# Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.A)



## bigbadbull

I've been watching this chart and over the past three days there has been a strong rally, hence the 3 white soldiers pattern, I'm wondering if anyone wants to jump on this with me?


----------



## PMREdmonton

I have been long BAM and BIP.UN (Brookfield Infrastructure Partners) since this past summer. Both are Canadian dividend paying companies but BIP is actually headquarterd in Bermuda to avoid dividend withholding taxes. BIP is meant to be a high yield stock with some potential for dividend growth and capital appreciation and focuses on massive infrastructure projects with monopoly potential in their local markets. BAM is kind of a holding company for all the various Brookfield operating companies and has a decent sized stake in all their ventures and thus is a diversified company engaging in multiple businesses in real estate and infrastructure that has a small dividend with a very low payout ratio but more potential for growth and capital appreciation.

These are high quality, dividend growth companies with only a moderate amount of leverage. They are all managed by Bruce Flett who has done an amazing job turning this company around starting around the turn of the millenium. When the Great Recession hit they were in great fiscal shape and made a bunch of acquisitions whose full impact won't be fully realized until the Great Deleveraging is further advanced.

I'm a big fan of both.


----------



## mrPPincer

One of the first stocks I owned was these guys, but it was under a different name, back when the Bronfman brothers ran the various holdings.
The story here is actually probably the main reason why I got out of stocks and into mutual funds.(dipping my toe back in the water again now, but with more knowledge as well as free time)

Back then what really disturbed me was what I didn't understand, you see, they were constantly changing shape with 51% ownerships of 51% ownerships and so on, and so on, and changing control of controlling shares (at least that's the way it looked to me at the time)

Just recently I looked into BPO, and saw that they still seem to be up to their old tricks (only then did it click who they were and googled it), so since I don't really get what they're up to, I had to give them a pass, not saying they aren't worth investing in by any means, it's just that the complex lawyery structures they seem to have are beyond my ability to trust, I like stuff that seems reasonably simple, and centrally owned, like Riocan, just my two cents.


----------



## rassmy

Very boaring investment, I would get better return in other picks.


----------



## Spidey

I've been following this one for quite some time. A couple of things have been holding me back from purchasing: low dividend payout and net insider-selling. 

P/B and other fundamentals look attractive. Probably the type of stock I would buy in a major market sell-off.


----------



## zylon

I wondered why Brookfield popped on Monday & Tuesday.



> *Warren Buffett teams up with Brookfield on huge bet on U.S. housing market*
> 
> http://business.financialpost.com/2...market/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter


Brookfield insider latest filings.


----------



## zylon

*BAM.A just keeps running and running*

Model Price™ is 34.03 ~50% lower than the current price.

If I owned a full allotment, I'd be taking profits. 
As it is, I'm waiting for a pullback to add more.

This graphic taken from ModelPrice Guy on Facebook.


----------



## My Own Advisor

BAM.A pays dividends in USD $ correct?

Asking for clarification from existing shareholders since I believe you can get BAM.A dividends in CDN $ but there is a currency conversion(?)


----------



## zylon

@MOA

Brookfield pays dividend in USD, so an exchange takes place for the dividend to arrive in CAD.
If I'm not mistaken, the exchange takes place at Brookfield, not at the brokerage.
All very confusing.



> Please note that the quarterly dividend payable on Brookfield's Class A Limited Voting Shares is declared in US dollars. Registered shareholders who are U.S. residents receive their dividends in U.S. dollars, unless they request the Cdn. dollar equivalent. Registered shareholders who are Canadian residents receive their dividends in the Cdn. dollar equivalent, unless they request to receive dividends in U.S. dollars. The Canadian dollar equivalent of the quarterly dividend is based on the Bank of Canada noon exchange rate on the record date or, if this falls on a weekend or holiday, on the following business day.
> http://www.brookfield.com/content/stock_and_dividend_info/common_shares-26718.html


----------



## atrp2biz

rassmy said:


> Very boaring investment, I would get better return in other picks.


If the long-term chart is what boring looks like, then I'll take a serving of boring with a side of hohum.

It looks like an anti-Mandelbrot set--it looks the same at all granularities. It just goes up.


----------



## My Own Advisor

zylon said:


> @MOA
> 
> Brookfield pays dividend in USD, so an exchange takes place for the dividend to arrive in CAD.
> If I'm not mistaken, the exchange takes place at Brookfield, not at the brokerage.
> All very confusing.


Thanks Zylon.


----------



## zylon

*Brookfield Announces Three-For-Two Stock Split and Dividend Increase of 6% per Share*

http://www.brookfield.com/content/2...nounces_threefortwo_stock_split_an-42093.html


----------



## humble_pie

zylon said:


> @MOA
> 
> Brookfield pays dividend in USD, so an exchange takes place for the dividend to arrive in CAD.
> If I'm not mistaken, the exchange takes place at Brookfield, not at the brokerage.
> All very confusing.



zylon includes this quote from brookfield's website. If one looks carefully at the quote, one can see how it deals only with dividends paid directly by brookfield to the minority number of registered shareholders. This quote does not treat dividends received at brokers for shares held in street, although these are the majority of shares nowadays.


_Please note that the quarterly dividend payable on Brookfield's Class A Limited Voting Shares is declared in US dollars. Registered shareholders who are U.S. residents receive their dividends in U.S. dollars, unless they request the Cdn. dollar equivalent. Registered shareholders who are Canadian residents receive their dividends in the Cdn. dollar equivalent, unless they request to receive dividends in U.S. dollars. The Canadian dollar equivalent of the quarterly dividend is based on the Bank of Canada noon exchange rate on the record date or, if this falls on a weekend or holiday, on the following business day.
http://www.brookfield.com/content/st...res-26718.html_


most companies paying USD dividends have set up their websites in similar confusing manner. They write - as does brookfield - only about their registered shareholders, a tiny minority. Typically, they never mention the vast majority of shareholders who hold their shares in street form at brokers.

it is these latter - shareholders holding in street at brokers - who are dinged roughly 1.50% by the brokers, who receive the USD dividends in bulk, convert them into CAD, collect their FX fees, then distribute net amounts into the individual client accounts.

often, these shareholders visit company websites such as brookfield, read the pious language reciting how registered shareholders are converted at bank of canada rates, mistakenly conclude that these rules to them even though they are street shareholders, & fail to understand that their street shares are subject to broker FX.

