Chris Hensen Bank of Nova Scotia BNS-T COMMENT Feb 06, 2015

Share have gone done, but actually rose in the second half of 2024. The new CEO is unknown, so he's TBD with the market. But so far, there's better performance in key metrics. It takes time to turn around a large company, like 2, 4 or even 10 years. But there's little competition among Canadian banks and you collect a nice dividend as you wait. He's happy to stay the course.

Liked it below $65, but recently sold up in the mid-$70s. Looking to add back in, but it has to be sub-$70. Risk/reward here is merely neutral, so it's a hold.

New CEO refocusing on domestic operations and on growing deposit base as a source of funding. Will take time, but doable. Attractive valuation, in lower range amongst peers. Nice dividend.

Better to not hold only 1 bank; also consider RY, which is her favourite.

New strategy under new CEO made sense in theory, but devil is in the details. Non-controlling position in KeyCorp was a head scratcher. Sold Colombian business, but still invested. Show-me story. 

In his opinion, the only quality banks in Canada are RY and NA. Own quality. New CEO has done an excellent job. Results were very good, but had to raise loan losses.

Nice run, now having a bit of a setback. But that's OK, that's how it goes with the banks. He doesn't mind buying at these levels.

Worst-performing Canadian bank over the last decade, and that's one of the reasons he likes it. New CEO has freedom to exit under-performing businesses, especially in Latin America. Proceeds are being reinvested in NA. Earnings poised to rise significantly next year as capital gets properly allocated. 

Not expecting outperformance. But yield is 6.11%, and with improvement in growth and other metrics should deliver at least a 10% annualized return for the next 5 years.

He sold ~40-50% of his position at $79-80. Now that it's dropped below $70, considering buying it back. Appealing dividend yield. Not sure correction is over yet because of credit cycle. May try to buy cheaper, but it's a reasonable entry point if you have a very long horizon.

Savvy new CEO's doing quite a decent job. Managing balance sheet well, but he's unsure about 15% acquisition of KeyCorp in US.

The question was on dollar cost averaging for BNS. It is a bank in transition and has had a lot of trouble in recent years. Pays a good dividend of 6%. In general Canadian banks always come back and can be traded.

Likes it. Their exposure in Latin America offers exposure to copper and other minerals. Management is shifting focus from Latin America to outside that area. He sees success here, and the stock is priced well now. The yield is generous and safe. This could be a core holding.