PrefBlog

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. has announced:

the results of the exercise of the conversion privilege for its Class A Preference Shares, Series 8 (the “Series 8 Preferred Shares”) (TSX: BAM.PR.E) and its Class A Preference Shares, Series 9 (the “Series 9 Preferred Shares”) (TSX: BAM.PR.G).

Holders of the company’s Series 8 Preferred Shares and Series 9 Preferred Shares had the right to exchange their shares for the other series effective November 1, 2016, if they submitted an election to convert their shares on or prior to October 18, 2016. Holders of 435,513 Series 8 Preferred Shares have elected to convert these shares into an equivalent number of Series 9 Preferred Shares, and holders of 1,262,704 Series 9 Preferred Shares have elected to convert these shares into an equivalent number of Series 8 Preferred Shares.

These conversions will be effective on November 1, 2016. Following these conversions, there will be 2,479,585 Series 8 Preferred Shares and 5,519,415 Series 9 Preferred Shares issued and outstanding.

The Series 8 Preferred Shares pay a monthly floating rate dividend based on the Prime Rate, adjusted to reflect the trading price of these shares. The most recent monthly dividend paid on these shares on October 12, 2016 reflected an annualized dividend rate of 2.70%. The Series 9 Preferred Shares pay a quarterly dividend which is reset every five years based on a percentage of the five-year rate offered on Government of Canada bonds at the time. As previously announced, the annual rate on the Series 9 Preferred Shares has been reset at 2.75% commencing with the dividend payable on February 1, 2017.

Holders of the company’s Series 8 and Series 9 Preferred Shares will again have the opportunity to convert their shares into the other series effective November 1, 2021 and every five years thereafter.

Assiduous Readers will remember that I recommended conversion to BAM.PR.E when the reset rate of 2.75% on BAM.PR.G was announced.

BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited has announced (although not yet on their website):

details concerning the delisting and mandatory redemption of the Class A Capital Shares (the “Capital Shares”) and Class A Preferred Shares (“Preferred Shares”) of the Corporation on December 30, 2016 (the “Redemption Date”). The Capital Shares and Preferred Shares are currently listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the “TSX”) under the symbols” “BBO” and “BBO.PR.A”, respectively.

As disclosed in the Corporation’s disclosure documents, pursuant to the Corporation’s Articles of Incorporation, as amended, the Capital Shares and Preferred Shares will be automatically redeemed on the Redemption Date. The redemption price payable by the Corporation for a Capital Share on the Redemption Date will be equal to the greater of: (i) the net asset value per Unit (a “Unit” consists of one Preferred Share and one Capital Share) on that date minus $10.00 and any accrued and unpaid distributions on a Preferred Share; and (ii) nil. Any monthly distribution declared on the Capital Shares for December 2016 will be paid with the redemption proceeds for the Capital Shares. The redemption price payable by the Corporation for a Preferred Share on the Redemption Date will be equal to the lesser of: (i) $10.00 plus any accrued and unpaid distributions thereon; and (ii) the net asset value of the Corporation on that date divided by the total number of Preferred Shares then outstanding. The quarterly distribution expected to be declared on the Preferred Shares for December 2016 will be paid with the redemption proceeds for the Preferred Shares.

In connection with the redemption, BlackRock Canada expects that the Capital Shares and Preferred Shares will cease trading on the TSX and be delisted from the TSX on or about December 23, 2016. It is expected that, as soon as practicable following the Redemption Date, the affairs of the Corporation will be wound up and the Corporation will be dissolved. To facilitate a timely and orderly redemption, the Corporation may liquidate certain assets in order to move to a larger cash position as the Redemption Date approaches.

For more information, investors should consult with their investment advisor or visit our website at www.blackrock.com/ca.

BBO.PR.A has received some coverage on PrefBlog, but has not been tracked by HIMIPref™.

