New Milestone and New Stock Purchase

New Milestone 

Hey guys! I finally reached a new milestone. My investment portfolio is now worth over $70,000. This is just an insane number. I never had so much money in my life. When I first started investing in 2010, I had only a $1,000 as my start-up capital. Back then I did not contribute to my portfolio on regular basis. I would put some money here and there and there was a few years when I did not put any money at all.

In 2015 I decided to get serious about investing and contribute on monthly basis. This is when my portfolio started to grow. I was adding money and reinvesting dividends every month. In four years my portfolio grew from $20,000 to $70,000. I will continue to contribute every month for as long as my financial situation allows me.




Stock Purchase - TD Bank (TSE:TD)
On March 21, 2019 I purchased 15 shares of TD Bank for $74.94 per share. TD is the second biggest bank in Canada, serving over 10 million customers through more than 1,100 branches. This purchase adds $44.40 to my yearly dividends and I’m locking in 3.9% yield. Not the highest dividend yield, but TD Bank has the highest dividend growth rate compared to other banks like RY and BNS.

Top reasons why I picked TD over other Banks:

• Highest Dividend Growth Rate – 11.48% for the last 5 years
• Highest Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) – 7.4%
• US exposure
• I personally do business with TD

My Favorite Banks
TD is not the only bank that I like. I also like Royal Bank because it’s biggest bank in Canada. But since I already have Royal Bank in my portfolio, I decided to start a new position in TD. Also, the TD’s ex-dividend date is sooner than RY, so it makes more sense to buy TD this month and RY next month.

How About BNS?
Bank of Nova Scotia or Scotiabank is the third biggest bank in Canada and the most international Canadian bank. BNS is very favored by investors because it has a higher dividend yield. That’s all good. I’m just not excited about Mexico and Latin America exposure. I prefer US exposure of TD Bank instead. BNS has the lowest dividend growth rate among TD and RY. That doesn’t mean that I will never own BNS. Things always change. For the time being, I want to grow my RY and TD positions before investing in BNS.



Next Purchase
I’m thinking to add Royal Bank next month as it will perfectly align with ex-dividend date.



Your Thoughts
That's it for today's update! Let me know what you think of TD and would you buy it for the long-run. Also, let me know what is your favorite bank and why? Take care!

The Cheapest REIT in Canada

At the moment, Morguard REIT (MRT.UN.TO) is the cheapest REIT in Canada. The stock is currently trading at 52% discount to its book value. The current stock price sits at $12.45, but according to their book value calculation, the company is worth $26 per share. Now, it doesn’t mean that you should buy the stock at 12.45 and expect the stock to jump to 26. There must be a reason why this REIT is discounted so much and today I decided to dig in and see what’s going on.


About Morguard
Morguard Real Estate Investment Trust is a closed-end trust listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol MRT.UN. The Trust had total real estate assets of $3.0 billion as at December 31, 2018.

The mandate of the Trust is to accumulate a Canadian portfolio of high-quality real estate assets – then actively manage the portfolio to generate steady, dependable returns for Unitholders, through a stable and increasing cash flow. This offers the potential for long-term capital appreciation.




As you can see on the graph above, the company is invested in three asset types: Retail, Office, and Industrial. Their properties are spread out across six Canadian provinces. It’s a good strategy to be diversified across the coasts, unfortunately the Alberta exposure did not play in their favor.


Alberta Exposure
We all remember what happened to Alberta economy when oil prices collapsed in 2014/2015. Companies went bankrupt, people lost jobs, home prices collapsed. Morguard REIT was affected as well by losing tenants in office and retail sectors.

But we’re now in 2019, the Alberta economy is slowly stabilizing, oil prices are slowly recovering, and unemployment rate is starting to decline again. Going forward, Morguard should not be affected from economic slowdown.

Retail Exposure
Alberta is not the only reason why the stock is traded at such a huge discount. The other major concern is their exposure to Retail sector. I believe they should evenly diversify their asset class. They should get rid half of their retail portfolio and invest more in Industrial sector. Industrial sector is a lot safer than Retail, in my opinion.

Discount to Book Value
I’m speculating that the market discounts 20% of share price due to their Alberta exposure and 20% due to their Retail exposure. Once Alberta is fully recovered, Morguard should be trading back at 20% discount to book value, meaning that the stock price could be above $20 within the next three to five years. Keep in mind that prior to oil price collapse, the shares of Morguard REIT were trading at par with book value.


Having said all that, should you invest in Morguard REIT today?

Yes IF:

You like to buy stocks at huge discounts, aka “Value Investor”

You like to get paid while you wait

You believe Alberta economy will recover

You like Morguard’s assets

No IF:

You focus on growth stocks

You don’t believe in Alberta economy

You don’t like Morguard’s assets

If you don’t have three to five years of patience



Am I invested in Morguard?
Yes. I bought my first tranche of 70 shares in 2017 for $14.80 per share. I bought my second tranche of 70 shares in 2018 for $13.33 per share. I hold a total of 140 shares or MRT at an average cost of $14.06 per share. 

Am I losing money on this investment?
Yes and No. My position is underwater, but since I didn’t sell my shares, I did not lose money. My current unrealized capital loss on this investment is $225.40. However, the company paid me $190 in dividends in two years for owing the stock. So basically I break even.


Will I buy more shares of Morguard?
Yes, especially if the share price dips below $12. I will take advantage of a huge discount and it will be a great opportunity for me to lower my average cost.



Thank you for reading and if you have any questions, please comment below. Also, let me know if you follow this company and if you are invested in it? What do you think of Alberta economy and the huge discount this stock has?

Is it better to invest in real estate or in REIT?

I decided to write this post because it’s an interesting topic as more and more people looking for different ways to build wealth. Some people build wealth by investing in real estate, others build wealth by investing in stocks.

Just to be clear when I talk about real estate I’m talking about rental properties, and when I mention REIT I’m talking about Residential Real Estate Investment Trust.

Rental property
Rental property is not considered as your primary residence. Rental property is when you buy a property and rent it out. You become a landlord and you collect rental income from your tenants.

REIT
When you invest in REITs, you don’t own any properties, you only own units in that trust. REITs raise money by issuing units. Usually they raise millions of dollars to fund property acquisitions. They manage rental properties, collect rent and distribute profits to unit holders. Most REITs in Canada pay distribution / dividend every month.


So now you know the difference between real estate and REIT.

Let’s move forward.

Be grateful and appreciate the things you have!

Be grateful for the things you have and enjoy the present moment of your life. I know you want to be financially independent. I know you want to have passive income supporting your lifestyle. I know you want to build a successful business and become wealthy. But remember to be happy while you’re achieving your goals. Don’t feel miserable just because you don’t have something in your life yet. Take little steps towards your goals and enjoy the progress.

Portfolio Value Update - February 2019

Portfolio Value
On February 28, 2019 my investment portfolio was valued at $68,620. The value increased by $3,024 from previous month. I only added $575 of my own capital. The rest came from dividend payments and stock appreciation. And speaking of stock appreciation, I can highlight three companies that added significant value to my portfolio. These are Altagas, Canadian Apartment REIT and Killam Properties. You would think that REITs and Utilities perform badly when interest rates are going up, but in reality it doesn’t always boil down to interest rates. People need a place to live and they have to pay the utility bills. These expenses are unavoidable unless you live in your parents’ basement.