obviously the companies cannot take it upon themselves to discuss the brokers' practices. And, so far, the brokers have stayed mostly silent & opaque about what they are doing.

returning to brookfield, there are tiny exceptions to the general pattern, that the brokers charge FX without disclosing to the clients. Brookfield may be an exception in that - last i heard - this firm sends out actual US dollar dividend cheques to the broker's cages. This info is 2 years old, may no longer be current.

another exception are the rare brokers who pay dividends according to the settlement currency, ie if you buy your Potash in USD, you will receive your dividend in USD. I believe that Questrade may be one of these brokers. Another exception may be scotia iTrade, which was converting from USD to CAD with no FX for at least some dividends in non-registered, for reasons that could not be explained to the scotia client who tried to investigate.

nearly all brokers offer the opportunity to hold a US dividend-paying canadian stock in US account or on US side of a dual-currency account. But it is always the client who must initiate any journal that has to be done. 

if the situation seems confusing, that's because it is. To mix things up even more, i see numerous small signs at TD for example, that they have heard from enough clients about these issues & are genuinely considering what they might do to make things better. One rumour is that their website might be adapted, in future years, so that clients themseles could select the account where they want a particular stock to be stored. This would be an optimal solution.


----------



## My Own Advisor

"nearly all brokers offer the opportunity to hold a US dividend-paying canadian stock in US account or on US side of a dual-currency account. But it is always the client who must initiate any journal that has to be done."

I think you are correct.

I'm going to do some more research until I pull the trigger. I want to get into BAM.A after the split.


----------



## humble_pie

advisor could you do me a favour? do you have a handy thumbnail summary of the re-orgs that BAM did to its numerous sub-stocks recently?

brookfield has RE - mostly office buildings? - all over the US & also in south america i believe.

put another way, which is the biggest, baddest bamass mother of them all these days?

as for the dividends, sometimes it's not possible to do any "research" because nobody knows anything for sure. Sometimes one just has to buy the stock & analyze the dividend from scratch, in order to find out who is doing what with it, all along its route from the corporate treasury to your account.


----------



## My Own Advisor

I'll work on that HP and respond to the forum as I get information from the conglomerate. It would be good to have some sort of sticky about this beast. Maybe we should just own all parts of it? 

I don't have any info. at hand now regarding BAM re-orgs.


----------



## zylon

All I know about the dividend is that the amount shown in CAD is what I actually received in my account.
It seems that no one is profiting on the exchange process.


----------



## doctrine

So expensive. With a 6% increase, the 1.2% yield becomes 1.27%? I know the P/E looks tempting, but it trades at 22 times cash flow with a 5% year over year increase. It's not cheap. Very high quality assets, but not cheap. In 2007-08, they fell from $47 to $15, so don't think it's a safe haven. The stock has doubled in a couple years with maybe 10% underlying growth.


----------



## zylon

doctrine said:


> With a 6% increase, the 1.2% yield becomes 1.27%?


"As a result of the three-for-two stock split, Brookfield will adjust its dividend policy to reflect the additional number of common shares that will be outstanding. Subject to Board determination, the company expects to commence paying a quarterly dividend of US$0.12 per share (representing US$0.48 per annum, or US$0.72 per annum based on the pre-split number of shares outstanding) beginning on June 30, 2015. *This would represent an increase of approximately 6% over the current quarterly dividend rate, on a split-adjusted basis*."

Yield of 1.27% is about right based on today's close.


----------



## My Own Advisor

@zylon,

So the brokerage is not taking any cut? This is a very good thing.


----------



## zylon

^^^
That does indeed appear to be the case;
although some here will likely not believe it! :untroubled:


----------



## Parkuser

This is a very boring investment. But the value of shares I bought in 2009 tripled, in 2012 doubled. Here is a link to a very interesting article showing how they operate. I like it. 
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-strategy/brookfield-asset-management-a-perfect-predator/
The dividend is small, this is true. 

I also got some Brookfield Infrastructure Partners UN in my registered account. They also pay small dividend, split into several components: return of capital, interest, US interest, foreign dividend and US dividend.

On the other hand, thanks to owning exciting and large-dividend paying Yellow Pages I now have a capital loss I will carry well into the future. So boring is good.


----------



## humble_pie

zylon said:


> ^^^
> That does indeed appear to be the case;
> although some here will likely not believe it! :untroubled:




as i mentioned upthread, FX fees on USD dividends from canadian companies are a complicated picture across hundreds of brokers, there are all kinds of micro-exceptions, brookfield itself is a special exception.

zylon should identify whether he is talking about a registered or non-registered account. Just this distinction makes a big difference. During the past 2 years there have been massive changes in broker practices regarding registered accounts. These have been encouraged, one might almost say enforced, by the IIROC, since brokers are acting as trustees for registered accounts & fiduciary duty binds them to fair dealing.

however, although brokers have cleaned up most of their registered account FX fees over the past 2 years, the same is not happening in non-registered accounts, where brokers have a lowered responsibility as trustees.

in addition, zylon should identify the broker involved with his account, particularly if it's a non-registered account, since individual broker practice may be part of the story, as i mentioned upthread.

if non-registered, we now travel into territory that splits hairs into nano-particles. I could write a book on the subject but it would be useless, this world is changing so fast that a book would be out of date in 6 months.

a feature of non-registered accounts is how each broker records settlement currencies. Some don't record at all. Settlement data may or may not have an effect on whether a broker charges FX fees; this depends upon each broker's profile.

furthermore, among the 21 canadian companies paying dividends in USD, brookfield is already an exception, also as i mentioned upthread.

in general, though, it's true today that brokers are charging FX fees on millions of USD dividends paid by 21 important canadian companies to hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting canadian investors who hold these stocks in canadian dollar investment accounts. 

it's also true that the broker industry is being pushed by the IIROC - which in turn has been pushed by a few journalists exposing the damage & by a few investors who have complained - the broker industry is beginning to consider how to improve the situation(s) in the clients' favour.

anecdote suggests to me that scotia iTrade may be a leading broker in this regard. (Q1 to zylon, Is your broker scotia iTrade? this would explain the fair deal you're getting. Q2 to zylon, is your account, at any broker wheresoever, a registered account? this would also explain the fair deal.)

within a few years, there will likely be much greater transparency. The fact that more & more companies will be converting to USD dividends will help to push the broker industry towards full & fair disclosure. Although this will only happen if more & more investors inquire specifically about FX fees on their dividends.

