Paul TaylorIntact FinancialIFC.TOPAST TOP PICKJun 23, 2015

Laggard compared to peer lifecos. Finally turning around. Longer-term chart is beautiful. In general, lifecos benefit from higher interest rates. Chart's come back to longer-term attractive entry point. He'd buy here.

In his firm's Dividend Growers mandate. Biggest P&C in Canada, also specialty insurance internationally. Likes the valuation on this pullback. Meets or exceeds its goal to grow operating EPS by 10%, trading at 15-16x PE. Good combination of value and growth. Vertical M&A strategy in a fragmented space.

Technically it is not a name to buy since it is below its 200 day moving average and is trending lower. Its yield is 2.4%.

Great business, can reprice very easily (unlike lifecos). Hard to move the needle, as it's so big. Premier company, executes very well. Worth owning here.

Sold some at over $300. Growth rate started to change with commercial pricing. Still decent valuation. Trades 2.4x price to book, under its 3-year average. Reasonable PE at 14x 2027. Sees flat EPS growth from here.

Too early, but the P&C he'd buy would be DFY.

Market reaction likely in sympathy with the market, not necessarily company-specific. Yes, the numbers were quite robust. Looking forward, people are expecting the market to be a bit soft with increased price competition and, so, lower profitability.

Very well run. Generates more than half its premiums from Canadian marketplace, which makes it more defensive. Valuation quite reasonable. If your heart's set on it, an attractive entry price.

The Q3 report was decent, but not perfect. Investors reacted negatively to top-line growth not meeting forecasts, amplified by concerns over U.S. operations and muted outlook. We do not see any specific recent negative news to account for this year's decline. The stock is cheap and still has potential from current levels. We cannot direct personal trades but today we would view it as a HOLD, but buyable if it weakens further. 
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A good name in the space to buy on dips.

Largest P&C insurer in Canada -- auto, home, commercial, and specialty. Very lean operator. ROE is about 20%. Consolidator in a fragmented space. Makes acquisitions into larger and faster-growing markets such as US, UK, Ireland. Good path to high single-digit or low double-digit shareholder return, especially with the pullback. Yield is 1.88%.

Stretched valuation, trading over 3x book. Market's just not that interested in these large-cap, stable businesses. A lot of $$ has flowed away from safe havens and into growth and momentum. He hears that certain companies are trying to gain market share, so they're resetting their policy pricing (same dynamic that played out among the telcos).

P&C insurance tends to be more counter-cyclical. People tend to rush in when the rest of the market isn't flying. Now a very reasonable valuation. Hang-up for him is the growth outlook. Largest market share in Canada, so has to go to international markets (which are less certain). Very well run.

If you have your heart set, it's a good company.

Took some profits around $300, as the stock didn't owe him anything. Growth rate is starting to not work as well as the group or, for example, DFY. Last quarter was great, beat by 30%. Underwriting profitability has been wonderful. Trades ~14.5x with 4% growth rate.

For new $$, he'd rather go with the banks or with DFY.

Insurance companies have recently fallen or traded sideways for the past year or so, as expectations for rate cuts can impact their investment returns, and as these are more 'defensive' names, the market has been trading defense for growth over the past year. We continue to like IFC for a long-term hold, but until there is a risk rotation that takes place, we think IFC likely trades flat. Although, we still view it as one of our long-term, high-quality plays that can benefit when growth stocks stop working.
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We would be comfortable buying IFC today. 
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Likes the thesis of buying companies that you pay into via your monthly bills. Likes the business. Nice diversifier within the financials. Weather events are always risks, but company's done good job with that. Strong management. About 20% market share of the overall industry.  

Quite a bit of M&A. Trying to diversify in the digital space, as shown by recent home repair app acquisition. Valuation too high now. Would look at in a broad market pullback, and if yield moved up to over 2% (a function of the stock price going down).