PrefBlog

Moody’s Investors Service has announced that it:

has today placed on review for upgrade all long-term ratings and assessments of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), including the a3 standalone baseline credit assessment (BCA), the Aa2 deposit rating and Counterparty Risk Rating, and the Aa2(cr) Counterparty Risk Assessments. The bank’s Prime-1 short term ratings and Prime-1(cr) short-term Counterparty Risk Assessment were affirmed.
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RBC’s strong credit profile reflects its position as a diversified universal bank with leading market shares across many retail products and services in its home market and a growing presence in the US through its California-based private and commercial bank, City National Bank (LT deposits Aa3 stable, BCA a2), which RBC acquired in 2015. RBC’s diversified business mix, which also includes a major commitment to capital markets, and wealth and asset management businesses, has extended the bank’s competitive advantage over many of its peers. This business mix has also produced a sturdy buffer against the greater volatility of RBC’s capital markets activity through various economic cycles. The steady profitability generated by RBC’s businesses enables the bank to consistently reinvest to drive organic business growth as well as develop leading digital customer solutions and capabilities, further supporting its strong competitive position.
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RBC’s a3 BCA could be upgraded if Moody’s assesses that the bank will likely continue to demonstrate a resilient operating performance that reflects a superior diversity of business mix relative to many similarly rated global peers, and stability in its risk profile , while maintaining its capital level above 12% tangible common equity as a percentage of risk-weighted assets. A higher BCA would likely lead to a ratings upgrade. The ratings could be confirmed at their existing level should the bank’s earnings and capital base not demonstrate the level of resilience expected by Moody’s when stressed under various scenarios.

The review for upgrade indicates that rating downgrades are unlikely over the next 12-18 months. However, RBC’s a3 BCA could be downgraded if the bank increases risk appetite leading to credit quality deterioration or the bank increased the size of its capital markets operations relative to its retail and commercial banking businesses. A significant further deterioration in the domestic operating environment or any material regulatory, compliance or risk management failures could also lead to a downgrade of the bank’s BCA. A lower BCA would likely lead to a ratings downgrade.

Affected issues are: RY.PR.H, RY.PR.J, RY.PR.M, RY.PR.N, RY.PR.O, RY.PR.P, RY.PR.S and RY.PR.Z .

The October, 2021, 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.

The October edition is somewhat foreshortened, but contains the most critical elements.

PrefLetter may now be purchased by all Canadian residents.

Until further notice, the “Previous Edition” will refer to the October, 2021, issue, while the “Next Edition” will be the November, 2021, issue, scheduled to be prepared as of the close November 12, 2021, and eMailed to subscribers prior to market-opening on November 15.

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.

But Adrian2 now advises:

Well, as of now, FileApp is free (again?).

Great-West Lifeco Inc. has announced:

the closing of its previously announced offering of 8,000,000 4.50% Non-Cumulative First Preferred Shares, Series Y (the “Series Y Preferred Shares”) for gross proceeds of $200 million. The offering was completed through a syndicate of underwriters led by BMO Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets, Scotiabank, CIBC Capital Markets and TD Securities. The Series Y Preferred Shares will be listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “GWO.PR.Y”.

Vital statistics are:

The issue traded 884,860 shares today in a range of 24.95-45 before closing at 24.98-99.

GWO.PR.Y is a Straight Perpetual, 4.50%, announced 2021-10-1. It is tracked by HIMIPref™ and has been assigned to the Insurance-Straight subindex.

Power Corporation of Canada and Power Financial Corporation have announced:

Upon completion of the offering, Power Financial intends to redeem all of its outstanding $200 million First Preferred Shares, Series I.

The offering in the quoted paragraph refers to a today’s announcement of a new issue of 4.50% Straight Perpetuals.

PWF.PR.I is a Straight Perpetual, 6.00%, that commenced trading 2003-3-11. It has been tracked by HIMIPref™ and is assigned to the PerpetualPremium subindex.