(aside to advisor) please do not try to summarize an extraordinarily messy, fragmented & unwieldy situation into one or 2 overly-simplified generalities in order to write up some kind of snap rule. This is a giant issue that is only now being probed for the first time. In my view, it's fine for a cmf poster to help with the probing (zylon's expose) but it's misleading for any cmf poster to publish snap rules based on one non-typical fragment of information.


----------



## zylon

*Brookfield Asset Management's Fee Growth Bodes Well For The Future*










* price for BAM in usd - price at posting is 34.20 usd

The rest here:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/324...agements-fee-growth-bodes-well-for-the-future


----------



## My Own Advisor

I still have this on my to-do list to talk to all Brookfield entities and confirm everything...so confusing...unnecessarily.


----------



## Moneytoo

Thinking to start a position in my RRSP, I knew that they pay dividends in USD, but just double-checked on their website - and apparently "Registered shareholders who are *Canadian residents receive their dividends in the Cdn. dollar equivalent, unless they request to receive dividends in U.S. dollars*."

I know the dividend is tiny, but still - a question if I may to those who hold the stock: do you receive dividends in CAD or USD? If the latter - did you have to request it (and how if yes)?

I'm with Questrade, a dual currency account.

Thank you in advance!


----------



## humble_pie

Moneytoo said:


> Thinking to start a position in my RRSP, I knew that they pay dividends in USD, but just double-checked on their website - and apparently "Registered shareholders who are *Canadian residents receive their dividends in the Cdn. dollar equivalent, unless they request to receive dividends in U.S. dollars*."
> 
> I know the dividend is tiny, but still - a question if I may to those who hold the stock: do you receive dividends in CAD or USD? If the latter - did you have to request it (and how if yes)?
> 
> I'm with Questrade, a dual currency account



you'll note that the company is specifying "registered shareholders." 

no company can control how brokers handle dividends for shares that are held in street. These days, nearly all shares are held at brokers in street form. Certainly RRSP shares in particular are always held by a broker as trustee, never by the beneficiary in registered form.

street holding means that brokers have most of the control over dividends, although investors who understand what's happening can intervene & request that a canadian company that pays its dividends in USD be held on US side of an account in order to prevent broker FX charges.

here's a nano-detail that moneyToo would be a good person to investigate (ie she's bright, accurate & reliable each

a year or 2 ago a friend set up an RRSP at questrade precisely so he could monitor what they're doing with USD dividends. In this account, he bought Potash as an experiment - POT is a canadian that pays a relatively high dividend in USD. After settlement, he asked questrade to journal the stock to USD side of the registered account, so he could receive POT dividends in USD with no FX fee.

what happened next was interesting. Keep in mind that the "settlement currency" was CAD, in this example. He'd paid in CAD. He found that questrade's system kept migrating his shares from the USD side of account, back to the CAD side. Each day that this happened, the questrade representatives would say they couldn't explain why. They'd journal the potash shares back to USD side, but then overnight the same migration back to CAD side would occur again.

i do know from experience that other broker systems are able to handle the "settlement currency" issue on a permanent basis. IE investor buys a canadian stock paying USD dividends on canadian market, investor pays in CAD, then investor journals stock to USD side & the stock will stick there permanently.

but the questrade mainframe, as is well-known, was custom-built upon an older model. My friend speculated to me that the undesirable migration of his potash shares back to their original settlement currency - despite his continued efforts to keep them on USD side - kept re-occurring because of a small glitch between the older questrade mainframe & the newer one that's presently being used.

i don't have any update on this year-old story. It's possible questrade has been able to cure the problem. It's possible that canadian stocks such as Brookfield can now be bought in CAD, then journalled to USD side of an RRSP where they will remain. Certainly this manoeuvre will work at brokers TDDI & BMO.

moneyToo - if you've been patient enough to read this far - might you be charged with a mandate to update this story? what will happen if you buy Brookfield, which definitely has a USD dividend, in CAD, then ask to journal/hold this stock on USD side of the account in order to shelter the USD dividend from FX fees?

another possibility - which might happen to you - is that questrade will convert Brookfield's USD dividend to CAD at favourable spot or bank of canada rates. This would also be an acceptable solution to the problem. Alternatively, they might convert a USD dividend to CAD at a rate that includes a punishing FX fee. If this happens, it will take perseverance on your part to identify whether a CAD dividend payment for Brookfield does or does not contain an FX fee.


----------



## besmartrich

Parkuser said:


> This is a very boring investment. But the value of shares I bought in 2009 tripled, in 2012 doubled. Here is a link to a very interesting article showing how they operate. I like it.
> http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-strategy/brookfield-asset-management-a-perfect-predator/
> The dividend is small, this is true.
> 
> I also got some Brookfield Infrastructure Partners UN in my registered account. They also pay small dividend, split into several components: return of capital, interest, US interest, foreign dividend and US dividend.
> 
> On the other hand, thanks to owning exciting and large-dividend paying Yellow Pages I now have a capital loss I will carry well into the future. So boring is good.


That was a beautiful article I read in a while. Thanks for sharing. I am going to keep Bruce Flatt’s name in my mind.


----------



## Moneytoo

humble_pie said:


> you'll note that the company is specifying "registered shareholders."
> 
> no company can control how brokers handle dividends for shares that are held in street. These days, nearly all shares are held at brokers in street form. Certainly RRSP shares in particular are always held by a broker as trustee, never by the beneficiary in registered form.
> 
> ...


Thank you, HP, for such a detailed reply!  I called Questrade this morning on the way to work, and the representative assured me that the USD dividends of any Canadian stock will be paid in USD in both our RRSPs (where we have Currency settlement set to "Currency of transaction") I recently bought MG for my husband and BPY.UN for myself, and just entered a limit order for BAM.A, so will be keeping an eye on them (but thank you for reminding me that I can just journal the interlisted stocks to USD if for whatever reason the dividends are converted!)

