this happy problem. I think a large part of not acting when a holding gets too high is just basic investing psychology - buy and sell with the herd. It's hard to break out of this, even for the most discipined people. I can say that if I were to go overweight in one stock, ENB would probably be it. If I combine ENB and ENF, both of which I own, the total would probably come in at 8% of the portfolio. :|
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by ockham »

Shakespeare wrote:Selling a portion of a holding that is deemed too large is risk control. Further gains are irrelevant to that goal.
+1
I reduced my ENB position by ~15% in January at ~$37.50. The decision to reduce was unrelated to any view that ENB had become overvalued. I had no such view. It was based solely on its having become overweight in my portfolio. I've had no regrets or second thoughts about my decision, even as I've watched ENB move north of $41.
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by Pickles »

ockham wrote:
Shakespeare wrote:Selling a portion of a holding that is deemed too large is risk control. Further gains are irrelevant to that goal.
+1
I reduced my ENB position by ~15% in January at ~$37.50. The decision to reduce was unrelated to any view that ENB had become overvalued. I had no such view. It was based solely on its having become overweight in my portfolio. I've had no regrets or second thoughts about my decision, even as I've watched ENB move north of $41.
Ah, slightly different from me. I lived with the risk of an overweight ENB holding until I became convinced that the stock had become overvalued and might fall. I've replaced the income from ENB with other dividend stocks and, since I kept half the stock, I'm still enjoying some of the gain. IMHO, being overweight (slightly) in a solid performer isn't the worst risk to take.

The talk on the Enbridge thread was about its declining value, which was the impetus for selling the second batch of shares in December. Hence my question, do those who thought Enbridge overvalued last fall still maintain that view?
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by scomac »

Pickles wrote:
I guess my question to you, scomac, is: "Do you think the analysts are wrong? Did you, me and others here on the FWF err in our judgement?"

For me, the vexing part is paying tax on a gain that may not have needed to be crystallized, not losing the further gain ENB made. I'm not sure Stubee and me are greedy, just wondering if we were wrong to pull the plug and take a significant tax hit, perhaps for nothing.
Shakespeare wrote:Selling a portion of a holding that is deemed too large is risk control. Further gains are irrelevant to that goal.
Shakes quote pretty well says it all.

AFAIC, I didn't err in my judgement in selling out of ENB completely. I still maintain that it is significantly over-valued. What the market thinks is largely inconsequential.

Everybody needs to have a visit from a Nortel type situation. I wouldn't sell those many years ago because the tax liability was massive. There was zero incentive, especially when ALL to analysts had it pegged to continue on its inevitable march forward as the New Economy took hold globally.

I learned two valuable things from that experience:
1) Never let the tax tail wag the investment dog. Having a taxable gain is not a problem. You're looking at the question from the wrong point-of-view.
2) Sell-side analysts don't have any skin in the game. You have to make decisions based on your own criteria; you can't depend on their analysis because ultimately you bear the full freight of the outcome.
"On what principle is it, that when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but deterioration before us?"
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

I was one of the "others here on FWF" who questioned the valuation of ENB based on fundamental metrics. I haven't revisited the analysis, for AFAIK not much has changed with ENB.

Count me in the camp agreeing with Shakespeare's comment and also scomac's "What the market thinks is largely inconsequential."

With all investments, the questions that I ask myself are:
1) does the investment fit with the policies that I've set in my Investment Policy Statement? This includes % of portfolio metrics. FWIW, I have tax efficiency goals in mind, but once again agree with scomac "Never let the tax tail wag the investment dog. Having a taxable gain is not a problem. You're looking at the question from the wrong point-of-view." (my bold)
2) does the investment meet my valuation criteria? After reading sell-side analyst reports to gain an understanding of the business, I perform my own valuation analysis and form my own opinion of whether the company meets the metrics I require to invest. I take only a cursory glance at the targets from the sell-side analyst reports -- that part of their reports is essentially meaningless to me.
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by AltaRed »

Ditto to the comments by Shakes and Scomac. No regrets for trimming my position in ENB. It's metrics are still in overdrive and it is strictly a case of risk management. I would do the same thing knowing what I know today. ENB could have a major crisis later this morning with a major pipe explosion killing hundreds, sinking their stock for a long time.

Remember BP? Remember when MFC was the golden boy in the insurance industry with cheerleaders from coast to coast? How did many investors, including myself, do with a drop from about $36 to $12? You do not know what you do not know.

Some investors are of the 10 stock type with perhaps 10% in each holding with maybe a cap at 15%. Others believe in a 20 stock portfolio with 5% in each holding with maybe a cap at 7-8%. Why would you violate your investment philosophy?
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by StuBee »

When it comes to my trimming by 1/3 of my position in ENB in February, I have mixed feelings. I remain convinced that it was the right thing to do for at the time, it represented close to 15% of total portfolio. But, when I look at what I replaced it with (SAP, ESI and SNC :( ) I am far from impressed. Clearly, I would have been better off simply staying the course with ENB. (To add insult to injury, I have a whopping tax bill that will be due next April!).

