Ups and Downs of Doing the Splits

John Heinzl’s Investor Clinic in the Globe is titled Ups and Downs of Doing the Splits and addresses the question: What are split shares exactly, and are they a good investment?

He starts of really well:

Because split shares can get a bit tricky, we’ve invited one of Canada’s leading preferred share experts, James Hymas of Hymas Investment Management in Toronto, to share his expertise.

Dear Sirs: Please extend my Globe & Mail subscription …

Most of it’s pretty basic. My favourite part was when I was asked ‘Who buys Capital Units?’:

For those reasons, Mr. Hymas says the capital shares are only appropriate for “suckers.”

“They’re for people who like to pay high fees, and they’re for people who like to take a lot of risk, and they’re for people who can’t read a prospectus properly,” he says.