As for POT, I have it in my TFSA (where Currency settlement is set to "CAD" - as I didn't plan to have any USD holdings there) I'm pretty sure the dividends are converted to CAD at the spot rate without any additional charges, but I'll double-check with the next dividend. I have enough shares for a DRIP, so don't mind the conversion (especially at higher rates ) But with the other 3 stocks I won't have enough shares to DRIP them, so would rather collect dividends in USD - and reinvest in US ETFs...


----------



## londoncalling

I am with Questrade and originally bought POT in C$. After learning about the currency skimming for forex I journaled over to POT in US$. Every divvy since has been paid in US$ and the shares have never reverted. Just another example of how CMF has increased my returns because of the wisdom and advocacy of some great members.

Cheers


----------



## Moneytoo

londoncalling said:


> I am with Questrade and originally bought POT in C$. After learning about the currency skimming for forex I journaled over to POT in US$.


Maybe I'm blind, but I went trough my account activity - and don't see any currency skimming. Last dividend for example:

May 4, 2015

FX rate: $1.00 USD = $1.2092 CAD

Dividend reinvestment REI
POTASH CORP OF SASKATCHEWAN INC CANADIAN LISTED [email protected]$32.60 REC 04/13/15 PAY 05/04/15

It DRIPed 1 share for *$39.42* CAD which is exactly $32.60 x 1.2092. Market price of POT on that day in CAD was *$39.37* (in 'Balances and Positions"), but, as we know, stock prices fluctuate, so I wouldn't blame Questrade for not buying a share for 5 cents cheaper at the closing price 

Dividend itself also looks kosher, but is a bit off: 46.08 vs. 46.33 (it was paid on May 5th when FX Rate was lower, 1.2072)

Upd. Now I see it lol If they charge 0.5% for conversion, then it adds up: 101 shares x 0.38 USD = 38.38 x 1.2072 = 46.33 - 0.5% = 46.09. But the same formula doesn't work for any of the three previous dividends (received vs expected: 43.86 vs 43.92, 39.33 vs 40.33, 37.52 vs 38.24)

Anyways, sorry for derailing the thread - I'll check the next POT dividend on July 31st (and hopefully my BAM.A order will get executed before then )


----------



## humble_pie

Moneytoo said:


> Dividend itself also looks kosher, but is a bit off: 46.08 vs. 46.33 (it was paid on May 5th when FX Rate was lower, 1.2072)
> 
> Upd. Now I see it lol If they charge 0.5% for conversion, then it adds up: 101 shares x 0.38 USD = 38.38 x 1.2072 = 46.33 - 0.5% = 46.09. But the same formula doesn't work for any of the three previous dividends (received vs expected: 43.86 vs 43.92, 39.33 vs 40.33, 37.52 vs 38.24)



that divvy at 46.08/46.33 does look like it was FX'd at prevailing (ie profitable) broker rates, is that what you're saying?

in general, with respect to USD dividends, brokers have recently begun acting more transparently & more fairly in registered accounts, although not yet in non-registered. Presumably as trustees for reg'd accounts, brokers weere badgered by the IIROC.

questrade seems to be a special case, since its mainframe was custom-built, not leased, & they do seem to change their practices frequently, which is what one would expect from a small, privately-held, entrepreneurial firm that is able to move nimbly, unlike the lumbering bank-owned dinosaurs.

(not that you asked mToo, but hairline broker/bank of canada differences in converted dividend amounts occur because the actual spot rate varies every 60 seconds, whereas the BOC rate is usually the picture fixed at noon each day) (thus it's possible, at a broker using spot, to obtain an FX rate that's even better than the BOC noon rate for the same day)

in any event, if both moneyToo & londoncalling are monitoring questrade FX conversion rates, then cmf forum can rest assured that every single decimal place will be scrutinized, dissected & accounted for each:


----------



## HaroldCrump

I can continue to attest that Scotia iTrade is still converting dividends in CAD RRSP A/Cs at BOC rates as of the dividend payment date.
Not sure about non-registered accounts.

Questrade is converting CAD to USD using BOC closing rate + 1.99% markup.
I have verified this a couple of times recently and their conversion was accurate right down to the cent.


----------



## zylon

> Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) is off more than 20% since hitting its high point for the year in April.
> It's ahead 2.5% in early action amid a strong broad market opening and an upgrade to Outperform from BMO Capital.


http://seekingalpha.com/news/2803846-strong-open-for-brookfield-asset-as-bmo-buys-the-dip


----------



## zylon

*Bruce Flatt* on Bloomberg (3 minutes)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...es-blackstone-status-with-private-equity-push


image hosting without registration


----------



## zylon

Another 4 minutes with *Bruce Flatt*.

How to Be a Contrarian Investor
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-01-13/brookfield-s-bruce-flatt-where-we-re-buying-selling


----------



## Moneytoo

Thank you for updates! 

Any word about business partners spinoff? Can't find anything since original announcement in October: https://www.brookfield.com/content/..._management_to_create_brookfield_b-43019.html (Was debating whether to sell BAM or buy more... so far my experience with spinoffs via a special dividend wasn't good - getting a few odd shares of a new stock that clutter the account and don't justify the commissions to sell them, with original shares going down )


----------



## zylon

I know what you mean about "clutter".
I'll just be dumping the spinoff shares as soon as they arrive.
Haven't heard anything new on that topic.


----------



## Killer Z

Any news as to why the dip today? Cannot seem to find any information. Otherwise, looks fairly attractive at its 52 week low.


----------



## zylon

Bidding war for Australia's Asciano heats up as Qube trumps Brookfield

http://www.4-traders.com/ASCIANO-LT...-heats-up-as-Qube-trumps-Brookfield-21817451/



> Asciano added that it has given the Canadian firm until Feb. 15 to match the Qube offer. It also published a letter from the Canadian's Chief Executive Officer Sam Pollock promising to raise its offer to A$9.28 per share from A$9.10 and make it all cash.
> 
> However, Asciano said, its board determined that "at this stage there was no certainty that a new Brookfield Infrastructure proposal would be made or the timing of such a proposal".


----------



## zylon

screen shots


----------



## zylon

*Although I'm trying to get out of this game, a bargain is a bargain.

If panic sets in, I'll be happy to take a hundred shares at $37*


image hosting 15mb









http://www.4-traders.com/BROOKFIELD-ASSET-MANAGEME-1409206/?type_recherche=rapide&mots=bam


----------



## Moneytoo

I'd be tempted under $40 (if i have cash - didn't last time... sigh)



> *Best move*
> 
> “My best move has been sticking with Brookfield Asset Management. I've been invested in it the longest. Patience has been rewarded.”


