May 13, 2024

May 13th, 2024
HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices
These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices

Values are provisional and are finalized monthly
Index Mean
Current
Yield
(at bid)
Median
YTW
Median
Average
Trading
Value
Median
Mod Dur
(YTW)
Issues Day’s Perf. Index Value
Ratchet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.8177 % 2,354.7
FixedFloater 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.8177 % 4,516.3
Floater 10.22 % 10.47 % 61,958 9.11 1 0.8177 % 2,602.8
OpRet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.5805 % 3,472.4
SplitShare 4.84 % 6.80 % 35,336 1.39 8 0.5805 % 4,146.8
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.5805 % 3,235.5
Perpetual-Premium 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.2392 % 2,688.3
Perpetual-Discount 6.38 % 6.56 % 54,256 13.12 27 -0.2392 % 2,931.5
FixedReset Disc 5.18 % 6.97 % 120,388 11.83 57 -0.0772 % 2,580.1
Insurance Straight 6.30 % 6.49 % 56,691 13.17 21 -0.2275 % 2,880.7
FloatingReset 9.04 % 9.22 % 28,533 10.11 2 0.1497 % 2,823.4
FixedReset Prem 6.94 % 6.24 % 192,461 3.10 2 -0.0591 % 2,526.2
FixedReset Bank Non 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.0772 % 2,637.3
FixedReset Ins Non 5.02 % 7.01 % 81,889 12.85 14 -0.0954 % 2,829.9
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
BN.PR.M Perpetual-Discount -5.43 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 17.40
Evaluated at bid price : 17.40
Bid-YTW : 6.95 %
IFC.PR.A FixedReset Ins Non -4.52 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 18.60
Evaluated at bid price : 18.60
Bid-YTW : 7.33 %
IFC.PR.I Insurance Straight -2.26 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 20.80
Evaluated at bid price : 20.80
Bid-YTW : 6.60 %
GWO.PR.G Insurance Straight -1.71 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 20.10
Evaluated at bid price : 20.10
Bid-YTW : 6.58 %
BN.PR.N Perpetual-Discount -1.44 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 17.83
Evaluated at bid price : 17.83
Bid-YTW : 6.78 %
PWF.PR.T FixedReset Disc -1.27 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 21.50
Evaluated at bid price : 21.79
Bid-YTW : 6.94 %
BMO.PR.Y FixedReset Disc -1.22 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 22.98
Evaluated at bid price : 23.46
Bid-YTW : 6.68 %
IFC.PR.G FixedReset Ins Non 1.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 22.65
Evaluated at bid price : 23.60
Bid-YTW : 6.71 %
POW.PR.D Perpetual-Discount 1.19 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 19.60
Evaluated at bid price : 19.60
Bid-YTW : 6.47 %
IFC.PR.E Insurance Straight 1.20 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 21.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.00
Bid-YTW : 6.29 %
NA.PR.W FixedReset Disc 1.37 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 21.72
Evaluated at bid price : 22.15
Bid-YTW : 6.77 %
CM.PR.P FixedReset Disc 1.48 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 22.73
Evaluated at bid price : 23.37
Bid-YTW : 6.39 %
PWF.PR.P FixedReset Disc 1.78 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 15.46
Evaluated at bid price : 15.46
Bid-YTW : 8.07 %
PVS.PR.H SplitShare 4.35 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2027-02-28
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.00
Bid-YTW : 6.67 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
BMO.PR.S FixedReset Disc 38,500 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2024-06-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.95
Bid-YTW : 4.54 %
FTS.PR.H FixedReset Disc 31,100 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 15.25
Evaluated at bid price : 15.25
Bid-YTW : 8.36 %
TD.PF.D FixedReset Disc 26,500 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 22.67
Evaluated at bid price : 23.15
Bid-YTW : 6.84 %
SLF.PR.G FixedReset Ins Non 25,000 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 17.05
Evaluated at bid price : 17.05
Bid-YTW : 7.39 %
RY.PR.Z FixedReset Disc 22,300 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2024-06-23
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.95
Bid-YTW : 4.54 %
BMO.PR.F FixedReset Disc 20,900 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2024-06-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.95
Bid-YTW : 5.45 %
There were 11 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
IFC.PR.A FixedReset Ins Non Quote: 18.60 – 19.55
Spot Rate : 0.9500
Average : 0.6791

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 18.60
Evaluated at bid price : 18.60
Bid-YTW : 7.33 %

GWO.PR.T Insurance Straight Quote: 20.03 – 20.61
Spot Rate : 0.5800
Average : 0.3908

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 20.03
Evaluated at bid price : 20.03
Bid-YTW : 6.54 %

IFC.PR.I Insurance Straight Quote: 20.80 – 21.79
Spot Rate : 0.9900
Average : 0.8103

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 20.80
Evaluated at bid price : 20.80
Bid-YTW : 6.60 %

BN.PR.Z FixedReset Disc Quote: 20.05 – 21.05
Spot Rate : 1.0000
Average : 0.8220

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 20.05
Evaluated at bid price : 20.05
Bid-YTW : 8.38 %

GWO.PR.G Insurance Straight Quote: 20.10 – 20.60
Spot Rate : 0.5000
Average : 0.3251

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 20.10
Evaluated at bid price : 20.10
Bid-YTW : 6.58 %

BN.PR.M Perpetual-Discount Quote: 17.40 – 18.13
Spot Rate : 0.7300
Average : 0.5568

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-13
Maturity Price : 17.40
Evaluated at bid price : 17.40
Bid-YTW : 6.95 %

May PrefLetter Released!

May 12th, 2024

The May, 2024, edition of PrefLetter has been released and is now available for purchase as the “Previous edition”. Those who subscribe for a full year receive the “Previous edition” as a bonus.

PrefLetter may now be purchased by all Canadian residents.

Until further notice, the “previous” edition will refer to the May, 2024, issue, while the “next” edition will be the June, 2024, issue scheduled to be prepared as of the close June 14, and emailed to subscribers prior to the market-opening on June 17. Prefletter is intended for long term investors seeking issues to buy-and-hold. At least one recommendation from each of the major preferred share sectors is included and discussed.

Note: My verbosity has grown by such leaps and bounds that it is no longer possible to deliver PrefLetter as an eMail attachment – it’s just too big for my software! Instead, I have sent passwords – click on the link in your eMail and your copy will download.

Note: There have been problems lately with corporate eMail protection systems that substitute “safe” links for the links sent in the eMails; the problem being that the “safe” links do not work and an error is generated by my software. To avoid possible problems and delays, please subscribe through an eMail account that is not “protected” by such software.

Note: The PrefLetter website has a Subscriber Download Feature. If you have not received your copy, try it!

Note: PrefLetter eMails sometimes runs afoul of spam filters. If you have not received your copy within fifteen minutes of a release notice such as this one, please double check your (company’s) spam filtering policy and your spam repository – there are some hints in the post Sympatico Spam Filters out of Control. If it’s not there, contact me and I’ll get you your copy … somehow!

Note: There have been scattered complaints regarding inability to open PrefLetter in Acrobat Reader, despite my practice of including myself on the subscription list and immediately checking the copy received. I have had the occasional difficulty reading US Government documents, which I was able to resolve by downloading and installing the latest version of Adobe Reader. Also, note that so far, all complaints have been from users of Yahoo Mail. Try saving it to disk first, before attempting to open it.

Note: There have been other scattered complaints that double-clicking on the links in the “PrefLetter Download” email results in a message that the password has already been used. I have been able to reproduce this problem in my own eMail software … the problem is double-clicking. What happens is the first click opens the link and the second click finds that the password has already been used and refuses to work properly. So the moral of the story is: Don’t be a dick! Single Click!

Note: Assiduous Reader DG informs me:

In case you have any other Apple users: you need to install a free App from the apple store called “FileApp”. It comes with it’s own tutorial and allows you to download and save a PDF file.

However, Assiduous Reader Adrian informs me in the comments to the January 2015 release:

Some nitpicking for DG:
FileApp costs $1.19 in the Apple Store.

May 10, 2024

May 10th, 2024

Jobs, jobs, jobs!

he Canadian labour market rebounded in April by adding a substantial number of new positions, setting up a hotly debated decision from the Bank of Canada on whether to start lowering interest rates in June.

The economy added about 90,000 jobs in April after a slight decline in March, Statistics Canada said Friday in a report. It was the strongest month of job creation since January, 2023, and handily beat analyst expectations of 20,000 positions added last month.

Despite those gains, the unemployment rate held steady at 6.1 per cent, because the country’s population is growing at a feverish pace. The jobless rate has risen by more than a percentage point since the summer of 2022.

In April, employers mostly added part-time positions, which rose by about 50,000. The private sector accounted for most of the employment growth, although there were strong gains in the public sector as well.

The total number of hours worked jumped by 0.8 per cent in April, suggesting an upturn in economic growth to start the second quarter.

Average hourly wages grew at an annual pace of 4.7 per cent in April, down from 5.1 per cent in March.

This had an immediate effect on bonds:

Implied probabilities in swaps markets now suggest less than a 50 per cent chance the Bank of Canada will cut its key lending rate at its next policy meeting June 5. Immediately prior to the data, those odds were pegged at about 58 per cent, and in recent days had risen to above 70 per cent, with traders bolstering their bets in particular after a surprisingly weak employment report last Friday in the U.S.

Swaps markets are now implying 70 per cent odds for a cut at the bank’s July meeting. And they are fully pricing in two rate cuts by the end of this year.

The Canadian dollar immediately spiked on the data, rising to 73.30 cents US, up from 73.10 cents, reflecting the lower probability of near-term cut rates. There was a sharp reaction in bond markets as well, with the Canadian government 2-year bond yield rising a further 5 basis points after the data. It’s up about 10 basis points in total for the day now, at 4.309 per cent, narrowing its spread to the U.S. equivalent bond.


Pre-Announcement


Post-Announcement

The BoC’s Financial Stability Report had some interesting things to say:

Hedge funds and pension funds have significantly increased their use of repo leverage

Leverage obtained by asset managers through borrowing in the repo market increased by around 30% in the past 12 months.25 This increase was driven largely by hedge funds and pension funds increasing their repo leverage by approximately 75% and 14%, respectively.26 Pension funds are the largest non-bank participants in Canadian repo markets, with over $90 billion in total borrowing outstanding. These pension funds face relatively less refinancing risk than hedge funds. About half of pension fund repo leverage has a maturity greater than one month, while about 70% of hedge fund repo exposure is under one week because hedge funds tend to rely more heavily on overnight and short-term repos. Some individual repo positions held by hedge funds are also very large and highly concentrated—for example, in a single Government of Canada bond.

