Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP.UN.TO)

Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP.UN-T) or Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T) for better growth? Financials is a group that he has been in favour of for some time, but prefers US to Canadian. If he had to buy one of these 2, he would probably buy this one. It is an interesting collection of assets, but might underperform global markets because of being a more defensive play. As a yield play, it is kind of attractive.

(A Top Pick May 4/16. Up 53%.) He liked this for their solid pipeline of growth, and still models a 20% EPS growth over the next couple of years. Just bumped their distribution by 11%. 67% payout ratio, so the dividend is good. It has reached his target price, so he would not be adding to it.

This is one where you have to trust management. They have done a great job and will continue to do so. Focused heavily on real estate. If interest rates flatten out, the appreciation of real estate probably finally comes to an end, especially in commercial real estate. Probably a decent investment. You get nice dividends and it will gradually grow.

Brookfield Asset (BAM.A-T) or Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP.UN-T)? Between the 2, her preference would be Brookfield Asset Management. It is much more diversified, plus it has interest in Brookfield Infrastructure. It gives you access to their fund management side, the private equity funds. It is also where senior management executives own their shares. Dividend yield of 4.5%.

This is a big weight in his fund. It has a great dividend yield. Management has done a fantastic job of investing assets, buying infrastructure assets around the world, and also trimming its portfolio when it is prudent to do so. There are loads of opportunities open to them. Because they are so well respected at what they do, they are finding that they can take on bigger and bigger projects, be the manager of them and find that sovereign wealth funds are actually joining them in these projects.

WSP-T vs. BIP.UN-T. He would buy BIP.UN-T today. They have a track of record making good acquisitions. The underlying business of WSP-T is not going to generate business that is as stable. You will have mid-single digit dividend growth with BIP.UN-T.

Near an all time high. She likes it because it can do well in both environments. We are getting late stages in the cycle. They can do well in poor economic times or good. They can monetize their assets. They will continue to do well no matter what the environment. (Analysts' target: $38.50).

(A Top Pick April 20/16. Up 45%.) He still likes this and still believes in the strategy and owns a good amount of it.

A great company. He models 25% AFFO growth this year and next. They are on 4 different continents and have a record backlog. Trading at 14.9X versus its 3-year average of around 16.3X. You could buy this now, but it is a bit of a yield proxy.

Part of the broader Brookfield family publicly traded entities. He has great respect for management. Big infrastructure, a secular growth area. We will see funds directed to this area from both Canada and the US. Feels there is better exposure through the parent, Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.A-T).

He doesn’t own any infrastructure stocks right now, but this one is a very good one. We are going to get some fiscal policy follow through from some of the governments, which has been a way overdue. Expects there will be some spending starting to take place in the US.

SNC-Lavalin (SNC-T) or Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP.UN-T)?Infrastructure stocks have been particularly strong lately, and a lot of that has come post the Trump victory and expectations that there is going to be more spending, etc. Things have gone up a little too fast, so he would be a little wary of stepping into these at this point in time. He prefers Aecon (ARE-T) whose valuation seems to be a little better in terms of what he can expect to earn over the next few years.

(A Top Pick Jan 28/16. Up 43%.) They’ve been very active in 2016. Have been buying toll roads, cell towers, as well as cell towers in Brazil. There was an 11% distribution increase in 2016, and probably should expect more in 2017. Pretty much the only infrastructure company you can buy in Canada, with such diversified assets. Not cheap, but there is a moat around that kind of business. The scarcity value of the assets make it attractive. He would look to buy this on pullbacks.

They are very good at what they do. They put a lot of money to work in Brazil because they found bargains there. The stock is not as cheap as it was, but they can sustain AFFO.

A good company, and in a good space. Pays a dividend. Doesn’t think you have anything to worry about.