(c) How one investor boosts his dividend yields


----------



## godblsmnymkr

http://seekingalpha.com/article/396...eld-asset-management?v=1459806317&commenter=1

it seems like the discrepancy comes from a billion dollar asset held by BIP. BIP is valuing at a far higher rate then its partner in the JV. i dont think this is a big deal, but market seems like its panicking. might add more if it gets low enough.
if anyone has a subscription to barons, I'd appreciate you sharing the article here.


----------



## GoldStone

godblsmnymkr said:


> if anyone has a subscription to barons, I'd appreciate you sharing the article here.


Google article title and follow the link. Google has a back door to Barron's.

"How Fair Are Brookfield's Fair-Value Estimates?"


----------



## james4beach

I don't like this technical chart. A series of lower highs, lower lows after a big run-up usually shows exhaustion of a previously hot stock. I shorted Royal Bank for mostly the same reason.


----------



## zylon

james4beach said:


> I don't like this technical chart. A series of lower highs, lower lows after a big run-up usually shows exhaustion of a previously hot stock.


*This is also a possibility:*
Source: https://traderangers.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/chart-patterns/


free image uploading


----------



## james4beach

Sure, that's possible too


----------



## zylon

Something for everyone.
Bears can short at the top of the channel;
bulls can buy at the bottom.


----------



## godblsmnymkr

GoldStone said:


> Google article title and follow the link. Google has a back door to Barron's.
> 
> "How Fair Are Brookfield's Fair-Value Estimates?"


thanks for that.

seems like the market shrugged this off today. imo BIP is a great long term hold. waiting for a good time to add.


----------



## zylon

*Seasonality looks good : last week April thru early May*

http://charts.equityclock.com/brookfield-asset-management-inc-usa-nysebam-seasonal-chart


image hosting


----------



## GoldStone

^ This stock compounded at almost 14% a year since 1983. Any month is a great time to buy it, if you believe that past performance is indicative of future results.


----------



## zylon

SeekingAlpha.com


photo uploading


----------



## zylon

Unlike some CMFers who buy shares by the thousands, I bought a piddly one hundred (100) shares of BAM.A at today's open.

Latest article from SeekingAlpha:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3984145-brookfield-asset-management-asset-light-business-model 



> As a final word, I would caution investors to adhere to Bruce Flatt's investment methodology when purchasing BAM, and only buy shares when the company is below its replacement cost, or at a substantial discount to the net asset value. According to the valuation table provided below, BAM is trading at a 5% discount to its NAV of $37. I would recommend that investors wait until the discount increases to 15%, which implies a purchase target of $31.45.


BAM opened today at USD $32.46


----------



## fersure

Probably a dumb question, but wouldn't there need to be adjustment to the NAV (lower) given the partial spin-out of BBU.UN?


----------



## zylon

^^ Likely, yes.

The new balance sheet should be out in a few weeks.
It will tell the tale.

https://www.brookfield.com/content/financial_reports/quarterly_reports-26723.html


----------



## zylon

Have been familiarizing myself with *finviz* (financial visualizations) as an alternative to StockCharts.
*finviz* (free version) has more fundamental data ; StockCharts has more charting tools.

BAM.A doesn't appear to be available in *finviz*, so BAM will have to do.

A test of the bottom of the channel (blue line) would be nice, and with that large price gap in mid Sept, a gap-fill is likely.
On the other hand, perhaps 2016 October low arrived early - in September.

*finviz* target price for BAM is $43


http://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=BAM


----------



## agent99

Seems CEO likes his company. Bought a few more shares today:

4:31 PM EST - Brookfield Asset Management Inc.(BAM.A): Bruce Flatt purchased 700,000 shares at $36.8821 U.S. on 02-17-17 -- bringing his total ownership in the company to 28,725,571 shares.

Not bad for a Winnipeg boy 

I used to own a few shares in either BAM or one of their companies in a taxable account. I recall selling them because tax reporting was unusual and not worth the effort. Is this still the case? I would probably buy in RRIF or TFSA. Any downside to owning BAM in a TFSA? Loss of withholding tax?


----------



## zylon

> *Brookfield Asset Management* and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd are among the other firms interested in buying Home Capital, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the discussions are private.


http://business.financialpost.com/n...yeing-bids-for-home-capital-group-sources-say

Geeze I hope not.

That's all I need; five and a half shares of Home Capital spun off and dumped into my account.

No thanks!


----------



## fatcat

zylon said:


> http://business.financialpost.com/n...yeing-bids-for-home-capital-group-sources-say
> 
> Geeze I hope not.
> 
> That's all I need; five and a half shares of Home Capital spun off and dumped into my account.
> 
> No thanks!


sounds to me like a good reason to buy shares in hcg ... what do bam and fairfax, two well managed companies, know, that we don't know ?


----------



## zylon

> Brookfield Asset Management has received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange for its normal course issuer bid to buy up to 83M of its common stock, or 10% of the public float. The time frame of the approval is for one year.


https://seekingalpha.com/news/3268755-brookfield-asset-management-greenlit-years-buyback


----------



## MrMatt

fatcat said:


> sounds to me like a good reason to buy shares in hcg ... what do bam and fairfax, two well managed companies, know, that we don't know ?


They know the details. They both do a pretty good job, I'm confident they'll walk away if the deal isn't good for them.


----------



## humble_pie

dividends in the brookfield companies tend to be a PITA. Not only do the different brookfields pay original dividends in either USD or CAD on a somewhat haphazard basis, but the parent company BAM dot A (BAM in US markets) has taken it into its head to tinker around with the currency of dividends being sent out to brokers for the benefit of street clients.