The largest pension funds and insurance companies are typically sophisticated users of leverage that manage their liquidity risk and use liquidity coverage ratios to monitor planned and potential outflows.27 Nonetheless, even sophisticated users can run into difficulties during periods of market stress, as seen in the October 2022 UK pension fund experience and during the March 2020 “dash for cash.”28

Discussions with market participants and analysis of trading data indicate that one of the drivers behind the increase in hedge fund leverage is relative-value strategies. An example is the increasingly popular cash-futures basis trade in the Government of Canada bond market (see Box 3). These trades can provide market liquidity in both futures and bond markets. However, the large degree of leverage employed can leave hedge funds vulnerable to changes in the price difference between the underlying securities as well as to sudden changes in the availability and cost of repo financing.

Box 3: Cash-futures basis trade

The basis trade, a relative-value strategy that has been a feature of the US Treasury market in recent years, is becoming more popular in Canada. This type of trading strategy uses a mix of long and short positions to capitalize on price differences between bonds and bond futures.

Market participants typically use a high degree of leverage—or borrowed funds—to increase profits for these trades. For example, when bond futures contracts are relatively more expensive than the underlying bond, an entity could profit from a cash-futures basis trade by selling bond futures, buying the underlying bond, and borrowing cash in repurchase agreement (repo) markets using the bond as collateral to finance the position.

Basis trades can improve market efficiency by reducing the cost of buying bond futures and supplying futures market liquidity to those who prefer holding long futures instead of bonds.31 These trades can also pose risk in times of stress—both to those making the trades and to financial markets more generally—due to many factors.

  • The pricing discrepancies tend to be quite small, so to increase the profitability of the trades, financial firms (usually large, foreign-domiciled hedge funds) often use a large degree of leverage, which they typically obtain in the repo market. Indeed, the increase in the basis trade has been cited as one of the contributing factors for the surge in demand for repo funding seen earlier this year in Canada.32 High repo leverage, particularly when it is obtained through overnight or short-term repo maturities, can amplify sudden price movements in the underlying bond market.
  • Maintaining these trades could become costly if repo rates were to spike suddenly, or if higher bond market volatility were to result in larger margin calls. The unwinding of these trades as a result of these shocks could lead to abrupt sales of fixed-income assets and, possibly, to strains on market liquidity. The more leveraged a hedge fund is, the more vulnerable it is to such shocks, and the greater the risk it poses to the overall system. This was evident in the US Treasury bond market in March 2020, when pandemic-related market stress caused many hedge funds to unwind their sizable cash-futures basis trade positions. This unwinding resulted in a large volume of US Treasury bonds being sold and contributed to the severe hampering of what is normally considered the most liquid bond market in the world. The one-way selling negatively affected market participants around the world that rely on the liquidity and stability of US Treasuries.33 As the International Monetary Fund recently noted, the aggressive use of repo leverage can also leave these trades vulnerable to other shocks, including upside inflationary surprises that could lower the value of bonds.34

The cash-futures basis trade is estimated to have grown steadily in Canada (Chart 3‑A), with exchange-for-physical transactions reaching $51 billion by the end of April 2024.35 This represents about 8% of the total trading volume of Government of Canada bonds (Chart 3‑B).36, 37 Of the total volume, 45% is in 2-year futures contracts, and the remainder is split somewhat evenly between the 5- and 10-year futures contracts.

All the above can be looked at as the back-up behind Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Toni Gravelle’s March 21 speech, which I reported 2024-3-22.

HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices
These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices

Values are provisional and are finalized monthly
Index Mean
Current
Yield
(at bid)
Median
YTW
Median
Average
Trading
Value
Median
Mod Dur
(YTW)
Issues Day’s Perf. Index Value
Ratchet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.4105 % 2,335.6
FixedFloater 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.4105 % 4,479.7
Floater 10.30 % 10.55 % 60,647 9.06 1 0.4105 % 2,581.7
OpRet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.6386 % 3,452.4
SplitShare 4.87 % 6.77 % 34,525 1.40 8 -0.6386 % 4,122.9
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.6386 % 3,216.8
Perpetual-Premium 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.2731 % 2,694.7
Perpetual-Discount 6.37 % 6.56 % 53,537 13.11 27 0.2731 % 2,938.5
FixedReset Disc 5.17 % 6.88 % 124,698 11.70 57 -0.3373 % 2,582.1
Insurance Straight 6.28 % 6.46 % 57,294 13.22 21 0.2738 % 2,887.2
FloatingReset 9.05 % 9.18 % 27,343 10.16 2 -0.0499 % 2,819.2
FixedReset Prem 6.93 % 6.38 % 194,256 3.10 2 -0.3728 % 2,527.7
FixedReset Bank Non 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.3373 % 2,639.4
FixedReset Ins Non 5.02 % 7.00 % 80,612 12.80 14 -0.3362 % 2,832.6
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
PVS.PR.H SplitShare -5.15 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2027-02-28
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.00
Bid-YTW : 8.34 %
BN.PR.Z FixedReset Disc -3.58 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 20.20
Evaluated at bid price : 20.20
Bid-YTW : 8.31 %
MFC.PR.N FixedReset Ins Non -2.80 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 20.85
Evaluated at bid price : 20.85
Bid-YTW : 7.30 %
BIP.PR.E FixedReset Disc -2.32 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 21.50
Evaluated at bid price : 21.50
Bid-YTW : 8.02 %
PWF.PR.F Perpetual-Discount -1.91 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 20.01
Evaluated at bid price : 20.01
Bid-YTW : 6.63 %
CM.PR.P FixedReset Disc -1.83 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 22.26
Evaluated at bid price : 23.03
Bid-YTW : 6.47 %
BN.PF.I FixedReset Disc -1.75 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 22.05
Evaluated at bid price : 22.40
Bid-YTW : 8.14 %
GWO.PR.N FixedReset Ins Non -1.31 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 15.10
Evaluated at bid price : 15.10
Bid-YTW : 7.93 %
PWF.PR.T FixedReset Disc -1.30 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 21.70
Evaluated at bid price : 22.07
Bid-YTW : 6.85 %
POW.PR.A Perpetual-Discount -1.20 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 21.35
Evaluated at bid price : 21.35
Bid-YTW : 6.65 %
NA.PR.W FixedReset Disc -1.18 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 21.51
Evaluated at bid price : 21.85
Bid-YTW : 6.86 %
PWF.PR.P FixedReset Disc -1.04 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 15.19
Evaluated at bid price : 15.19
Bid-YTW : 8.20 %
BIP.PR.A FixedReset Disc 1.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 21.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.00
Bid-YTW : 8.59 %
BN.PF.C Perpetual-Discount 1.50 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 18.32
Evaluated at bid price : 18.32
Bid-YTW : 6.73 %
IFC.PR.G FixedReset Ins Non 1.52 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 22.53
Evaluated at bid price : 23.35
Bid-YTW : 6.78 %
BN.PR.M Perpetual-Discount 3.60 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 18.40
Evaluated at bid price : 18.40
Bid-YTW : 6.56 %
IFC.PR.I Insurance Straight 3.91 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 21.28
Evaluated at bid price : 21.28
Bid-YTW : 6.45 %
CU.PR.D Perpetual-Discount 4.50 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 19.28
Evaluated at bid price : 19.28
Bid-YTW : 6.37 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
CM.PR.O FixedReset Disc 261,394 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 23.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.00
Bid-YTW : 6.36 %
BMO.PR.S FixedReset Disc 259,275 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2024-06-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.93
Bid-YTW : 4.90 %
RY.PR.Z FixedReset Disc 175,333 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2024-06-23
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.94
Bid-YTW : 4.56 %
SLF.PR.G FixedReset Ins Non 136,700 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 17.04
Evaluated at bid price : 17.04
Bid-YTW : 7.39 %
NA.PR.W FixedReset Disc 113,300 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 21.51
Evaluated at bid price : 21.85
Bid-YTW : 6.86 %
TD.PF.J FixedReset Disc 87,888 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 23.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.34
Bid-YTW : 6.50 %
There were 14 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
PVS.PR.H SplitShare Quote: 23.00 – 24.50
Spot Rate : 1.5000
Average : 0.9423

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2027-02-28
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.00
Bid-YTW : 8.34 %

BN.PR.Z FixedReset Disc Quote: 20.20 – 21.20
Spot Rate : 1.0000
Average : 0.6268

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 20.20
Evaluated at bid price : 20.20
Bid-YTW : 8.31 %

BN.PR.R FixedReset Disc Quote: 16.55 – 17.15
Spot Rate : 0.6000
Average : 0.4217

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 16.55
Evaluated at bid price : 16.55
Bid-YTW : 8.67 %

BIP.PR.E FixedReset Disc Quote: 21.50 – 22.05
Spot Rate : 0.5500
Average : 0.3918

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 21.50
Evaluated at bid price : 21.50
Bid-YTW : 8.02 %

MFC.PR.N FixedReset Ins Non Quote: 20.85 – 21.75
Spot Rate : 0.9000
Average : 0.7427

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 20.85
Evaluated at bid price : 20.85
Bid-YTW : 7.30 %

POW.PR.A Perpetual-Discount Quote: 21.35 – 21.92
Spot Rate : 0.5700
Average : 0.4280

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-10
Maturity Price : 21.35
Evaluated at bid price : 21.35
Bid-YTW : 6.65 %

May 9, 2024

May 9th, 2024
HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices
These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices

Values are provisional and are finalized monthly
Index Mean
Current
Yield
(at bid)
Median
YTW
Median
Average
Trading
Value
Median
Mod Dur
(YTW)
Issues Day’s Perf. Index Value
Ratchet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.4902 % 2,326.1
FixedFloater 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.4902 % 4,461.4
Floater 10.34 % 10.59 % 60,034 9.03 1 -0.4902 % 2,571.1
OpRet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.1031 % 3,474.6
SplitShare 4.84 % 6.76 % 35,071 1.40 8 0.1031 % 4,149.4
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.1031 % 3,237.5
Perpetual-Premium 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.2572 % 2,687.4
Perpetual-Discount 6.38 % 6.55 % 53,323 13.11 27 0.2572 % 2,930.5
FixedReset Disc 5.16 % 7.04 % 126,357 11.93 57 -0.1134 % 2,590.8
Insurance Straight 6.30 % 6.48 % 58,957 13.18 21 0.1010 % 2,879.4
FloatingReset 9.09 % 9.17 % 28,262 10.17 2 0.5767 % 2,820.6
FixedReset Prem 6.91 % 6.15 % 195,690 3.11 2 -0.0784 % 2,537.2
FixedReset Bank Non 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.1134 % 2,648.3
FixedReset Ins Non 5.00 % 6.89 % 83,511 12.88 14 0.8632 % 2,842.1
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
IFC.PR.G FixedReset Ins Non -3.56 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 22.33
Evaluated at bid price : 23.00
Bid-YTW : 6.80 %
FFH.PR.M FixedReset Disc -2.08 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 22.91
Evaluated at bid price : 23.50
Bid-YTW : 8.12 %
IFC.PR.I Insurance Straight -2.01 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 20.48
Evaluated at bid price : 20.48
Bid-YTW : 6.70 %
BN.PF.F FixedReset Disc -1.65 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 20.21
Evaluated at bid price : 20.21
Bid-YTW : 8.20 %
IFC.PR.E Insurance Straight -1.48 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 20.69
Evaluated at bid price : 20.69
Bid-YTW : 6.38 %
BN.PR.M Perpetual-Discount -1.33 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 17.76
Evaluated at bid price : 17.76
Bid-YTW : 6.80 %
BN.PF.G FixedReset Disc -1.28 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 18.51
Evaluated at bid price : 18.51
Bid-YTW : 8.61 %
NA.PR.S FixedReset Disc -1.26 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 22.52
Evaluated at bid price : 23.45
Bid-YTW : 6.50 %
CM.PR.O FixedReset Disc -1.23 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 23.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.00
Bid-YTW : 6.24 %
TD.PF.A FixedReset Disc -1.17 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 22.82
Evaluated at bid price : 23.58
Bid-YTW : 6.23 %
BMO.PR.Y FixedReset Disc 1.02 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 23.28
Evaluated at bid price : 23.75
Bid-YTW : 6.49 %
SLF.PR.C Insurance Straight 1.02 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 18.80
Evaluated at bid price : 18.80
Bid-YTW : 6.01 %
BN.PF.D Perpetual-Discount 1.04 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 18.49
Evaluated at bid price : 18.49
Bid-YTW : 6.73 %
PWF.PR.S Perpetual-Discount 1.14 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 18.60
Evaluated at bid price : 18.60
Bid-YTW : 6.52 %
PWF.PF.A Perpetual-Discount 1.14 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 17.70
Evaluated at bid price : 17.70
Bid-YTW : 6.42 %
NA.PR.W FixedReset Disc 1.19 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 21.69
Evaluated at bid price : 22.11
Bid-YTW : 6.66 %
CU.PR.E Perpetual-Discount 1.19 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 19.54
Evaluated at bid price : 19.54
Bid-YTW : 6.29 %
SLF.PR.H FixedReset Ins Non 1.32 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 19.91
Evaluated at bid price : 19.91
Bid-YTW : 6.89 %
SLF.PR.J FloatingReset 1.34 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 17.41
Evaluated at bid price : 17.41
Bid-YTW : 9.42 %
FFH.PR.C FixedReset Disc 1.45 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 21.84
Evaluated at bid price : 22.32
Bid-YTW : 7.69 %
PWF.PR.F Perpetual-Discount 1.49 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 20.40
Evaluated at bid price : 20.40
Bid-YTW : 6.50 %
SLF.PR.E Insurance Straight 1.91 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 18.70
Evaluated at bid price : 18.70
Bid-YTW : 6.11 %
MFC.PR.N FixedReset Ins Non 2.88 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 21.45
Evaluated at bid price : 21.45
Bid-YTW : 6.97 %
MFC.PR.F FixedReset Ins Non 13.31 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 17.28
Evaluated at bid price : 17.28
Bid-YTW : 6.94 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
BMO.PR.F FixedReset Disc 191,820 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2024-06-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.94
Bid-YTW : 5.30 %
BMO.PR.S FixedReset Disc 103,286 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2024-06-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.93
Bid-YTW : 4.79 %
RY.PR.Z FixedReset Disc 78,392 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2024-06-23
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.94
Bid-YTW : 4.46 %
TD.PF.I FixedReset Disc 77,507 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2027-10-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 25.12
Bid-YTW : 6.25 %
SLF.PR.G FixedReset Ins Non 58,240 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 17.00
Evaluated at bid price : 17.00
Bid-YTW : 7.26 %
BN.PR.R FixedReset Disc 31,452 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 16.55
Evaluated at bid price : 16.55
Bid-YTW : 8.53 %
There were 14 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
BMO.PR.Y FixedReset Disc Quote: 23.75 – 25.00
Spot Rate : 1.2500
Average : 0.7353

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 23.28
Evaluated at bid price : 23.75
Bid-YTW : 6.49 %

IFC.PR.G FixedReset Ins Non Quote: 23.00 – 24.00
Spot Rate : 1.0000
Average : 0.6381

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 22.33
Evaluated at bid price : 23.00
Bid-YTW : 6.80 %

IFC.PR.I Insurance Straight Quote: 20.48 – 21.69
Spot Rate : 1.2100
Average : 0.9021

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 20.48
Evaluated at bid price : 20.48
Bid-YTW : 6.70 %

TD.PF.A FixedReset Disc Quote: 23.58 – 24.22
Spot Rate : 0.6400
Average : 0.4093

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 22.82
Evaluated at bid price : 23.58
Bid-YTW : 6.23 %

PWF.PR.E Perpetual-Discount Quote: 21.10 – 21.71
Spot Rate : 0.6100
Average : 0.4293

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 21.10
Evaluated at bid price : 21.10
Bid-YTW : 6.58 %

TD.PF.C FixedReset Disc Quote: 22.91 – 23.40
Spot Rate : 0.4900
Average : 0.3668

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-09
Maturity Price : 22.19
Evaluated at bid price : 22.91
Bid-YTW : 6.40 %

May 8, 2024

May 8th, 2024

PerpetualDiscounts now yield 6.56%, equivalent to 8.53% interest at the standard equivalency factor of 1.3x. Long corporates yielded 5.34% on 2024-4-30 and since then the closing price of ZLC has changed from 14.50 to 14.83, an increase of 228bp in price, implying a decrease of yields of 19bp (BMO reports a duration of 12.23, but don’t disclose whether this is Macaulay or Modified; I will assume Modified) to 5.15%. Therefore, the pre-tax interest-equivalent spread (in this context, the “Seniority Spread”) has narrowed slightly (and perhaps spuriously) to 340bp from the 345bp reported May 1.

HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices
These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices

Values are provisional and are finalized monthly
Index Mean
Current
Yield
(at bid)
Median
YTW
Median
Average
Trading
Value
Median
Mod Dur
(YTW)
Issues Day’s Perf. Index Value
Ratchet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -1.2903 % 2,337.5
FixedFloater 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -1.2903 % 4,483.4
Floater 10.29 % 10.54 % 59,490 9.07 1 -1.2903 % 2,583.8
OpRet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0361 % 3,471.0
SplitShare 4.85 % 6.91 % 35,383 1.40 8 0.0361 % 4,145.1
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0361 % 3,234.2
Perpetual-Premium 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0592 % 2,680.5
Perpetual-Discount 6.40 % 6.56 % 53,475 13.10 27 0.0592 % 2,923.0
FixedReset Disc 5.15 % 7.03 % 131,150 11.96 57 -0.0697 % 2,593.7
Insurance Straight 6.31 % 6.49 % 59,491 13.18 21 0.2869 % 2,876.4
FloatingReset 9.14 % 9.16 % 29,379 10.17 2 -0.8207 % 2,804.4
FixedReset Prem 6.90 % 6.20 % 196,088 3.11 2 0.1571 % 2,539.2
FixedReset Bank Non 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.0697 % 2,651.3
FixedReset Ins Non 5.04 % 6.90 % 81,670 12.89 14 -0.5654 % 2,817.8
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
MFC.PR.F FixedReset Ins Non -14.23 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 15.25
Evaluated at bid price : 15.25
Bid-YTW : 7.82 %
CU.PR.D Perpetual-Discount -2.59 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 18.40
Evaluated at bid price : 18.40
Bid-YTW : 6.68 %
NA.PR.W FixedReset Disc -2.02 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 21.51
Evaluated at bid price : 21.85
Bid-YTW : 6.74 %
PWF.PR.O Perpetual-Discount -1.74 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 21.78
Evaluated at bid price : 22.02
Bid-YTW : 6.64 %
MFC.PR.L FixedReset Ins Non -1.61 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 21.67
Evaluated at bid price : 22.05
Bid-YTW : 6.75 %
FFH.PR.C FixedReset Disc -1.57 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 21.62
Evaluated at bid price : 22.00
Bid-YTW : 7.81 %
SLF.PR.J FloatingReset -1.55 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 17.18
Evaluated at bid price : 17.18
Bid-YTW : 9.54 %
IFC.PR.I Insurance Straight -1.46 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 20.90
Evaluated at bid price : 20.90
Bid-YTW : 6.56 %
BN.PR.B Floater -1.29 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 12.24
Evaluated at bid price : 12.24
Bid-YTW : 10.54 %
CM.PR.P FixedReset Disc -1.27 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 22.72
Evaluated at bid price : 23.35
Bid-YTW : 6.27 %
BN.PR.X FixedReset Disc -1.06 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 15.92
Evaluated at bid price : 15.92
Bid-YTW : 8.46 %
SLF.PR.C Insurance Straight -1.01 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 18.61
Evaluated at bid price : 18.61
Bid-YTW : 6.07 %
PWF.PR.Z Perpetual-Discount 1.01 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 19.91
Evaluated at bid price : 19.91
Bid-YTW : 6.53 %
GWO.PR.I Insurance Straight 1.12 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 18.10
Evaluated at bid price : 18.10
Bid-YTW : 6.31 %
POW.PR.C Perpetual-Discount 1.12 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 22.28
Evaluated at bid price : 22.55
Bid-YTW : 6.50 %
MFC.PR.K FixedReset Ins Non 1.20 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 22.64
Evaluated at bid price : 23.61
Bid-YTW : 6.47 %
IFC.PR.E Insurance Straight 1.94 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 21.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.00
Bid-YTW : 6.29 %
IFC.PR.A FixedReset Ins Non 2.10 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 19.45
Evaluated at bid price : 19.45
Bid-YTW : 6.90 %
GWO.PR.G Insurance Straight 2.27 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 20.25
Evaluated at bid price : 20.25
Bid-YTW : 6.52 %
BN.PF.I FixedReset Disc 3.41 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 22.29
Evaluated at bid price : 22.75
Bid-YTW : 7.92 %
BN.PR.M Perpetual-Discount 3.45 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 18.00
Evaluated at bid price : 18.00
Bid-YTW : 6.70 %
IFC.PR.F Insurance Straight 5.05 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 20.60
Evaluated at bid price : 20.60
Bid-YTW : 6.53 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
BN.PR.R FixedReset Disc 341,157 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 16.52
Evaluated at bid price : 16.52
Bid-YTW : 8.54 %
RY.PR.H FixedReset Disc 316,421 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 23.63
Evaluated at bid price : 24.50
Bid-YTW : 6.06 %
TD.PF.D FixedReset Disc 261,632 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 22.70
Evaluated at bid price : 23.18
Bid-YTW : 6.72 %
RY.PR.J FixedReset Disc 222,800 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 22.96
Evaluated at bid price : 23.50
Bid-YTW : 6.66 %
TD.PF.M FixedReset Disc 143,353 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 24.06
Evaluated at bid price : 24.87
Bid-YTW : 7.30 %
TD.PF.J FixedReset Disc 111,176 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 23.03
Evaluated at bid price : 24.40
Bid-YTW : 6.39 %
There were 27 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
MFC.PR.F FixedReset Ins Non Quote: 15.25 – 18.05
Spot Rate : 2.8000
Average : 1.6193

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 15.25
Evaluated at bid price : 15.25
Bid-YTW : 7.82 %

POW.PR.B Perpetual-Discount Quote: 20.60 – 21.70
Spot Rate : 1.1000
Average : 0.6708

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 20.60
Evaluated at bid price : 20.60
Bid-YTW : 6.58 %

CU.PR.D Perpetual-Discount Quote: 18.40 – 19.34
Spot Rate : 0.9400
Average : 0.6851

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 18.40
Evaluated at bid price : 18.40
Bid-YTW : 6.68 %

SLF.PR.H FixedReset Ins Non Quote: 19.65 – 21.15
Spot Rate : 1.5000
Average : 1.2894

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 19.65
Evaluated at bid price : 19.65
Bid-YTW : 6.97 %

SLF.PR.J FloatingReset Quote: 17.18 – 17.90
Spot Rate : 0.7200
Average : 0.5157

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 17.18
Evaluated at bid price : 17.18
Bid-YTW : 9.54 %

IFC.PR.E Insurance Straight Quote: 21.00 – 21.90
Spot Rate : 0.9000
Average : 0.7008

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-08
Maturity Price : 21.00
Evaluated at bid price : 21.00
Bid-YTW : 6.29 %

IS.PR.A Settles Firm On Excellent Volume

May 8th, 2024

Geez, it’s been a long time since I reported the first day of trading for a new issue!

