CI Financial Corp (CIX.TO)

Sold it around $21. Customers are moving from Mutual Funds to ETFs. This is affecting them. The fact that the Canadian Market hasn’t done so well it also affected them as they are not as global in nature. (Analysts’ price target is $24.88)

Cut dividend and guidance as to when elevated outflows will stop. Payout ratio is fine at 30%. Buying back stock instead. He’s modelling that assets under management will stabilize back to 2017 levels. At 8.1x 2019 earnings, really cheap. Some performance issues. Worth holding if you own it. Write a put on it.

It's really struggled this year. A problem for all asset managers is an ongoing price war led by the banks. As a result, CI has had to cut fees, but also halved their dividend (last month). Also, their key funds are underperforming. The organic growth is gone. This is a value trap. Avoid.

It is a well run company that has done a phenomenal job. They are facing a lot of pressure in terms of fees and how to grow when they are already so big. They are in a bit of a no-man's land. They cut their dividend to buy back shares. It sends the wrong message to some investors.

Cheap stock. 6% dividend yield with a 55% payout ratio. They had poor performance. Management if guiding at more outflows. Regulatory concerns have proved to turn out better than many people thought. It is not going to do the heavy lifting for your portfolio but getting your dividend you will be OK.

It is a mutual fund company, one of the most successful. It suffered recently as have others with concerns of pressure from ETFs and regulation changes. The dividend is probably stable and safe.

He owns this personally. It's a portfolio manager, not insurance. They've stumbled a bit after buying some new assets. The Century deal is probably clearing. The yield is probably safe. But it's disappointed. It was $38 five years ago and been on a tobboggan run ever since.

This is another high-quality dividend-paying stock that has been hurt this year. They’ve had some net redemptions, but the selloff is overdone relative to that. From a valuation perspective, this is in the top 10% and it is a very stable stock. This is a great consolidator. However, active management has been declining relative to passive investment. There are no debt problems. He is happy to own it here but the negative price momentum stops him from recommending it for new money.

Great company. They have been the quality act in the funds business. He has a soft spot for them as they were the very first client when he started in business in 1993. ETFs are putting them under pressure. Fees are coming down. It is not a growth business anymore. Their writing is a little bit on the wall for them.

They are in a tough industry being in mutual funds and trying to transition out. Saw a big decline from 2015 until 2016 and now we’ve just moved sideways when they should have been moving up. We are in seasonal period and financial companies tends to get strong at this time of the year. From a seasonal perspective, look at April to be getting out if you’re in it. He doesn’t see an exciting opportunity here. If they break above the $30 level that might actually be a good thing. Technically it’s looking OK despite being flat for most of the year.

Sell this and buy Shaw Communications (SJR.B-T) or BCE (BCE-T)? He likes all 3. It really comes down to your portfolio and what else you own. These are 3 very different businesses. BCE is the most boring name and is the “Steady Eddie”. You’re getting a dividend of about 4.7%, and the stock is up about 6% this year giving you a 10% return. He would steer you more towards BCE.

(A Top Pick Sept 15/16. Down 22%.) *Short* He is still Short. The return represents the worst snapshot possible, but as he has held this for a long time, he is still profitable. Wealth management and mutual fund space in general has been a very tough spot. Feels the stock is still expensive.