However, with the purchase of Saputo, Ensign and SNC I have diversified and improved the quality of my income stream as well as multiplied the absolute number of my Canadian dividend payers. My primary goal is sustainable inflation beating income growth. For the sustainable part, it is important to avoid putting too many eggs in one basket. Therefore, i remain at peace with my decision.
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Pickles
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by Pickles »

Thanks, all, for your responses. And now, returning to the thread's topic, my top 5 holdings (plus 2)* are:

BNS (about 2.2% of total investments -- 8%+ of stock portfolio)
BCE (ditto)

CNR (about 1.7% of total investments, 6.3% of stock portfolio)
EMA (ditto)

FTS (1.5% of total, 5.6% of stocks)
TRP (ditto)
NS bond maturing 2035 (1.6% of total)

* the bottom 3 stocks in my portfolio change places from time to time so all of these stocks (plus the bond) have been in my top five for at least a few weeks in 2012.
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by BRIAN5000 »

Top 10 Canadian Equity only
1 BCE.TO 6.7%
2 ENB.TO 6.3%
3 BMO.TO 6.3%
4 TRP.TO 6.2%
5 BNS.TO 6.2%
6 EMA.TO 6.2%
7 T.TO 6.1%
8 RY.TO 6.0%
9 NA.TO 6.0%
10 FTS.TO 5.8%


What percentage in the Top 10 is to high?
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by 2 yen »

BRIAN5000 wrote: 20 Apr 2022 19:31 Top 10 Canadian Equity only
1 BCE.TO 6.7%
2 ENB.TO 6.3%
3 BMO.TO 6.3%
4 TRP.TO 6.2%
5 BNS.TO 6.2%
6 EMA.TO 6.2%
7 T.TO 6.1%
8 RY.TO 6.0%
9 NA.TO 6.0%
10 FTS.TO 5.8%


What percentage in the Top 10 is to high?
The thing about all these stocks is that they are as boring as ditch water. Which means if the percentage of one creeps a bit high it doesn't really matter. I own all these plus 12 more in a similar vein and sleep very well at night. The one thing I would caution against is getting too high in one particular sector other than utilities. I.e. maybe try to keep financials at a total of 20% or so. Looking at this, I think you should just forget about it and check back in 6 months. Best of luck.

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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by nile »

CNQ 13.45
BCE. 11.45
MFC 10.85
T. 10.6
POW. 10
PPL. 9.7
ENB. 9.53
TD. 9.3
BNS. 7.52
CPX. 6.5
AQN. 6.1
CM. 4.6
ETHY. 4.2.
GWO. 3.15
TRP. 1.3
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by poedin »

Retired 22 years. In terms of equities ...
Canadian equities 56.3%, holdings: VCE 43.8, TDB900 9.1, MAW104/105 3.4
Foreign 43.7%: VXC 35.5, MAW104/105 8.2
Started consolidating some 20+ years ago from a stable of PHN mutual funds, TD-Investor series ->TD-e index funds, Mawer mutual funds, and some individual stocks to current equity holdings (Vanguard x2, TD Cndn Index, and Mawer Tax Effective & Balanced Funds) with all taxable distributions taken as cash towards household expenses.
Keeping it relatively simple with no rebalancing. Good enough and easier to manage going forward for all concerned.

The current availability of asset allocation ETFs would be the way to go (large unrealized taxable capital gains moderating further consolidation, nice 'problem' to have :wink:).
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

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2 yen wrote: 20 Apr 2022 20:40
BRIAN5000 wrote: 20 Apr 2022 19:31
The thing about all these stocks is that they are as boring as ditch water. Which means if the percentage of one creeps a bit high it doesn't really matter. I own all these plus 12 more in a similar vein and sleep very well at night. The one thing I would caution against is getting too high in one particular sector other than utilities. I.e. maybe try to keep financials at a total of 20% or so. Looking at this, I think you should just forget about it and check back in 6 months. Best of luck.

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Thanks, I'm a bit over 20% but ok with that.
target 2022.png
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by Wallace »

Apple 29%
Enbridge 9%
Toronto Dominion 9%
Royal Bank 8.5%
TC Energy Corp 8%

I must say I wonder about Apple being such a large part of my investments, but just what do you do with a 13-bagger that is in a taxable account? It just keeps growing. I do sell shares to finance Florida in the winter but it just doesn't seem to bring it down. Life is just full of problems! :D
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by brady »

My top 6
are : VTI 10% , Fang 6%, ERS 5%, ENB.PR-D 5% , NTR 4% and Tech B 4%.
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by Descartes »

2 yen wrote: 20 Apr 2022 20:40 The thing about all these stocks is that they are as boring as ditch water...
Indeed, there are a number of us in the ditch water brigade.
Still.. can't help thinking wistfully though: "why didn't I take a reckless, stupid flyer on AAPL back in the day?" :)
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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by 2 yen »

Descartes wrote: 21 Apr 2022 16:32
2 yen wrote: 20 Apr 2022 20:40 The thing about all these stocks is that they are as boring as ditch water...
Indeed, there are a number of us in the ditch water brigade.
Still.. can't help thinking wistfully though: "why didn't I take a reckless, stupid flyer on AAPL back in the day?" :)
Water under the bridge, I say.

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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by 2 yen »

BRIAN5000 wrote: 21 Apr 2022 15:05
2 yen wrote: 20 Apr 2022 20:40
BRIAN5000 wrote: 20 Apr 2022 19:31
The thing about all these stocks is that they are as boring as ditch water. Which means if the percentage of one creeps a bit high it doesn't really matter. I own all these plus 12 more in a similar vein and sleep very well at night. The one thing I would caution against is getting too high in one particular sector other than utilities. I.e. maybe try to keep financials at a total of 20% or so. Looking at this, I think you should just forget about it and check back in 6 months. Best of luck.

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Thanks, I'm a bit over 20% but ok with that.
target 2022.png
I wouldn't sweat 22%. You're good.

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Re: What are your top 5 holdings?

Post by BRIAN5000 »

I wouldn't sweat 22%. You're good
Sweating more about top 10 percent. If you have 5% in each stock of your top 10 that puts you at 50% right away. Seems over concentrated.
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