BAM is doing this with the greatest goodwill in the world. At all times, BAM is intending to "help" the majority of canadian retail investors who hold their shares in street form at brokers.

very quaintly, BAM believes that retail investors holding shares at brokers are allowed to choose the currency of their dividend. Nothing could be more false, of course, but still. BAM has been told by the transfer agent - the same transfer agent that is misinforming Potash with the same nonsense - that investors holding street shares at certain brokerages have chosen CAD dividends while other broker investors have chosen USD dividends.

accordingly, for investors at brokers who are said to have "chosen" CAD dividends, BAM generously tries to converts its USD dividend to CAD at spot rates, in its own treasury division, before sending the bulk dividend payment out via the CDS system. 

meanwhile BAM continues to send its regular dividend in the default currency, which is USD, to investors at other brokers who are not said to have "chosen" CAD.

potash has a similar confused story. There is some evidence that Algonquin has recently departed down the same confused path. The problem for retail investors at discount brokers is that we have no clue which currency such a dividend-paying company will use, since their actions differ from broker to broker. It is therefore difficult/impossible to hold shares in the currency-appropriate account in order to avoid broker FX fees.


----------



## zylon

BAM.A (~$48) down 10% from May 2017 high, is at the top of my "watching to buy / sell" list.

If I was the _Earl of StockSwitch_, I would encourage BAM.A to continue dropping thru mid October, to a price where it will be very hard to buy. In the meantime, keeping watch for a turn.

Link: 12-stock CandleGlance sorted by RSI


----------



## AltaRed

$43-44 is my 'buy' point if it gets there. Necessary to get BAM at a good price because it's dividend yield is not going to be a major factor in Total Return.


----------



## humble_pie

BAM is a disappointing stock imho. It shouldn't be but it is.

looking for a stock that's strong in alternative markets? Onex is a more attractive candidate.


.


----------



## Dilbert

HP, I have some EIF for a little diversification.


----------



## humble_pie

please stop joking .each: ONEX has risen from 28 to 100 in the time i've held it


----------



## AltaRed

humble_pie said:


> BAM is a disappointing stock imho. It shouldn't be but it is.


I tend to agree. I have watched it for a number of years. Other than a spurt in early 2015, it Just doesn't seem to break out despite seemingly making mostly wise business decisions.


----------



## humble_pie

^^


of course the very day we finally give up & sell BAM will start its trajectory to the moon


----------



## Spidey

I'm reasonably happy with BAM. Bought it about a year ago and it's up 7.5% not including the dividend. Not extremely exciting but slow and steady often wins the race. I consider it a longer term play.


----------



## humble_pie

spidey u made me do it. My records show that between mar/16 & aug/16 i bought BAM for an average price of CAD 42.60.

not including dividends, not including option sales, not including recent spin-offs of trisura & brookfield business partners shares, that basic BAM dot A works out to something like 12.98% return, or 10.40% per annum.

US option sales have been decent if difficult, another $1.85 in CAD, or 3.47% annualized return in option sales.

still, the company is sufficiently annoying for a retail option writer to consider letting the shares go under assignment. There's too much nuisance per dollar of profit.

what nuisance? for starters the company keeps changing the currency of the bulk dividend it transmits to the broker in question. Right now they're sending in USD but previously had been sending in CAD. That's only to certain brokers, though. Company doesn't divulge or discuss which brokers. 

even messier are the frequent reorgs which spin out tiny bunches of different new shares. Lately it was Trisura, before that it was brookfield business partners. Problem is that the deliverables for all the options then change, one gets all these series & classes of irrregular options with or without the spun out shares. 

since brookfield options are illiquid anyhow in both canada & the US, the options markets turn into dealers' dogs' breakfasts.

ONEX options are also illiquid & very difficult to trade, but at least ONEX doesn't keep leaking little bits of unwanted new shares every few months. ONEX shares have also risen from $28 to $100 in recent years, a significantly better performance than BAM.


.


----------



## jargey3000

(humble - please don't remind me that i sold all my shares in Heather's husband's company a few years ago - @$30, which I thought was a nice profit then !!!) 
:confusion:

..


----------



## agent99

Dilbert said:


> HP, I have some EIF for a little diversification.


From G&M



> INVESTING
> Saturday, July 29, 2017
> 
> TED DIXON
> Insiders take on Exchange Income short sellers Exchange Income Corp. (Friday's close $27.06) stock has been under pressure this month as short-sellers questioned the monthly dividend's sustainability.
> 
> Insiders are taking the other side of the trade. In the week following the July 19 release of second-quarter earnings, 11 insiders have bought a total of $1.3-million worth of stock in the market. The buyers included former Manitoba premier Gary Filmon, who bought 2,000 shares on July 25. The company also restarted its buybacks, repurchasing 73,290 shares in the first three days of this week at an average price of $27.07.
> 
> Ted Dixon is CEO of INK Research, which provides insider news and knowledge to investors.


----------



## humble_pie

i fixed up the vexatious options, i'm going to keep brookfield. Excellent management. Such vast geographical & industry diversification all over the planet, one could almost say that BAM is a good defensive stock.

it's too bad the company is such a high-maintenance partner though


----------



## fatcat

humble_pie said:


> i fixed up the vexatious options, i'm going to keep brookfield. Excellent management. Such vast geographical & industry diversification all over the planet, one could almost say that BAM is a good defensive stock.
> 
> it's too bad the company is such a high-maintenance partner though


agree, they have such great holdings that you can't pass them up ... i certainly view them as a long term hold ... the diversity of kind location and quality of real estate and the holdings in utilities and industrials are really very strong ... just set and forget


----------



## like_to_retire

Brookfield to Buy 62% of Oaktree Capital Management

It just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

ltr


----------



## james4beach

BAM.A has become one of the top performers in my growth portfolio, even though I got in pretty late.


----------



## MrMatt

I haven't really looked into Brookfields actual management, but their various units seem to be well managed.
I credit management, because they seem to have a large number of investments in a wide number of areas, and have great returns.


----------



## Pluto

^ I don't think you are late. Stay patient. Keep it for 5 -10 years. then you will forget all about thinking you were late.


----------



## james4beach

The amazing performance continues.

1 year return: 56% (more than 3x the index)
2 year return: 36% annualized (also more than 3x index)

Still holding long. It's the largest position in my low dividend/growth portfolio and if it grows much larger I will sell some to rebalance to equal weights.


----------



## cliffsecord

james4beach said:


> The amazing performance continues.
> 
> 1 year return: 56% (more than 3x the index)
> 2 year return: 36% annualized (also more than 3x index)
> 
> Still holding long. It's the largest position in my low dividend/growth portfolio and if it grows much larger I will sell some to rebalance to equal weights.


