Tricon Capital Group (TCN.TO)

(Top Pick Sep 10/14, Up 45.30%) A great company that ownes US single family homes. It was a play on the recovering US housing market and low interest rates. He sold it based on valuation because it had played itself out. He got what he needed and got out.

(All 3 picks are focused on benefiting from the US$.) Expects there is going to be a lot more growth in the Sunbelt stretching from Florida to Texas and down through California. This is a property developer in communities where there is much higher growth in employment. Population has been increasing faster than the US as a whole. Dividend yield of 2.12%.

US residential housing. It has done well. They have been able to raise money and grow their portfolio.Thinks gradually you will see continuous returns if they can keep financing themselves and acquiring more properties. It has a nice chart.

Getting into the luxury apartment area and have just raised $150 million. A very interesting name, because it offers significant US exposure. Have interesting exposure in single-family housing and apartments all through the US, but in particular in the growthy parts of the US. Very well-managed. Dividend yield of 2.1%.

A fantastic story and are building this from the ground up. They are buying land, selling it off and developing it. They own pieces of it and are doing a great job of monetizing the assets. There is a lot of institutional money that is looking for a place to go, and they are benefiting from this. Just announced they are starting to develop some high-end multi-residential buildings in the US as well as a couple in Toronto. Still a lot of room for this to grow.

(A Top Pick Sept 3/14. Up 54.99%.) He got into this because of the big leverage to the US housing market. At the time their big initiative was single-family housing rental and that has been a big winner. They have now evolved into luxury residence development. Still likes.

This has housing in the US. One of his favourites. Good cash flow that is very reasonable. Debt to equity is about 30%.

(Top Pick July 8/14, Up 61.97%) He exited out and is out of it. He got his money.

88% of this company’s real estate investments are in the US, where he thinks there is tremendous upside potential. Interest rates may click higher, but he doesn’t think that is necessarily going to be a bad thing. Most of their holdings are in the States that got hit the hardest during the financial crisis. As a way of participating in a rebound in the US real estate, this is not a bad way to do it. Dividend yield of 2.05%.

Likes US housing and this is the cleanest Canadian play. They own a diversified base of assets and also manage the assets on behalf of 3^rd parties. All of the assets are basically US homes. One of the best diverse plays on US housing in general. You have 2 plays. There is the management of the properties and the income flows, and you have the valuation of the housing itself on the ones they own, which is at the low end of the valuation range and is starting to move higher.

It continues to unfold in a profitable way. They are in about a dozen geographical regions. They buy and renovate a single family home and rent it out. The income yield is pretty attractive. If housing prices go up, then you get that upside from here.

(Top Pick Jun 13/14, Up 47.88%) A great way for Canadian investors to play into the US housing market. He still likes this name and thinks there is a lot of value in this company.

A great little Canadian company that has established an interesting position in the US housing market. Their business is largely predicated upon a few different areas in the US housing market. They are into the single-family rental market where they are acquiring homes and renting them. Also, have been involved in owning land and developing homes. A nice way for a Canadian to own a Canadian company in order to get exposure to the US housing market. Also, have a good size asset management business where they manage some money for pensions. Well-run company.

Likes this quite a bit. Pulled back most recently because of the rebound in the Cdn$ relative to the US$ over the last week or so. That seems to be reversing again. They own rental properties in the US, particularly in the South. Have been very good operators. Continue to add to your holdings as they have delivered some nice returns and he doesn’t think interest rates are going to go up anytime soon, so the housing market in the US should be stable. Also, feels the company will continue to benefit from the trend in the Cdn$.

(A Top Pick May 12/14. Up 40.43%.) They executed their strategy. Recently they were able to issue a bond against their properties, which basically lowered the cost of capital and freed up cash to do more acquisitions. Have also started buying lands and working with developers.