Further to the information in the post Infrastructure Dividend Split Corp., Maybe?, Middlefield has announced (but not yet on their website):

Infrastructure Dividend Split Corp. (the “Company”), is pleased to announce that the Company has completed its initial public offering of 5,264,370 preferred shares for total gross proceeds of $52,643,700. The class A and preferred shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols IS and IS.PR.A, respectively.

The Company invests in a diversified, actively managed portfolio of dividend-paying securities of issuers operating in the infrastructure sector. The investment strategy of the Company is to initially invest in a portfolio of approximately 15 dividend-paying issuers operating in the infrastructure sector that Middlefield Capital Corporation (the “Advisor”), the investment advisor of the Company, believes offers investors the potential for both income through attractive dividend yields and capital appreciation and that it believes are undervalued and well-positioned to benefit from the Advisor’s outlook for a gradual reduction in interest rates, the continuation of global decarbonization, and favourable demographics (such as a growing middle class and urbanization).

The Company’s investment objectives for the:

Class A shares are to provide holders with:

(i) non-cumulative monthly cash distributions; and
(ii) the opportunity for capital appreciation through exposure to the portfolio

Preferred shares are to:

(i) provide holders with fixed cumulative preferential quarterly cash distributions; and
(ii) return the original issue price of $10.00 to holders upon maturity

The initial target distribution yield for the class A shares is 10.0% per annum based on the notional $15 issue price (or $0.125 per month or $1.50 per annum). On May 1, 2024, the Company announced that the first distribution on Class A shares will be payable to shareholders of record as at May 10th, 2024, and payable on or about May 15th, 2024.

The initial target distribution yield for the preferred shares is 7.2% per annum based on the original subscription price (or $0.18 per quarter or $0.72 per annum).

The syndicate of agents was co-led by CIBC Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets, and Scotiabank, and included Canaccord Genuity Corp., National Bank Financial Inc., Hampton Securities Limited, BMO Capital Markets, iA Private Wealth Inc., Raymond James Ltd., Manulife Wealth Incorporated, Echelon Wealth Partners Inc., Wellington-Altus Private Wealth Inc., Desjardins Securities Inc. and Research Capital Corporation.

For further information, please visit our website at www.middlefield.com or contact Nancy Tham in our Sales and Marketing Department at 1.888.890.1868.

Fifty-two million is a nice size for a start-up SplitShare preferred, so it’s now been added to HIMIPref™

The prospectus is available on the fund’s main web page:

The Company intends that an equal number of Preferred Shares and Class A Shares will be outstanding at all material times. Following completion of the Offering, the Company may undertake further offerings of Preferred Shares or Class A Shares in order that an equal number of Preferred Shares and Class A Shares is outstanding at all material times.

The investment objectives for the Preferred Shares are to provide holders with fixed cumulative preferential quarterly cash distributions and to return $10.00 to holders on April 30, 2029 (the “Maturity Date”), subject to extension for successive terms of up to five years each as determined by the Company’s board of directors (the “Board of Directors”). The quarterly cash distribution until April 30, 2029 will be $0.18 per Preferred Share $0.72 per annum), representing a yield of 7.2% per annum on the issue price of $10.00 per Preferred Share.

Holders of record of Preferred Shares on the last business day of each of April, July, October and January will be entitled to receive fixed, cumulative preferential quarterly cash distributions equal to $0.18 per Preferred Share until April 30, 2029. On an annualized basis, this would represent a yield on the $10.00 Preferred Share issue price of 7.2% per annum. Such quarterly distributions are expected to be paid by the Company before the last business day of the month following the period in respect of which the distribution was payable. Based on the expected closing date of the Offering, currently being May 8, 2024 (the “Closing Date”), the initial distribution is expected to be payable to the holders of Preferred Shares of record on July 31, 2024. The first distribution will be pro-rated to reflect the period from the Closing Date to July 31, 2024.

No distributions will be paid on the Class A Shares if (i) the distributions payable on the Preferred Shares are in arrears, or (ii) in respect of a cash distribution by the Company, the net asset value (“NAV” or “Net Asset Value”) per “Unit”, comprised of one Preferred Share and one Class A Share, would be less than $15.00 following the payment of such distributions.

…in order to achieve the Company’s targeted annual distributions for the Class A Shares and fixed annual distributions on the Preferred Shares while maintaining a stable NAV per Unit, the Company will be required to generate an average annual total return (comprised of net realized capital gains, option premiums and dividends) on the Portfolio of approximately 10.38%. The Portfolio is currently expected to generate dividend income of approximately 6.73% per annum. Accordingly, the Portfolio would be required to generate an additional approximately 3.65% per annum, including from dividend growth and realized capital appreciation, in order for the Company to distribute the targeted amount on the Class A Shares.

The Preferred Shares have been provisionally rated Pfd-3 (high) by DBRS Limited.

Monthly: Preferred Shares may be surrendered at any time for retraction to TSX Trust Company (in such capacity, the “Registrar and Transfer Agent”), the Company’s registrar and transfer agent, but will be retracted only on the second last business day of a month (the “Retraction Date”). Preferred Shares surrendered for retraction by 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on or before the twentieth business day prior to the Retraction Date will be retracted on such Retraction Date and the holder will be paid on or before the last business day of the following month (the “Retraction Payment Date”).

Holders of Preferred Shares whose Preferred Shares are surrendered for retraction will be entitled to receive a retraction price per Preferred Share equal to 96% of the lesser of (i) the NAV per Unit determined as of such Retraction Date, less the cost to the Company of the purchase of a Class A Share for cancellation; and (ii) $10.00. For this purpose, the cost of the purchase of a Class A Share will include the purchase price of the Class A Share, and commission and such other costs, if any, related to the liquidation of any portion of the Portfolio to fund the purchase of the Class A Share. Any declared and unpaid distributions payable on or before a Retraction Date in respect of Preferred Shares tendered for retraction on such Retraction Date will also be paid on the Retraction Payment Date. Subject to the terms of the Recirculation Agreement (as defined under “Redemptions and Retractions”), on any monthly retraction of Preferred Shares the Company will purchase or cause to be purchased for cancellation an equal number of Class A Shares in the market so that there will be an equal number of Preferred Shares and Class A Shares outstanding at all material times.

Annual management fee of 1.10% of the NAV of the Company calculated and payable monthly, based on the average NAV for that month, plus applicable taxes, provided that the management fee payable to the Manager shall not be paid in respect of the NAV attributable to any assets invested in the securities of any investment funds (including mutual funds) managed by the Manager or an affiliate of the Manager.

As the distributions to holders of Preferred Shares are expected to qualify as eligible dividends, the pre-tax equivalent yield for an individual in Ontario subject to the highest marginal tax rate (53.53%) on an annualized basis would be approximately 9.4% per annum.

How can one not love the bit about “to achieve the Company’s targeted annual distributions for the Class A Shares and fixed annual distributions on the Preferred Shares while maintaining a stable NAV per Unit … average annual total return (comprised of net realized capital gains, option premiums and dividends) on the Portfolio of approximately 10.38%.” Afficionados of SplitShare Credit Quality will knpw that given the presence of a cash drag, this requirement is highly sensitive to the price volatility of the underlying portfolio. Innumerate idiots, such as Capital Unit buyers and regulators, will remain blissfully ignorant of such high-school level math. But whatever, as long as the preferreds have a nice chunk of first-loss protection courtesy of the Capital Unitholders’ savings and the ‘minimum NAVPU rule’, this is not a major concern here.

DBRS has not yet confirmed its provisional Pfd-3(high) rating, but I can’t imagine any kind of problem with it.

The issue closed today on excellent volume of 839,091 shares. Vital Statistics are:

IS.PR.A SplitShare YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2029-04-29
Maturity Price : 10.00
Evaluated at bid price : 10.02
Bid-YTW : 7.16 %

Update, 2024-05-09: DBRS has announced:

DBRS Limited (Morningstar DBRS) finalized its provisional credit rating of Pfd-3 (high) assigned to the Preferred Shares issued by Infrastructure Dividend Split Corp. (the Company), managed by Middlefield Limited (the Manager).

Based on the initial asset coverage of 2.5x, the initial downside protection available to holders of the Preferred Shares is approximately 59% (after issuance fee and offering expenses). Downside protection available to the Preferred Shares consists of the NAV of the Class A Shares. The fixed distributions of dividends on the Preferred Shares will be funded from the dividends received on the securities in the Portfolio, which are expected to cover more than 1x the annual Preferred Shares distributions. The payment of regular monthly distributions to the holders of the Class A Shares, totalling $1.50 per annum, may reduce the downside protection over time. Without giving consideration to capital appreciation potential or any source of income other than the dividends earned by the Portfolio, the current distributions on the Class A Shares will create a projected grind on the NAV of the Portfolio of approximately 4.9% per year over the next five years. The grind in the portfolio is mitigated by a 1.5x NAV test.