I worry about BAM (no fundamental reason) now. I fear that management will lose discipline, that they aren't making as good deals as in the past and that their deals are immensely complex that it's easy to hide something. Also, it's $95 B market cap is huge in Canada. It is accelerating towards that of RY, which has $150 B market cap and I fear that they will suffer the curse of the TSX (https://www.macleans.ca/economy/eco...change-its-not-always-great-being-number-one/)

Maybe this time it will be different?

Disclosure: I have a huge positions in BIP and medium positions in BAM, BEP and BPY.


----------



## MrMatt

cliffsecord said:


> I worry about BAM (no fundamental reason) now. I fear that management will lose discipline, that they aren't making as good deals as in the past and that their deals are immensely complex that it's easy to hide something. Also, it's $95 B market cap is huge in Canada. It is accelerating towards that of RY, which has $150 B market cap and I fear that they will suffer the curse of the TSX (https://www.macleans.ca/economy/eco...change-its-not-always-great-being-number-one/)
> 
> Maybe this time it will be different?
> 
> Disclosure: I have a huge positions in BIP and medium positions in BAM, BEP and BPY.



What management, nobody knows.
https://www.ft.com/content/595a77d0-3867-11ea-a6d3-9a26f8c3cba4


As much as they're a black box and nobody knows what they're really doing.
The various companies in the web all show excellent performance.


----------



## CPA Candidate

I own a couple of the subs like BEP. I fear they are getting wildly overvalued now. Should relatively low return utility businesses double in a year? It feels like a melt-up of all the BAM stuff. These are long life, relatively low return businesses that are behaving like growth stocks.


----------



## james4beach

CPA Candidate said:


> I own a couple of the subs like BEP. I fear they are getting wildly overvalued now. Should relatively low return utility businesses double in a year? It feels like a melt-up of all the BAM stuff. These are long life, relatively low return businesses that are behaving like growth stocks.


Could it be some kind of mania for the Bep, Bippy, Bam?

I'll probably lighten up mid year at my next portfolio review.


----------



## doctrine

BAM is pretty expensive. BPY.UN might be the cheapest of the subsidiaries and the only real value aspect. The rest is high growth and high multiples.


----------



## Money172375

BAM announces completion of stock split










Brookfield Asset Management Announces Completion of Three-for-Two Stock Split


BROOKFIELD, NEWS, April 01, 2020 -- Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (“Brookfield”) (TSX: BAM.A, NYSE: BAM) announced today the completion of its previously announced.




finance.yahoo.com


----------



## agent99

I have some of BAM's split preferreds as well as now, some perpetual pfds. I am more concerned about the split pfds, even although they have comparatively good downside protection. 

It is a diversified company, but I wonder how they will perform in the current and coming global financial recession. How bad this will be is anyone's guess. Here is one attempt: Four scenarios for the global economy after Covid-19

Brookfield posted this in March: https://bam.brookfield.com/~/media/...ate_for_Brookfield_Shareholders_3-23-2020.pdf


----------



## doctrine

I think BAM is a quality company but still expensive. It has fallen in line with the index so I don't see any additional upside or reason to buy it beyond that.

BPY.UN, however, one of their big subsidiaries, is down nearly 60%. They have tons of office space in big cities not collecting rent. Yield of 17% almost certain to be cut back. But, in my opinion, a good long term buy here.


----------



## Eder

Money172375 said:


> BAM announces completion of stock split
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Brookfield Asset Management Announces Completion of Three-for-Two Stock Split
> 
> 
> BROOKFIELD, NEWS, April 01, 2020 -- Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (“Brookfield”) (TSX: BAM.A, NYSE: BAM) announced today the completion of its previously announced.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> finance.yahoo.com



I saw the drop this morning...was ready to load up the truck...but much to my chagrin...


----------



## agent99

james4beach said:


> The amazing performance continues.


What do you think about this article from FT? Doesn't instill too much confidence.

I don't own BAM, but I do own preferreds.

If you Google heading below, it should bring up article. Otherwise you would have to subscribe.
*"Brookfield’s leveraged complexity should be unravelled"*

Some snippits:



> As we gradually emerge from the shutdowns, quarantines and mourning, we will need to deal as quickly as possible with a financial system that will not be capable of delivering the income streams it has promised or, in its present form, efficiently allocating capital across the global economy. The public shock will turn to anger at failed promises of wealth, or even functionality.





> MLPs and Reits, their pass-through cousins in the property and data centre trades, pay dividends to investors that are less than the cash flows they receive from operations. For example, Magellan Midstream, an energy MLP, last year paid out only about 71 per cent of its cash flows as dividends. Digital Realty, a data centre Reit, paid out about 73 per cent of its cash flow in dividends. BIP, in contrast, appears to be paying out more in management fees to BAM, dividends to its unit holders, and “incentive distributions” to BAM and its senior management, than it receives as dollars paid in to BIP’s holding company as dividends from its operating subsidiaries. The difference between cash dividends from operating subsidiaries coming in and fees, incentive payments, and dividends going out appears to be covered by capital markets activity at the holding company level, ie. BIP’s net issuance of equity, debt and preferred shares.





> In the near future it may be even more difficult to raise or maintain the flow of cash dividends from BIP subsidiaries, such as rail and pipelines in the US or toll roads in Brazil to the BIP holding company, BAM and their outside partners.


Reminds me of the income trust days!


----------



## james4beach

Definitely some concerns about BAM but Mr. Market appears to have taken care of the portfolio weighting for me. I'm now slightly underweight BAM.A in my growth portfolio so I'm not too concerned, I will leave it alone until the next scheduled portfolio review.


----------



## MrMatt

I'm actually more interested in BAM now, if you've been waiting for a chance for good management to reallocate capital and take care of market inefficiencies now is the time.
Things are in chaos, good time to make buys.

I'm not sure toll roads or office space will be as valuable. Lots of companies will see work at home as a big cost save.
That being said, there are a lot of things that fall apart in distance offices, particularly relationships and corporate cohesion.


----------



## Eclectic12

I haven't seen either cost savings or things falling apart matter for the "encourage or discourage" remote work discussion. It's usually been around who can be trusted to work effectively so no measurement is required and that there isn't a good measurement for the much larger pool of those that can't be trusted.


Guess who fits into each bucket ...

Cheers


----------



## andrewf

I find working in the office to be much more effective. One benefit of working at home is it being easier to focus. Collaboration is harder. No amount of collaboration tools can really replace whiteboarding a problem in the same room.