BCE Inc. has announced that it:

will, on November 1, 2016, continue to have Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares, Series T (“Series T Preferred Shares”) outstanding if, following the end of the conversion period on October 18, 2016, BCE Inc. determines that at least one million Series T Preferred Shares would remain outstanding. In such a case, as of November 1, 2016, the Series T Preferred Shares will pay, on a quarterly basis, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of BCE Inc., a fixed cash dividend for the following five years that will be based on a fixed rate equal to the product of: (a) the average of the yields to maturity compounded semi-annually, determined on October 11, 2016 by two investment dealers selected by BCE Inc., that would be carried by non-callable Government of Canada bonds with a 5-year maturity (the “Government of Canada Yield”), multiplied by (b) a percentage rate determined by BCE Inc. (the “Selected Percentage Rate”) for such period. The “Selected Percentage Rate” determined by BCE Inc. for such period is 390%. The Government of Canada Yield” is 0.774%. Accordingly, the annual dividend rate applicable to the Series T Preferred Shares for the period of five years beginning on November 1, 2016 will be 3.019%.

Holders of BCE.PR.T may convert to BCE.PR.S:

Should you wish to continue receiving a fixed quarterly dividend for the five-year period beginning November 1, 2016, you do not need to take any action with respect to this notice. However, should you wish to receive a floating monthly dividend, you must elect to convert your Series T Preferred Shares into Series S Preferred Shares as explained in more detail in the attached Notice of Conversion Privilege.

In order to convert your shares, you must exercise your right of conversion during the conversion period, which runs from September 16, 2016 to October 18, 2016, inclusively.

Holders of both the Series T Preferred Shares and the Series S Preferred Shares will have the opportunity to convert their shares again on November 1, 2021, and every five years thereafter as long as the shares remain outstanding.

There is always a certain amount of confusion regarding how RatchetRate issues such as BCE.PR.S work, so I’ll quote that part too:

As of November 1, 2016, the Series S Preferred Shares, should they remain outstanding, will continue to pay a monthly floating dividend based on a dividend rate that will fluctuate over time between 50% and 100% of the Prime rate (“Prime”) for each month computed in accordance with the articles of BCE Inc. Accordingly, from November 1, 2016, the holders of Series S Preferred Shares will continue to be entitled to receive floating adjustable cash dividends, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of BCE Inc., to be paid on the twelfth day of the subsequent month. The dividend rate will be adjusted upwards or downwards on a monthly basis by an Adjustment Factor (as described below) whenever the Calculated Trading Price, being the market price of the Series S Preferred Shares computed in accordance with the articles of BCE Inc., is $24.875 or less or $25.125 or more, respectively. The Adjustment Factor for a month will be based on the Calculated Trading Price of the Series S Preferred Shares for the preceding month determined in accordance with the following table:

If the Calculated Trading Price for the preceding month is:	The Adjustment Factor as a percentage of Prime shall be:
$25.50 or more	– 4.00%
$25.375 and less than $25.50	– 3.00%
$25.25 and less than $25.375	– 2.00%
$25.125 and less than $25.25	– 1.00%
Greater than $24.875 and less than $25.125	nil
Greater than $24.75 to $24.875	+ 1.00%
Greater than $24.625 to $24.75	+ 2.00%
Greater than $24.50 to $24.625	+ 3.00%
$24.50 or less	+ 4.00%

Given that all BCE RatchetRate issues are currently bid in the 14.19-30 range, there is not much chance that the percentage of prime paid will be reduced below 100% any time soon!

BCE.PR.T and BCE.PR.S form a Strong Pair and can therefore be compared with other Strong Pairs of this form using the Pairs Equivalency Calculator:

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The BCE.PR.T / BCE.PR.S pair, at the bids of 14.36 and 14.35, respectively, will have an equivalent total return to the next Exchange Date if the average Prime Rate is 2.81%; this should mean the prices will be about equivalent (although note that this ignores the effect of the last dividend on BCE.PR.S of about $0.055).