May 7, 2024

May 7th, 2024
HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices
These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices

Values are provisional and are finalized monthly
Index Mean
Current
Yield
(at bid)
Median
YTW
Median
Average
Trading
Value
Median
Mod Dur
(YTW)
Issues Day’s Perf. Index Value
Ratchet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 1.3900 % 2,368.1
FixedFloater 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 1.3900 % 4,542.0
Floater 10.16 % 10.40 % 56,818 9.18 1 1.3900 % 2,617.6
OpRet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.1446 % 3,469.7
SplitShare 4.85 % 6.94 % 34,331 1.40 8 0.1446 % 4,143.6
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.1446 % 3,233.0
Perpetual-Premium 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.0093 % 2,678.9
Perpetual-Discount 6.41 % 6.56 % 53,992 13.13 27 -0.0093 % 2,921.2
FixedReset Disc 5.15 % 7.06 % 132,736 11.86 57 0.0928 % 2,595.5
Insurance Straight 6.33 % 6.46 % 58,251 13.21 21 0.3848 % 2,868.2
FloatingReset 9.06 % 9.14 % 29,603 10.20 2 0.2743 % 2,827.7
FixedReset Prem 6.91 % 6.24 % 194,948 3.11 2 0.4934 % 2,535.2
FixedReset Bank Non 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.0928 % 2,653.2
FixedReset Ins Non 5.01 % 6.75 % 82,812 12.90 14 0.2732 % 2,833.8
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
IFC.PR.F Insurance Straight -5.13 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 19.61
Evaluated at bid price : 19.61
Bid-YTW : 6.87 %
MFC.PR.I FixedReset Ins Non -1.83 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 22.97
Evaluated at bid price : 24.10
Bid-YTW : 6.74 %
GWO.PR.G Insurance Straight -1.74 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 19.80
Evaluated at bid price : 19.80
Bid-YTW : 6.67 %
POW.PR.C Perpetual-Discount -1.68 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 22.07
Evaluated at bid price : 22.30
Bid-YTW : 6.57 %
BIP.PR.E FixedReset Disc -1.27 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 21.56
Evaluated at bid price : 21.82
Bid-YTW : 7.79 %
POW.PR.D Perpetual-Discount -1.23 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 19.31
Evaluated at bid price : 19.31
Bid-YTW : 6.56 %
TD.PF.E FixedReset Disc -1.20 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 22.61
Evaluated at bid price : 23.02
Bid-YTW : 6.78 %
MFC.PR.F FixedReset Ins Non 1.02 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 17.78
Evaluated at bid price : 17.78
Bid-YTW : 6.75 %
SLF.PR.D Insurance Straight 1.08 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 18.70
Evaluated at bid price : 18.70
Bid-YTW : 6.04 %
BN.PR.B Floater 1.39 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 12.40
Evaluated at bid price : 12.40
Bid-YTW : 10.40 %
PWF.PR.P FixedReset Disc 1.57 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 15.50
Evaluated at bid price : 15.50
Bid-YTW : 7.89 %
PWF.PF.A Perpetual-Discount 1.63 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 17.50
Evaluated at bid price : 17.50
Bid-YTW : 6.49 %
BN.PF.H FixedReset Disc 1.76 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 23.38
Evaluated at bid price : 23.77
Bid-YTW : 8.04 %
BN.PR.N Perpetual-Discount 1.82 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 17.95
Evaluated at bid price : 17.95
Bid-YTW : 6.72 %
BN.PF.J FixedReset Disc 1.84 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 21.78
Evaluated at bid price : 22.10
Bid-YTW : 7.65 %
SLF.PR.C Insurance Straight 1.90 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 18.80
Evaluated at bid price : 18.80
Bid-YTW : 6.00 %
BIP.PR.A FixedReset Disc 1.95 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 20.88
Evaluated at bid price : 20.88
Bid-YTW : 8.51 %
BN.PF.E FixedReset Disc 1.99 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 17.90
Evaluated at bid price : 17.90
Bid-YTW : 8.65 %
BN.PR.R FixedReset Disc 2.68 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 16.48
Evaluated at bid price : 16.48
Bid-YTW : 8.56 %
MFC.PR.J FixedReset Ins Non 2.77 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 22.93
Evaluated at bid price : 24.15
Bid-YTW : 6.56 %
IFC.PR.G FixedReset Ins Non 3.26 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 22.73
Evaluated at bid price : 23.75
Bid-YTW : 6.57 %
GWO.PR.I Insurance Straight 4.37 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 17.90
Evaluated at bid price : 17.90
Bid-YTW : 6.38 %
CCS.PR.C Insurance Straight 6.71 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 19.40
Evaluated at bid price : 19.40
Bid-YTW : 6.54 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
RY.PR.Z FixedReset Disc 3,137,240 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2024-06-23
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.93
Bid-YTW : 4.59 %
BMO.PR.S FixedReset Disc 1,716,000 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2024-06-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.92
Bid-YTW : 4.90 %
BMO.PR.F FixedReset Disc 514,200 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2024-06-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.92
Bid-YTW : 5.70 %
RY.PR.H FixedReset Disc 110,072 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 23.47
Evaluated at bid price : 24.37
Bid-YTW : 6.09 %
TD.PF.E FixedReset Disc 82,793 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 22.61
Evaluated at bid price : 23.02
Bid-YTW : 6.78 %
CM.PR.S FixedReset Disc 58,266 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 24.19
Evaluated at bid price : 24.19
Bid-YTW : 6.35 %
There were 24 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
PWF.PR.T FixedReset Disc Quote: 22.20 – 24.50
Spot Rate : 2.3000
Average : 1.3175

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 21.79
Evaluated at bid price : 22.20
Bid-YTW : 6.71 %

IFC.PR.F Insurance Straight Quote: 19.61 – 20.94
Spot Rate : 1.3300
Average : 0.8861

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 19.61
Evaluated at bid price : 19.61
Bid-YTW : 6.87 %

FTS.PR.J Perpetual-Discount Quote: 19.34 – 20.25
Spot Rate : 0.9100
Average : 0.5540

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 19.34
Evaluated at bid price : 19.34
Bid-YTW : 6.27 %

MFC.PR.N FixedReset Ins Non Quote: 20.85 – 22.30
Spot Rate : 1.4500
Average : 1.1743

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 20.85
Evaluated at bid price : 20.85
Bid-YTW : 7.17 %

BN.PF.D Perpetual-Discount Quote: 18.20 – 19.05
Spot Rate : 0.8500
Average : 0.6193

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 18.20
Evaluated at bid price : 18.20
Bid-YTW : 6.84 %

TD.PF.E FixedReset Disc Quote: 23.02 – 23.70
Spot Rate : 0.6800
Average : 0.4619

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-07
Maturity Price : 22.61
Evaluated at bid price : 23.02
Bid-YTW : 6.78 %

May 6, 2024

May 6th, 2024

Oh, it’s wicked! Look at the price of potato chips, according to FRED:

This is of great pith and moment, since as we all know the four basic food groups are:

  • potato chips
  • chocolate chip cookies
  • beer
  • some more of them potato chips

What are we to do? Is the world ending?

HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices
These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices

Values are provisional and are finalized monthly
Index Mean
Current
Yield
(at bid)
Median
YTW
Median
Average
Trading
Value
Median
Mod Dur
(YTW)
Issues Day’s Perf. Index Value
Ratchet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 1.9167 % 2,335.6
FixedFloater 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 1.9167 % 4,479.7
Floater 10.30 % 10.54 % 55,614 9.08 1 1.9167 % 2,581.7
OpRet 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.4513 % 3,464.7
SplitShare 4.85 % 6.92 % 33,797 1.41 8 0.4513 % 4,137.6
Interest-Bearing 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.4513 % 3,228.3
Perpetual-Premium 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 0.6258 % 2,679.2
Perpetual-Discount 6.40 % 6.54 % 54,492 13.16 27 0.6258 % 2,921.5
FixedReset Disc 5.15 % 7.04 % 126,965 11.93 57 -0.0056 % 2,593.1
Insurance Straight 6.35 % 6.49 % 58,561 13.17 21 1.0146 % 2,857.2
FloatingReset 9.09 % 9.16 % 28,773 10.18 2 1.6219 % 2,819.9
FixedReset Prem 6.95 % 6.41 % 194,558 3.11 2 -0.2559 % 2,522.7
FixedReset Bank Non 0.00 % 0.00 % 0 0.00 0 -0.0056 % 2,650.7
FixedReset Ins Non 5.03 % 6.81 % 82,704 12.83 14 0.4116 % 2,826.1
Performance Highlights
Issue Index Change Notes
IFC.PR.G FixedReset Ins Non -3.16 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 22.33
Evaluated at bid price : 23.00
Bid-YTW : 6.80 %
MFC.PR.J FixedReset Ins Non -2.77 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 22.63
Evaluated at bid price : 23.50
Bid-YTW : 6.76 %
CCS.PR.C Insurance Straight -2.26 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 18.18
Evaluated at bid price : 18.18
Bid-YTW : 6.99 %
BN.PF.E FixedReset Disc -2.12 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 17.55
Evaluated at bid price : 17.55
Bid-YTW : 8.82 %
TD.PF.D FixedReset Disc -1.48 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 22.77
Evaluated at bid price : 23.25
Bid-YTW : 6.70 %
CM.PR.Q FixedReset Disc -1.43 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 22.98
Evaluated at bid price : 23.47
Bid-YTW : 6.63 %
SLF.PR.E Insurance Straight -1.29 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 18.37
Evaluated at bid price : 18.37
Bid-YTW : 6.21 %
BN.PR.R FixedReset Disc -1.23 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 16.05
Evaluated at bid price : 16.05
Bid-YTW : 8.78 %
FTS.PR.J Perpetual-Discount 1.00 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 19.19
Evaluated at bid price : 19.19
Bid-YTW : 6.32 %
PWF.PR.K Perpetual-Discount 1.01 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 19.02
Evaluated at bid price : 19.02
Bid-YTW : 6.57 %
MFC.PR.L FixedReset Ins Non 1.04 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 21.87
Evaluated at bid price : 22.35
Bid-YTW : 6.65 %
BIP.PR.E FixedReset Disc 1.10 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 21.76
Evaluated at bid price : 22.10
Bid-YTW : 7.68 %
GWO.PR.P Insurance Straight 1.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 20.96
Evaluated at bid price : 20.96
Bid-YTW : 6.54 %
GWO.PR.Q Insurance Straight 1.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 20.03
Evaluated at bid price : 20.03
Bid-YTW : 6.53 %
PWF.PR.E Perpetual-Discount 1.14 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 21.24
Evaluated at bid price : 21.24
Bid-YTW : 6.53 %
NA.PR.E FixedReset Disc 1.22 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 22.85
Evaluated at bid price : 24.00
Bid-YTW : 6.40 %
PVS.PR.H SplitShare 1.26 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2027-02-28
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.20
Bid-YTW : 6.30 %
BN.PF.C Perpetual-Discount 1.29 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 18.03
Evaluated at bid price : 18.03
Bid-YTW : 6.83 %
MFC.PR.F FixedReset Ins Non 1.32 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 17.60
Evaluated at bid price : 17.60
Bid-YTW : 6.81 %
SLF.PR.G FixedReset Ins Non 1.33 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 16.82
Evaluated at bid price : 16.82
Bid-YTW : 7.33 %
PWF.PR.Z Perpetual-Discount 1.33 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 19.83
Evaluated at bid price : 19.83
Bid-YTW : 6.55 %
PVS.PR.K SplitShare 1.42 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Hard Maturity
Maturity Date : 2029-05-31
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 22.80
Bid-YTW : 6.74 %
GWO.PR.H Insurance Straight 1.44 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 19.08
Evaluated at bid price : 19.08
Bid-YTW : 6.45 %
FTS.PR.H FixedReset Disc 1.60 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 15.24
Evaluated at bid price : 15.24
Bid-YTW : 8.19 %
CU.PR.I FixedReset Disc 1.61 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2025-12-01
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 23.98
Bid-YTW : 7.11 %
POW.PR.B Perpetual-Discount 1.62 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 20.75
Evaluated at bid price : 20.75
Bid-YTW : 6.53 %
FFH.PR.K FixedReset Disc 1.66 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 21.45
Evaluated at bid price : 21.45
Bid-YTW : 8.01 %
POW.PR.C Perpetual-Discount 1.70 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 22.42
Evaluated at bid price : 22.68
Bid-YTW : 6.46 %
BN.PR.B Floater 1.92 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 12.23
Evaluated at bid price : 12.23
Bid-YTW : 10.54 %
IFC.PR.F Insurance Straight 2.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 20.67
Evaluated at bid price : 20.67
Bid-YTW : 6.51 %
IFC.PR.I Insurance Straight 2.11 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 21.26
Evaluated at bid price : 21.26
Bid-YTW : 6.45 %
POW.PR.D Perpetual-Discount 2.25 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 19.55
Evaluated at bid price : 19.55
Bid-YTW : 6.47 %
GWO.PR.G Insurance Straight 2.28 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 20.15
Evaluated at bid price : 20.15
Bid-YTW : 6.55 %
MFC.PR.I FixedReset Ins Non 2.33 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 23.16
Evaluated at bid price : 24.55
Bid-YTW : 6.60 %
IFC.PR.K Insurance Straight 2.49 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 20.60
Evaluated at bid price : 20.60
Bid-YTW : 6.47 %
SLF.PR.J FloatingReset 2.59 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 17.40
Evaluated at bid price : 17.40
Bid-YTW : 9.41 %
SLF.PR.H FixedReset Ins Non 2.67 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 19.61
Evaluated at bid price : 19.61
Bid-YTW : 6.99 %
PWF.PR.S Perpetual-Discount 2.78 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 18.50
Evaluated at bid price : 18.50
Bid-YTW : 6.55 %
SLF.PR.C Insurance Straight 3.07 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 18.45
Evaluated at bid price : 18.45
Bid-YTW : 6.12 %
GWO.PR.L Insurance Straight 3.18 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 21.81
Evaluated at bid price : 22.05
Bid-YTW : 6.49 %
GWO.PR.N FixedReset Ins Non 3.37 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 15.35
Evaluated at bid price : 15.35
Bid-YTW : 7.64 %
GWO.PR.M Insurance Straight 3.53 % YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 22.33
Evaluated at bid price : 22.60
Bid-YTW : 6.50 %
Volume Highlights
Issue Index Shares
Traded
Notes
IFC.PR.C FixedReset Ins Non 258,000 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 21.46
Evaluated at bid price : 21.46
Bid-YTW : 6.96 %
RY.PR.H FixedReset Disc 247,000 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 23.36
Evaluated at bid price : 24.27
Bid-YTW : 6.11 %
FTS.PR.H FixedReset Disc 143,000 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 15.24
Evaluated at bid price : 15.24
Bid-YTW : 8.19 %
RY.PR.M FixedReset Disc 120,000 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 22.74
Evaluated at bid price : 23.15
Bid-YTW : 6.50 %
BMO.PR.S FixedReset Disc 102,000 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Call
Maturity Date : 2024-06-24
Maturity Price : 25.00
Evaluated at bid price : 24.92
Bid-YTW : 4.80 %
MFC.PR.F FixedReset Ins Non 84,100 YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 17.60
Evaluated at bid price : 17.60
Bid-YTW : 6.81 %
There were 24 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares.
Wide Spread Highlights
Issue Index Quote Data and Yield Notes
RY.PR.N Perpetual-Discount Quote: 22.90 – 24.20
Spot Rate : 1.3000
Average : 0.7449

