For those of you new to this website, in this post, I discuss the recent changes I made in my dividend portfolios and also discuss about my portfolio diversification strategies.
Another month passed by. I keep pumping new money and accumulating more income producing assets. Currently, my investment assets are at record high level.
Usual market volatilities create more buying opportunities for long term investors.
In July, I spent around $4400 and purchased 6 different investment assets.
My rate sensitive stocks are taking hits due to the recent interest rate movement. I take this as an opportunity to invest for long-term.
I will keep adding some stocks in August, and from September, I will stop adding new money for few months and start focus to reduce some debts. This could sharp up my buying power. Also, we could see some improvements in Canadian dollar against U.S dollar, so I could start adding some U.S stocks for diversification purpose.
Please note the information posted on this website is the opinion of my own and should not be considered as professional financial advice. I am not a financial professional, and I can buy, sell, or hold any investment at anytime.
Any transactions I publish on this website are not recommendations to buy or sell any securities or investments.
Please do your own research or consult with a qualified financial professional before even considering using the information obtained from this website.
Here is the changes I made in my dividend portfolios in July 2017:
The changes made in my Canadian portfolio in July 2017.
- added 15 shares of PWF at $33.02
- added 25 shares of CGX at $49.40
CGX price dropped sharply after I made the purchase due to lower than expected earnings. I may consider adding few more positions if I see some value here. - initiated 70 units of NVU.UN at $20.92
- added 50 shares of AQN at $13.05
- added 18 units of BPY.UN at $29.90
The changes made in my U.S dividend portfolio in July 2017.
- added 1 unit of XLV at $79.15 I will continue to add this ETF at least one per month as long as the price is reasonable.
With new purchases and few dividend hikes in July, my estimated yearly passive income increased to $8224.
My portfolio has a very little to health Care stocks, so I decided to buy health care ETF using dividends in my U.S dollar registered accounts. Hopefully, I could buy at least one unit per month using dividends receive in my U.S registered account (without injecting new money). I will continue to add this ETF as long as the price is reasonable.
Many readers asked me how or why I execute very tiny orders of ETFs. They were wondering about the commission fees. Actually, I use Questrade for ETFs purchases. There are no commission fees for ETFs purchases at Questrade. Therefore you could buy any number of ETFs without paying commission costs.
I personally use Questrade for most of my investments, especially ETF purchases. For those looking to start investing with little money, Questrade is one of the good options to consider because of their commission free ETF program and minimum requirement to open an account.
If you have a plan to open an account with Questrade, please take advantage of this $50 trade commission rebate.
There is a trading charge of $4.95 when you sell them. All the details are at the time of writing. If you have a plan to open an account at Questrade, please check all the information (including current commission fees) on their website and see if it is suitable online brokerage for your needs.
Disclosure: Please note above is a affiliate link. Therefore, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase (at no additional cost to you).
I have updated the portfolio pages with these changes.
Now, let’s look my portfolio diversification.
Portfolio diversification
Portfolio Geographical Diversification
There are no big changes in my diversification strategies from the last updates.| Country | Target asset allocation | Current asset allocation |
| Fixed income (bonds and pension) | 20% | 5.82% |
| Canadian stocks | 40% | 79.94% |
| U.S stocks | 35% | 12.72% |
| International stocks | 5% | 1.52% |
My Canadian portion of my investments have increased a bit from my last update due to recent rally in my Canadian holdings.
My fixed income portions have been keep improving for last 18 months because of my pension plan contributions.
Portfolio diversification – sectors & fixed income
Actually, (I guess) there are only 10 sectors, but I have divided my dream portfolio by 15 sectors including fixed income/bonds/employer pension.
Please note this is not the way professional fund managers or experts diversify their funds. This is my own diversification strategy.
You may consider create your own diversification strategy (if you don’t have one) to minimize investment related risks in your portfolios.
Some information to highlight:
My fixed income portion is getting improving with my employer pension contribution. Since I have a defined benefit pension plan, I reduced/eliminated my bond holding.
My 80% of investments are in Canada. I am waiting for improvement in Canadian dollar to move some money into U.S market. It is really a long wait. I really don’t want to purchase U.S stocks using Canadian dollar at this time. It is like paying around 35% premium to the current price.
As you might have noticed, I began to build health care sector using an ETF called XLV. It is now moved from 0% to 0.25%. I will keep adding XLV for upcoming months as long as the unit price stays low.
| Sector | Target asset allocation | Current asset allocation |
| Fixed income (bonds & Employer Pension) | 20% | 5.82% |
| Finance | 10% | 18.98% |
| Industrials & Infrastructure | 5% | 9.34% |
| Consumer Staples | 10% | 7.00% |
| Energy & Materials | 5% | 2.55% |
| Utilities | 5% | 17.15% |
| Pipelines | 5% | 10.33% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 5% | 2.57% |
| Health care | 5% | 0.35% |
| Information technology | 5% | 0.15% |
| Telecommunications | 5% | 6.49% |
| Real-estate | 5% | 9.08% |
| Miscellaneous & Preferred shares | 5% | 2.10% |
| Transportations | 5% | 6.56% |
| International & Diversified ETFs | 5% | 1.52% |
Please share your thoughts about my holdings and recent purchases. Also, do you have any portfolio diversification strategy? And how often do you balance your portfolio?
Greetings,
Just curious, when you place an order for 18 shares at about $30 what kind of commission do you get charged?
Thanks,
Parry
Hello Parry,
Thank you for stopping by,
Personally I use Questrade, and I get flat rate of $4.95/per trade. I usually execute small number of shares, so I get flat rate of $4.95 per trade.
In your case, commission charge at Questrade will be $4.95 for 18 shares at $30.
Other brokerages charge less / more, but most them charge around $10.
Hope this helps,
Best Regards,
Its nice to see the diversification percentages against target allocation.
On another note, is there anyway I can contact you? By email or twitter or any such social media platforms. I am sure there are other people who might want to do the same..
Hello PAI,
Thank you for stopping by,
You could contact me by email at info(at)financejourney.com . To be honest, I don’t provide any investment or financial advise. Here, I am just sharing my journey to financial independence.
Best Regards,
Nice work. Great diversification. I always try to buy one of my lowest sectors
Right now im heavy energy. (But im biased i love enbridge)
Nice buy on algonquin btw. I wantes to start a position in it and got greedy hoping it would keep going down. It didnt now im waiting for 13 again
Hello Passive Canadian Income,
Thank you for stopping by,
Noways I avoid direct energy producers. Currently I have only 2% in them, but I love pipelines and utilities. AQN is doing well, I am so glad that I added most them in $10 range 🙂
Happy Investing 🙂
Best Regards,