Over the medium term I suggest that it is prudent to take the view that Canada Prime is much more likely to increase over the next five years than it is to decrease. Therefore, I recommend that holders of BCE.PR.T convert to BCE.PR.S, and that holders of the latter issue maintain their position.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. has announced:

that the dividend rate on its Class A Preference Shares, Series 9 (the “Series 9 Preferred Shares”) (TSX: BAM.PR.G) for the five years commencing November 1, 2016 and ending October 31, 2021 will be 2.75% per annum. This dividend rate represents 357% of the interpolated yield, calculated as of October 11, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. (Toronto time), on the 0.75% Government of Canada bond due September 1, 2021 and the 2.75% Government of Canada bond due June 1, 2022. This dividend will be payable quarterly on the first day of February, May, August and November, commencing with the dividend payable on February 1, 2017. The implied yield on the Series 9 Preferred Shares based on the new fixed dividend rate that will apply for the five years commencing November 1, 2016 and today’s closing price for the Series 9 Preferred Shares is approximately 4.63%.

The annual rate currently paid on the company’s Series 9 Preferred Shares is 3.80%. The final quarterly dividend payable at this rate will be paid on November 1, 2016 to shareholders of record on October 15, 2016.

Conversion Rights

Holders of Brookfield’s Series 9 Preferred Shares have the privilege to convert, at their option, all or part of their Series 9 Preferred Shares on a one-for-one basis into the company’s Class A Preference Shares, Series 8 (the “Series 8 Preferred Shares”) (TSX: BAM.PR.E) effective November 1, 2016. The deadline for exercising this conversion privilege is 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on October 18, 2016. Holders of the Series 9 Preferred Shares who do not elect to convert their shares by this date will retain their Series 9 Preferred Shares and will receive the reset fixed-rate dividend as described above.

Holders of Brookfield’s Series 8 Preferred Shares also have the privilege to convert, at their option, all or part of their Series 8 Preferred Shares on a one-for-one basis into the company’s Series 9 Preferred Shares effective November 1, 2016. The deadline for exercising this conversion privilege is 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on October 18, 2016. Holders of the Series 8 Preferred Shares who do not elect to convert their shares by this date will retain their Series 8 Preferred Shares and will continue to receive a floating-rate dividend based on the prime rate.

If, after the close of business on October 18, 2016, the company determines that there would be fewer than 500,000 Series 9 Preferred Shares outstanding after the conversion date, it will automatically convert all of the remaining shares of this issue into Series 8 Preferred Shares and return all Series 8 Preferred Shares submitted for conversion. Similarly if, after the close of business on October 18, 2016, the company determines that there would be fewer than 500,000 Series 8 Preferred Shares outstanding after the conversion date, it will automatically convert all of the remaining shares of this issue into Series 9 Preferred Shares and return all Series 9 Preferred Shares submitted for conversion.

Holders of the company’s Series 8 and Series 9 Preferred Shares will again have the opportunity to convert their shares into the other series on November 1, 2021 and every five years thereafter.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is a global alternative asset manager with approximately US$250 billion in assets under management. The company has more than a 100-year history of owning and operating assets with a focus on property, renewable power, infrastructure and private equity. Brookfield offers a range of public and private investment products and services, and is co-listed on the New York, Toronto and Euronext stock exchanges under the symbol BAM, BAM.A and BAMA, respectively.

For more information, please visit our website at www.brookfield.com.

BAM.PR.G and BAM.PR.E form a Strong Pair and can therefore be compared with other Strong Pairs of this form using the Pairs Equivalency Calculator:

Click for Big

The BAM.PR.E / BAM.PR.G pair, at the bids of 14.83 and 14.79, respectively, will have an equivalent total return to the next Exchange Date if the average Prime Rate is 2.71%; this figure is a little lower than the average for this type of pair and about equivalent to the current Prime Rate of 2.70% (although note that this ignores the effect of the last dividend on each issue; BAM.PR.G will pay about $0.18 more than BAM.PR.E).

In the short term, I would expect this Pair to trade more in line with the overall average for FixedFloater / RatchetRate preferreds of (currently) 2.92%, which should provide a small boost in the price of BAM.PR.E relative to BAM.PR.G; over the medium term I suggest that it is prudent to take the view that Canada Prime is much more likely to increase over the next five years than it is to decrease. Therefore, I recommend that holders of BAM.PR.G convert to BAM.PR.E, and that holders of the latter issue maintain their position.