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 22.63
Evaluated at bid price : 22.90
Bid-YTW : 5.35 %

IFC.PR.K Insurance Straight Quote: 20.60 – 22.00
Spot Rate : 1.4000
Average : 1.0305

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 20.60
Evaluated at bid price : 20.60
Bid-YTW : 6.47 %

IFC.PR.G FixedReset Ins Non Quote: 23.00 – 24.00
Spot Rate : 1.0000
Average : 0.6345

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 22.33
Evaluated at bid price : 23.00
Bid-YTW : 6.80 %

CCS.PR.C Insurance Straight Quote: 18.18 – 19.72
Spot Rate : 1.5400
Average : 1.2093

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 18.18
Evaluated at bid price : 18.18
Bid-YTW : 6.99 %

GWO.PR.I Insurance Straight Quote: 17.15 – 18.32
Spot Rate : 1.1700
Average : 0.9144

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 17.15
Evaluated at bid price : 17.15
Bid-YTW : 6.66 %

IFC.PR.I Insurance Straight Quote: 21.26 – 22.08
Spot Rate : 0.8200
Average : 0.6249

YTW SCENARIO
Maturity Type : Limit Maturity
Maturity Date : 2054-05-06
Maturity Price : 21.26
Evaluated at bid price : 21.26
Bid-YTW : 6.45 %

MAPF Performance: April, 2024

May 6th, 2024

Malachite Aggressive Preferred Fund’s Net Asset Value per Unit as of the close April 30, 2024, was $9.7982.

Performance was affected by MFC.PR.B underperforming (following last month’s underperformance) with a -4.18% return, PWF.PR.R with a -2.67% return and MIC.PR.A underperforming with a -1.42% return. This was outweighed by good performance from RY.PR.J (+7.86%, third month of outperformance streak), BN.PR.R (+7.00%) and
TD.PF.C (+6.16%, now largely sold off, the sixth straight month of outperformance) [small holdings are not considered for individual mention here].

The last few months have been very good to preferred shareholders, following the lows of the TXPR price index on 2023-10-31, but yields remain elevated well above those available on instruments with similar risk; for instance, Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. recently noted they are refinancing BEP.PR.O on the “green perpetual subordinated notes” market at 70bp under the presumed reset rate of BEP.PR.O.

FixedResets continue to yield more, in general, than PerpetualDiscounts although the spread has narrowed considerably; on April 30, I reported median YTWs of 7.12% and 6.83%, respectively, for these two indices; compare with mean Current Yields of 5.24% and 6.66%, respectively.

In previous commentaries, I have used RY.PR.J as a ‘representative example’ of FixedResets, but the outperformance of bank issues in recent months has been so extraordinary that the calculated yield to perpetuity of this issue is now lower than that of the PerpetualDiscount subindex, so this seems to be a good time to stop showing the comparison in such detail. I will note that as the yield spread between FixedResets and PerpetualDiscounts has narrowed, there has been less and less reason to overweight the former class in portfolios; as those who pay close attention to the MAPF Portfolio Composition: April, 2024 will notice, the proportion of Straight Perpetuals held by the fund has been increasing over the past few months.

Returns to April 30, 2024
Period MAPF TXPR*
Total Return
CPD – according to Blackrock
One Month +2.18% +1.22% N/A
Three Months +8.24% +4.86% N/A
One Year +27.73% +14.60% +13.90%
Two Years (annualized) +7.51% +3.07% N/A
Three Years (annualized) +4.76% +1.13% +0.60%
Four Years (annualized) +17.36% +8.83% N/A
Five Years (annualized) +8.36% +4.49% +3.90%
Six Years (annualized) +4.55% +2.63% N/A
Seven Years (annualized) +5.81% +2.98% N/A
Eight Years (annualized) +8.11% +4.79% N/A
Nine Years (annualized) +4.95% +2.67% N/A
Ten Years (annualized) +4.43% +2.07% +1.57%
Eleven Years (annualized) +4.15% +1.89%  
Twelve Years (annualized) +4.55% +2.16%  
Thirteen Years (annualized) +4.51% +2.40%  
Fourteen Years (annualized) +5.78% +3.18%  
Fifteen Years (annualized) +7.15% +3.73%  
Sixteen Years (annualized) +7.86% +2.97%  
Seventeen Years (annualized) +7.40%    
Eighteen Years (annualized) +7.36%    
Nineteen Years (annualized) +7.31%    
Twenty Years (annualized) +7.43%    
Twenty-One Years (annualized) +8.22%    
Twenty-Two Years (annualized) +7.92%    
Twenty-Three Years (annualized) +8.27%    
MAPF returns assume reinvestment of distributions, and are shown after expenses but before fees.
The BMO Capital Markets “50” Preferred Share Index is no longer being calculated. The final performance report incorporating this venerable index was published as of December, 2020.
“TXPR” is the S&P/TSX Preferred Share Index. It is calculated without accounting for fees, but does assume reinvestment of dividends.
CPD Returns are for the NAV and are after all fees and expenses. Reinvestment of dividends is assumed.
Figures for NBI Preferred Equity Income Fund [NBC480] (formerly Omega Preferred Equity) (which are after all fees and expenses) for 1-, 3- and 12-months are +1.58%, +5.86% and +16.64%, respectively, according to National Bank Investments after all fees & expenses. Three year performance is +1.71%; five year is +5.48%; ten year is +3.05%.

Figures from Morningstar are no longer conveniently available.

Manulife Preferred Income Class Adv has been terminated by Manulife. The performance of this fund was last reported here in March, 2018.
Figures for Horizons Active Preferred Share ETF (HPR) (which are after all fees and expenses) for 1-, 3- and 12-months are +2.01%, +6.97% & +20.15%, respectively. Three year performance is +2.75%, five-year is +6.07%, ten year is +3.17%
Figures for NBI Preferred Equity Fund [NBC410] (formerly Altamira Preferred Equity Fund) are +2.10%, +7.25% and +21.18% for one-, three- and twelve months, respectively. Three year performance is +2.44%; five-year is +5.56%; ten-year is +2.48%

Acccording to the fund’s fact sheet as of June 30, 2016, the fund’s inception date was October 30, 2015. I do not know how they justify this nonsensical statement, but will assume that prior performance is being suppressed in some perfectly legal manner that somebody at National considers ethical.

The last time Altamira Preferred Equity Fund’s performance was reported here was April, 2014; performance under the National Bank banner was first reported here May, 2014.

The figures for the NAV of BMO Laddered Preferred Share Index ETF (ZPR) is +19.33% for the past twelve months. Two year performance is +4.48%, three year is +2.55%, five year is +5.74%, ten year is +1.63%

Note that analysis of ZPR shows some doubt as to whether this fund is either "laddered" or an "index fund".