----------



## james4beach

I recently reviewed my individual stock portfolio, and decided to keep BAM.A (did not sell any).

For a while I actually thought my position was in the red, but I had not properly accounted for the stock split + cash payment. Looking at it again on the weekend, I saw that it's performed reasonably well since I purchased it.


----------



## alexincash

Right now BAM is still below its 200 day S.M.A. I'm going long


----------



## james4beach

I wouldn't say I'm a long term holder, but I am committed to holding BAM at least for another year before reevaluating.


----------



## james4beach

I _want_ to like this stock, but the technical picture (chart) is warning me that all is not well. It did not participate in the summer rally.

Any thoughts on this? Temporary weakness, or is there something going on here? I am still long.


----------



## Topo

It depends on why you bought it. If you are bullish on real estate, then it is a keep. If you are confident in management to manage the COVID situation and succeed with growth and acquisitions, it is a keep. If you were looking to capture momentum, to me it seems to have lost steam. I would look elsewhere, but come back if things improve.


----------



## AltaRed

There is a lot of headwind in the property management space right now. Loss of tenants in office and commercial spaces and no signs of that coming back much any time soon. I've always had a love/hate relationship with this particular stock (having never owned it) as well. Part of it has been the convoluted ownership structure and the various entities. How can I own something I do not understand? Still well above price levels of a mere 2 years ago, but I don't think there is any rush to own this stock at this time.


----------



## fireseeker

Here's another way of looking at that chart, taking out the giant swings up and down:

Price Nov. 2018: $35
Price April 2020: $40
Price Sept. 2020: $43.60

Added: AR beat me to the two-year observation


----------



## james4beach

Good points @AltaRed and @fireseeker , thanks. I only review this portfolio once a year so either way, I'm staying long until the next review (next summer). I'm just disappointed it did not rally with the broad market.


----------



## PabloPenguino

I see this as more of a long-term play. I see it as real-estate worries holding back BPY and therefore BAM. However, that is only one of their three major platforms (i.e., BPY, BEP, and BIP) and BAM also has other private equity, distressed debt, and marketable security investments at play.

There is also an element of mis-pricing. Because of the complex structures in place, it's not easy to constantly determine the FMV of BAM. Some deals done by the operating platforms take time to exit and have that value flow up to BAM.

Management has been prudent with how they invest the funds so I see BAM as something that I can hold and forget about.


----------



## Ponderling

The only change in this holding done recently was to sell it in non registered and purchase it with cash in tfsa. Getting into this stock a few years ago I was less concerned about gains taxation that I held it in a non sheltered acct. However it also pays a pretty paltry dividend. Now it is at the safer end of the basket that makes up the tfsa.


----------



## MrMatt

Does BAM suffer withholding tax in a TFSA, are they Canadian or Foreign earnings?


----------



## AltaRed

BAM.A is a Cdn corporation. Eligible dividends


----------



## james4beach

This stock really is getting bam'd lately!


----------



## AltaRed

Been studying this thing pretty hard the past month or so. Took a half position in BAM.A yesterday in New York near its low for the day a few minutes before close, with some of the proceeds from the sale of TRI (also New York) near its all time high a few weeks ago. IMO, BAM is oversold, back to where it was first week in April and about where it was Dec 2017. While it's Property Partners unit is suffering, while BAM's renewables and private equity businesses are showing strength. Think BAM will get its BPY unit sorted out within a year if for no other reason than they don't fall in love with their assets and will ruthlessly punt when they no longer fit their plans.

I'll fill out the position if either of a whack-a-mole happens as a result of next week's election, or disappointing quarterly results on Nov 12th. Another 10% drop would be golden to fill out a position.


----------



## Eder

I like BAM but is always a bit too pricey for me. Recent market action may change things...I love when the TSX offers up Black Friday pricing.


----------



## MrMatt

Eder said:


> I like BAM but is always a bit too pricey for me. Recent market action may change things...I love when the TSX offers up Black Friday pricing.


"Always too pricey" is what I struggle. Like a good company slightly expensive is fine, but I see to many decent companies that are at P/E of 20 with only moderate growth prospects.. I don't get it.

That being said, I'll be picking up some BAM.A when I get some cash


----------



## fstamand

Just sold my shares. cash is king


----------



## newfoundlander61

Brookfield bids to take Brookfield Property Partners private.

Brookfield bids to take Brookfield Property Partners private - BNN Bloomberg


----------



## leeder

Anyone having any issues with the Brookfield dividends at TDDI? In essence, I should have been paid the cash dividend (without any amount reinvested because I don't hold shraes enough to DRIP normally). However, my Activity tab shows I received the cash and the full amount of cash (and shares) was DRIP'ed. In effect, I receive $0. I'm also having the same issue with BIP-UN distributions.


----------



## Money172375

leeder said:


> Anyone having any issues with the Brookfield dividends at TDDI? In essence, I should have been paid the cash dividend (without any amount reinvested because I don't hold shraes enough to DRIP normally). However, my Activity tab shows I received the cash and the full amount of cash (and shares) was DRIP'ed. In effect, I receive $0. I'm also having the same issue with BIP-UN distributions.


No issues here. Have you held these shares long? Has it worked properly before? Do you hold other dividend paying stocks in the account? At TDDI, you can ask for specific stocks to drip or the whole account can be set-up to DRiP.


----------



## leeder

Money172375 said:


> No issues here. Have you held these shares long? Has it worked properly before? Do you hold other dividend paying stocks in the account? At TDDI, you can ask for specific stocks to drip or the whole account can be set-up to DRiP.


I've held BAM.A for a while now, and I've never had any problems with receiving the dividend. I hold a very small position in BAM.A (70 shares) and would not qualify for DRIP. 

The activity record essentially shows for the BAM.A dividend:
DIV 70 shares $10.68
DRIP -70 shares - $10.68

Same issue with BIP-UN, with the only difference being that I have a DRIP-eligible (and already activated) position there. Thought I'd ask around to any CMFers have encountered this issue.


----------



## Money172375

Brookfield considers spinoff of asset management unit


Brookfield Asset Management undefined stock rose 4.5% in premarket trades Thursday after the investment firm said it's weighing the possibility of separating...




www.marketwatch.com


----------