Figures for Fiera Canadian Preferred Share Class Cg Series F, (formerly Natixis Canadian Preferred Share Class Series F) (formerly NexGen Canadian Preferred Share Tax Managed Fund) are no longer available as the Fund is now the property of Canoe Financial. The last reported performance for the merged fund was May 2020.
Figures for BMO Preferred Share Fund (advisor series) according to Morningstar are +0.05%, +3.60% and +12.10% for the past one-, three- and twelve-months, respectively. Three year performance is -1.12%; five-year is +2.44%; ten-year is +0.11%.
Figures for PowerShares Canadian Preferred Share Index Class, Series F (PPS) are no longer available since the fund has been terminated. Performance was last reported for the fund to month-end, March 2023
Figures for the First Asset Preferred Share Investment Trust (PSF.UN) are no longer available since the fund has merged with First Asset Preferred Share ETF (FPR).

Performance for the fund was last reported here in September, 2016; the first report of unavailability was in October, 2016.

Figures for Lysander-Slater Preferred Share Dividend Fund (Class F) according to the company are +1.8%, +5.8% and +17.8% for the past one, three and twelve months, respectively. Three year performance is +2.7%, five-year is +4.9%.
Figures for the Desjardins Canadian Preferred Share Fund A Class (A Class), as reported by the company are +1.05%, +4.13% and +13.69% for the past one, three and twelve months, respectively. Two year performance is +2.46%, three-year is +0.42%, five-year is +3.42%
Figures for the RBC Canadian Preferred Share ETF (RPF) are reported by Morningstar as +2.39%, +6.42% and +18.33% for the past one, three and twelve months, respectively. Three-year performance is +1.52%, five-year is +4.95%
Figures for the Dynamic Active Preferred Shares ETF (DXP) are +1,3%, +5.2% and +16.9% for the past one, three and twelve months, respectively. Three-year performance is +3.7%; five-year is +7.1%
Figures for the Purpose Canadian Preferred Share Fund (Class F) are +2.40%, +7.08% and +21.61% for the past one, three and twelve months, respectively. Three-year performance is +2.81%; five-year is +6.81%; seven-year is +3.25%; ten-year is +5.30%.

The five-year Canada yield increased, with the five-year Canada yield (“GOC-5”) moving from 3.55% at March month-end to 3.85% at April month-end.

The Seniority Spread (between long-term corporate bonds and interest-equivalent PerpetualDiscounts) was 345bp on 2024-5-1 narrowing a bit from 355bp on 2024-3-27 (chart end-date 2024-4-12) :

The situation with FixedResets is interesting, with the spread between GOC-5 and the interest-adjusted FixedReset (Discount) rate widening significantly (despite recent narrowing) from its 2021-11-10 low of 344bp to a level of 512bp (as of 2024-5-1) … (chart end-date 2024-04-12):

…while at the same time the interest-equivalent spread between FixedReset (Discounts) and PerpetualDiscounts has narrowed to -15bp (as of 2024-5-1) from its 2021-7-28 level of +170bp (chart end-date 2024-04-12):

There is no significant correlation between the Issue Reset Spread and 1-month performance for discounted FixedResets for either the Pfd-2 or Pfd-3 Group issues.

There is no significant correlation between the Issue Reset Spread and 3-month performance for discounted FixedResets for either the Pfd-2 or Pfd-3 Group issues.

There are strong correlations for both the Pfd-2 Group (24%) and the Pfd-3 Group (36%) for 1-Month performance against term-to-reset:

… and we see similar behaviour for three-month returns vs. Term to Reset, with correlation for the Pfd-2 Group (40%) and the Pfd-3 Group (19%):

It should be noted that to some extent a dependence (of performance on term-to-reset) can be justified as the nearer-term issues will receive the benefit of higher projected dividend rates sooner as a result of higher GOC-5 yields and therefore, perhaps, for longer. Equations for the relationship between correlation slope and change in GOC-5 were derived in the August 2022 PrefLetter. Last month I wrote:

I ascribe the apparent correlation between term to reset and performance for Pfd-2 issues over three months to be due to the influence of bank issues; bank issues with a short term to reset have done very well recently due to a perception of a relatively high chance of redemption in the near future as financing is now available very cheaply in other markets.

… but now, with significant correlations found for both credit groups at both time-spans, I suspect that the enthusiasm for near term resets is due to expectations of higher reset rates in the near future than was previously the case.

Upwards-sloping correlations of Performance vs. Term are to be expected when GOC-5 declines.

I keep talking about ‘Sustainable Income’ and nowadays it’s far higher than the dividends that are currently being distributed. This is because Sustainable Income is the average yield-to-worst (YTW) of the portfolio when the YTW is calculated to perpetuity (or to redemption, of course, if the yield to redemption is lower), including resets at the current GOC-5 rate. The sharp increase in GOC-5 in the past year-odd has caused the difference between YTW and Current Yield to skyrocket, but one way or another I expect that these two values will become much closer – slowly at first, but quickening in about two years. We have to wait for the reset date of the MAPF portfolio securities before we see a change in actual cash receipts – and, of course, there is no guarantee whatsoever that the rate used for estimation purposes now will be used for the actual calculation in the future (chart prepared as of 2024-4-12).

I will note that the fund’s current holdings of FixedResets are now paying dividends based on their previous reset at an average GOC-5 rate of 1.59% (weighted by shares held). The jump from last month’s measurement of 1.45% is due to the fund’s significant purchases of CM.PR.S (which reset 2023-1-31, with a GOC-5 rate of 3.43%) and the reset of the fund’s holdings of TRP.PR.D (which reset 2024-4-30 with a GOC-5 rate of 3.61%). However, neither issue has yet earned a dividend at the new rates: CM.PR.S will go ex-dividend around 2024-6-27, while TRP.PR.D will have to wait until the third quarter this year with an ex-date of 2024-7-2 (declared).

Calculation of MAPF Sustainable Income Per Unit
Month NAVPU Portfolio
Average
YTW
Leverage
Divisor
Securities
Average
YTW
Capital
Gains
Multiplier
Sustainable
Income
per
current
Unit
June, 2007 9.3114 5.16% 1.03 5.01% 1.3240 0.3524
September 9.1489 5.35% 0.98 5.46% 1.3240 0.3773
December, 2007 9.0070 5.53% 0.942 5.87% 1.3240 0.3993
March, 2008 8.8512 6.17% 1.047 5.89% 1.3240 0.3938
June 8.3419 6.034% 0.952 6.338% 1.3240 $0.3993
September 8.1886 7.108% 0.969 7.335% 1.3240 $0.4537
December, 2008 8.0464 9.24% 1.008 9.166% 1.3240 $0.5571
March 2009 $8.8317 8.60% 0.995 8.802% 1.3240 $0.5872
June 10.9846 7.05% 0.999 7.057% 1.3240 $0.5855
September 12.3462 6.03% 0.998 6.042% 1.3240 $0.5634
December 2009 10.5662 5.74% 0.981 5.851% 1.1141 $0.5549
March 2010 10.2497 6.03% 0.992 6.079% 1.1141 $0.5593
June 10.5770 5.96% 0.996 5.984% 1.1141 $0.5681
September 11.3901 5.43% 0.980 5.540% 1.1141 $0.5664
December 2010 10.7659 5.37% 0.993 5.408% 1.0298 $0.5654
March, 2011 11.0560 6.00% 0.994 5.964% 1.0298 $0.6403
June 11.1194 5.87% 1.018 5.976% 1.0298 $0.6453
September 10.2709 6.10%
Note
1.001 6.106% 1.0298 $0.6090
December, 2011 10.0793 5.63%
Note
1.031 5.805% 1.0000 $0.5851
March, 2012 10.3944 5.13%
Note
0.996 5.109% 1.0000 $0.5310
June 10.2151 5.32%
Note
1.012 5.384% 1.0000 $0.5500
September 10.6703 4.61%
Note
0.997 4.624% 1.0000 $0.4934
December, 2012 10.8307 4.24% 0.989 4.287% 1.0000 $0.4643
March, 2013 10.9033 3.87% 0.996 3.886% 1.0000 $0.4237
June 10.3261 4.81% 0.998 4.80% 1.0000 $0.4957
September 10.0296 5.62% 0.996 5.643% 1.0000 $0.5660
December, 2013 9.8717 6.02% 1.008 5.972% 1.0000 $0.5895
March, 2014 10.2233 5.55% 0.998 5.561% 1.0000 $0.5685
June 10.5877 5.09% 0.998 5.100% 1.0000 $0.5395
September 10.4601 5.28% 0.997 5.296% 1.0000 $0.5540
December, 2014 10.5701 4.83% 1.009 4.787% 1.0000 $0.5060
March, 2015 9.9573 4.99% 1.001 4.985% 1.0000 $0.4964
June, 2015 9.4181 5.55% 1.002 5.539% 1.0000 $0.5217
September 7.8140 6.98% 0.999 6.987% 1.0000 $0.5460
December, 2015 8.1379 6.85% 0.997 6.871% 1.0000 $0.5592
March, 2016 7.4416 7.79% 0.998 7.805% 1.0000 $0.5808
June 7.6704 7.67% 1.011 7.587% 1.0000 $0.5819
September 8.0590 7.35% 0.993 7.402% 1.0000 $0.5965
December, 2016 8.5844 7.24% 0.990 7.313% 1.0000 $0.6278
March, 2017 9.3984 6.26% 0.994 6.298% 1.0000 $0.5919
June 9.5313 6.41% 0.998 6.423% 1.0000 $0.6122
September 9.7129 6.56% 0.998 6.573% 1.0000 $0.6384
December, 2017 10.0566 6.06% 1.004 6.036% 1.0000 $0.6070
March, 2018 10.2701 6.22% 1.007 6.177% 1.0000 $0.6344
June 10.2518 6.22% 0.995 6.251% 1.0000 $0.6408
September 10.2965 6.62% 1.018 6.503% 1.0000 $0.6696
December, 2018 8.6875 7.16% 0.997 7.182% 1.0000 $0.6240
March, 2019 8.4778 7.09% 1.007 7.041% 1.0000 $0.5969
June 8.0896 7.33% 0.996 7.359% 1.0000 $0.5953
September 7.7948 7.96% 0.998 7.976% 1.0000 $0.6217
December, 2019 8.0900 6.03% 0.995 6.060% 1.0000 $0.4903
March 5.5596 7.04% 1.006 6.998% 1.0000 $0.3891
June 6.3568 6.10% 0.9900 6.162% 1.0000 $0.3917
September 7.2852 5.32% 1.00 5.320% 1.0000 $0.3876
December, 2020 8.3947 4.46% 0.999 4.464% 1.0000 $0.3747
March, 2021 9.6473 4.48% 0.996 4.498% 1.0000 $0.4339
June 10.3712 3.92% 0.985 3.980% 1.0000 $0.4127
September 10.7572 4.08% 1.017 4.012% 1.0000 $0.4316
December, 2021 10.7432 4.31% 0.999 4.314% 1.0000 $0.4635
March, 2022 10.5040 5.53% 1.004 5.508% 1.0000 $0.5786
June 9.3115 7.04% 0.993 7.090% 1.0000 $0.6672
September 8.4093 8.10% 0.997 8.124% 1.0000 $0.6916
December, 2022 7.9921 8.47% 0.996 8.504% 1.0000 $0.6796
March, 2023 8.0788 7.90% 0.997 7.924% 1.0000 $0.6401
June 30 8.0197 9.19% 1.003 9.163% 1.0000 $0.7348
September 29 7.9922 9.86% 0.997 9.890% 1.0000 $0.7904
Decenber 29, 2023 8.4715 8.14% 1.002 8.124% 1.0000 $0.6882
March 28,2024 9.5892 7.60% 1.006 7.555% 1.0000 $0.7244
April 30, 2024 9.7982 7.60% 0.988 7.743% 1.0000 $0.7587
NAVPU is shown after quarterly distributions of dividend income and annual distribution of capital gains.
Portfolio YTW includes cash (or margin borrowing), with an assumed interest rate of 0.00%
The Leverage Divisor indicates the level of cash in the account: if the portfolio is 1% in cash, the Leverage Divisor will be 0.99
Securities YTW divides “Portfolio YTW” by the “Leverage Divisor” to show the average YTW on the securities held; this assumes that the cash is invested in (or raised from) all securities held, in proportion to their holdings.
The Capital Gains Multiplier adjusts for the effects of Capital Gains Dividends. On 2009-12-31, there was a capital gains distribution of $1.989262 which is assumed for this purpose to have been reinvested at the final price of $10.5662. Thus, a holder of one unit pre-distribution would have held 1.1883 units post-distribution; the CG Multiplier reflects this to make the time-series comparable. Note that Dividend Distributions are not assumed to be reinvested.
Sustainable Income is the resultant estimate of the fund’s dividend income per current unit, before fees and expenses. Note that a “current unit” includes reinvestment of prior capital gains; a unitholder would have had the calculated sustainable income with only, say, 0.9 units in the past which, with reinvestment of capital gains, would become 1.0 current units.
DeemedRetractibles are comprised of all Straight Perpetuals (both PerpetualDiscount and PerpetualPremium) issued by BMO, BNS, CM, ELF, GWO, HSB, IAG, MFC, NA, RY, SLF and TD, which are not exchangable into common at the option of the company or the regulator (definition refined in May, 2011). These issues are analyzed as if their prospectuses included a requirement to redeem at par on or prior to 2022-1-31 (banks) or the Deemed Maturity date for insurers and insurance holding companies (see below)), in addition to the call schedule explicitly defined. See the Deemed Retractible Review: September 2016 for the rationale behind this analysis.

The same reasoning is also applied to FixedResets from these issuers, other than explicitly defined NVCC from banks.

In November, 2019, the assumption of DeemedRetraction for insurance issues was cancelled in the wake of the IAIS decision included in ICS 2.0. This resulted in a large drop in the yield calculated for these issues

The Deemed Maturity date for insurers was set at 2022-1-31 at the commencement of the process in February, 2011. It was extended to 2025-1-31 in April, 2013 and to 2030-1-31 in December, 2018. In November, 2019, the assumption of DeemedRetraction was cancelled in the wake of the IAIS decision included in ICS 2.0.
Yields for September, 2011, to January, 2012, were calculated by imposing a cap of 10% on the yields of YLO issues held, in order to avoid their extremely high calculated yields distorting the calculation and to reflect the uncertainty in the marketplace that these yields will be realized. From February to September 2012, yields on these issues have been set to zero. All YLO issues held were sold in October 2012.

These calculations were performed assuming constant contemporary GOC-5 and 3-Month Bill rates, as follows:

Canada Yields Assumed in Calculations
Month-end GOC-5 3-Month Bill
September, 2015 0.78% 0.40%
December, 2015 0.71% 0.46%
March, 2016 0.70% 0.44%
June 0.57% 0.47%
September 0.58% 0.53%
December, 2016 1.16% 0.47%
March, 2017 1.08% 0.55%
June 1.35% 0.69%
September 1.79% 0.97%
December, 2017 1.83% 1.00%
March, 2018 2.06% 1.08%
June 1.95% 1.22%
September 2.33% 1.55%
December, 2018 1.88% 1.65%
March, 2019 1.46% 1.66%
June 1.34% 1.66%
September 1.41% 1.66%
December, 2019 1.68% 1.68%
March, 2020 0.57% 0.21%
June 0.37% 0.21%
September 0.35% 0.14%
December, 2020 0.42% 0.08%
March, 2021 0.94% 0.09%
June 0.93% 0.13%
September 1.07% 0.13%
December, 2021 1.31% 0.16%
March, 2022 2.44% 0.53%
June 3.24% 2.11%
September 3.45% 3.60%
December, 2022 3.37% 4.35%
March, 2023 2.93% 4.44%
June 3.74% 5.00%
September 4.31% 5.21%
December, 2023 3.21% 5.13%
March, 2024 3.55% 5.06%
April, 2024 3.85% 5.03%

MAPF Portfolio Composition: April, 2024

May 5th, 2024

Turnover increased substantially to 21% in April, largely due to trading within and out of the very well performing bank FixedReset sector..

Sectoral distribution of the MAPF portfolio on April 30, 2024, were:

MAPF Sectoral Analysis 2024-4-30
HIMI Indices Sector Weighting YTW ModDur
Ratchet 0% N/A N/A
FixFloat 0% N/A N/A
Floater 0% N/A N/A
OpRet 0% N/A N/A
SplitShare 0% N/A N/A
Interest Rearing 0% N/A N/A
PerpetualPremium 0% N/A N/A
PerpetualDiscount 6.7% 6.85% 12.75
Fixed-Reset Discount 53.3% 7.61% 12.14
Insurance – Straight 11.5% 6.55% 13.10
FloatingReset 0% N/A N/A
FixedReset Premium 0% N/A N/A
FixedReset Bank non-NVCC 0% N/A N/A
FixedReset Insurance non-NVCC 5.3% 7.30% 12.82
Scraps – Ratchet 0.9% 10.30% 9.85
Scraps – FixedFloater 0.4% 10.07% 10.71
Scraps – Floater 0% N/A N/A
Scraps – OpRet 0% N/A N/A
Scraps – SplitShare 4.2% 7.88% 2.48
Scraps – PerpPrem 0% N/A N/A
Scraps – PerpDisc 4.6% 7.30 12.15
Scraps – FR Discount 11.9% 9.66% 10.28
Scraps – Insurance Straight 0% N/A N/A
Scraps – FloatingReset 0% N/A N/A
Scraps – FR Premium 0% N/A N/A
Scraps – Bank non-NVCC 0% N/A N/A
Scraps – Ins non-NVCC 0% N/A N/A
Cash +1.2% 0.00% 0.00
Total 100% 7.60% 11.53
Totals and changes will not add precisely due to rounding. Cash is included in totals with duration and yield both equal to zero.
The various “Scraps” indices include issues with a DBRS rating of Pfd-3(high) or lower and issues with an Average Trading Value (calculated with HIMIPref™ methodology, which is relatively complex) of less than $25,000. The issues considered “Scraps” are subdivided into indices which reflect those of the main indices.
DeemedRetractibles were comprised of all Straight Perpetuals (both PerpetualDiscount and PerpetualPremium) issued by BMO, BNS, CM, ELF, GWO, HSB, IAG, MFC, NA, RY, SLF and TD, which are not exchangable into common at the option of the company or the regulator. These issues are analyzed as if their prospectuses included a requirement to redeem at par on or prior to 2022-1-31 in the case of banks or normally in the case of insurers and insurance holding companies, in addition to the call schedule explicitly defined. See the Deemed Retractible Review: September 2016 for the rationale behind this analysis and IAIS Says No To DeemedRetractions for the recent change in policy with respect to insurers.

Note that the estimate for the time this will become effective for insurers and insurance holding companies was extended by three years in April 2013, due to the delays in OSFI’s providing clarity on the issue and by a further five years in December, 2018; the estimate was eliminated in November. However, the distinctions are being kept because it is useful to distinguish insurance issues from others.

The name of this subindex has been changed to “Insurance Straight” as of November, 2020

Calculations of yield and related attributes of resettable instruments are performed assuming a constant GOC-5 rate of 3.85%, a constant 3-Month Bill rate of 5.03% and a constant Canada Prime Rate of 7.20%

The “total” reflects the un-leveraged total portfolio (i.e., cash is included in the portfolio calculations and is deemed to have a duration and yield of 0.00.). MAPF will often have relatively large cash balances, both credit and debit, to facilitate trading. Figures presented in the table have been rounded to the indicated precision.

Credit distribution is:

MAPF Credit Analysis 2024-04-30
DBRS Rating MAPF Weighting
Pfd-1 0
Pfd-1(low) 0
Pfd-2(high) 37.8%
Pfd-2 30.0%
Pfd-2(low) 13.6%
Pfd-3(high) 9.0%
Pfd-3 3.3%
Pfd-3(low) 4.9%
Pfd-4(high) 0.2%
Pfd-4 0%
Pfd-4(low) 0%
Pfd-5(high) 0%
Pfd-5 0%
Cash +1.2%
Totals will not add precisely due to rounding.
A position held in INE.PR.A is not rated by DBRS nor by S&P, but has been included as “Pfd-4(high)” in the above table on the basis of its last S&P rating of P-4(high) and its BB rating from Fitch. A “BB” rating would normally map to Pfd-3, but the company’s disdain for the two major preferred share agencies makes me nervous.

Liquidity Distribution is:

MAPF Liquidity Analysis 2024-04-30
Average Daily Trading MAPF Weighting
<$50,000 13.7%
$50,000 – $100,000 28.6%
$100,000 – $200,000 23.6%
$200,000 – $300,000 14.1%
>$300,000 18.8%
Cash +1.2%
Totals will not add precisely due to rounding.

The distribution of Issue Reset Spreads is:

Range MAPF Weight
<100bp 0%
100-149bp 0%
150-199bp 1.0%
200-249bp 49.6%
250-299bp 18.4%
300-349bp 1.8%
350-399bp 0.6%
400-449bp 0%
450-499bp 0%
500-549bp 0%
550-599bp 0%
>= 600bp 0%
Undefined 28.5%

Distribution of Floating Rate Start Dates is shown in the table below. This is the date of the next adjustment to the dividend rate, if the issue is currently paying a fixed rate for a limited time; which in practice is successive terms of 5 years. Issues that adjust quarterly are considered “Currently Floating”.

Range MAPF Weight
Currently Floating 1.9%
0-1 Year 19.4%
1-2 Years 14.2%
2-3 Years 15.3%
3-4 Years 17.2%
4-5 Years 4.9%
5-6 Years 0%
>6 Years 0%
Not Floating Rate 27.2%

MAPF is, of course, Malachite Aggressive Preferred Fund, a “unit trust” managed by Hymas Investment Management Inc. Further information and links to performance, audited financials and subscription information are available the fund’s web page. The fund may be purchased directly from Hymas Investment Management. A “unit trust” is like a regular mutual fund, but are not sold with a prospectus This is cheaper, but means subscription is restricted to “accredited investors” (as defined by the Ontario Securities Commission). Fund past performances are not a guarantee of future performance. You can lose money investing in MAPF or any other fund.