Canadian Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs)

Globe and Mail column on buying DRIPs through online brokers

2011-10-30T11:39:00.000-04:00

Another article on Canadian dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) appeared in this weekend in the Globe and Mail. As with other articles on DRIPs, columnist Rob Carrick outlined how one can use DRIPs to build a significant portfolio of stocks and how this is a “get rich slowly” kind of method. This method he calls the classic DRIP.

As a twist though Carrick focused on how you can also use online brokers to start your dividend reinvestment plan. With the help of Robert Gibb, who is probably better known as OperaBob of the The DRiP Investing Resource Center message boards, Carrick highlights how to use the online brokerage houses associated with Canadian banks and those that are standalones.

The piece also lays out how the various online brokers handle their DRIP transactions in a table. While all except for one do not charge for using the DRIP feature, the clear winner in terms of number of available stocks to choose from is TD Waterhouse.

The full article and chart can be found at Building wealth, a DRIP at a time page.

Happy DRIPping,
Ken

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List of Canadian DRIPs and SPPs Updated

2011-10-15T12:32:00.001-04:00

Here is the latest round of updates to my Canadian Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs) list. I have updated the following stocks based on your feedback. Please keep the updates coming!

1. CIBC (CM-T) – discount lowered to 2%

2. Enerplus Corporation – removed SPP

3. Precious Metals and Mining Trust (MMP.UN-T) – removed discount

4. TransCanada Corporation (TRP-T) – removed discount

As always, if you see any discrepancies please post a comment.

Happy DRIPping,

Ken

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Support This Site Through ING

2011-09-07T17:10:00.001-04:00

I have been meaning to thank everyone who has been visiting this site over the past few years. Your support has been phenomenal!

I also wanted to say that as a member of ING Direct Canada I also use their investment savings accounts for my both my personal savings and my TFSAs. As some of you may know, ING has a referral program. When new customers open an ING DIRECT Canada account with $100 or more they get a $25 welcome bonus gift. If they input the Orange Key of an existing member then that person also gets $25.

If anyone is thinking of signing up for an ING account then please consider referencing my Orange Key (14865885S1). You can also click on the animation below which will allow you to copy my Orange Key and browse to ING Direct Canada.

Thanks for reading,
Ken

List of Canadian DRIPs and SPPs Updated

2011-09-07T16:42:00.000-04:00

First off I want to thank everyone who has written to me asking when the site would be updated. I realize that there has been a long stretch since my last major update. And as you can see below, there have been many changes regarding Canadian DRIPs!

As well, thanks to everyone for their comments to let me know of changes to the company plans on my list. I used those as my starting point and then checked every plan for accuracy. Also, I have verified every link to the company dividend reinvestment plan details and Globe Investor stocker ticker.

As always, if you see any discrepancies please post a comment. The information you provide is always appreciated.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

Added:
1. Brookfield Office Properties Canada (BOX.UN-T)
2. Churchill Corporation (CUQ-T)
3. Dundee International REIT (DI.UN-T)
4. Eagle Energy Trust (EGL.UN-T)
5. Energy Income Fund (ENI.UN-T)
6. Gibson Energy Inc. (GEI-T)
7. GMIncome & Growth Fund (GMF.UN-T)
8. Horizon Alpha Pro ETFs
9. Homburg Canada REIT (HCR.UN-T)
10. Husky Energy (HSE-T)
11. INDEXPLUS Dividend Fund (IDF.UN-T)
12. Liquor Stores N.A. Ltd. (LIQ-T)
13. MOSAID Technologies (MSD-T)
14. NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT (NWH.UN-T)
15. PATHFINDER Convertible Debenture Fund (PCD.UN-T)
16. REIT INDEXPLUS Income Fund (IDR.UN-T)
17. Retrocom Mid-Market REIT (RMM.UN-T)
18. Rogers Communications Inc.(RCI.B)
19. Senior Gold Producers Income Corp (GPC-T)
20. TransGlobe REIT (TGA.UN-T)
21. Troy Resources NL (TRY-T)
22. Valener Inc. (VNR-T)
23. Yellow Media Inc.(YLO-T)

Deleted:
1. Arctic Glacier Income Fund (AG.UN-T)
2. Caldwell Partners International Inc. (CWL.A-T)
3. Capital Power Income L.P. (CPA.UN-T)
4. Citadel Diversified Investment Trust (CTD.UN-T)
5. CML HealthCare Income Fund (CLC.UN-T)
6. Energy Plus Income Trust (EPF.UN-T)
7. European Premium Dividend Fund (EPD.UN-T)
8. Financial Preferred Securities Corporation (FPR.PR.A-T)
9. InnVest REIT (INN.UN-T) – suspended August 12, 2011
10. Loblaw Companies Limited (L-T)
11. NuVista Energy Ltd.(NVA-T)
12. Oil Sands Sector Fund (OSF.UN-T)
13. Pantera Drilling Income Trust (RIG.UN-T)
14. Paramount Energy Trust (PMY.UN-T)
15. Peyto Energy Trust (PEY.UN-T)
16. Sustainable Production Energy Trust (SPU.UN-T)
17. Western Financial Group (WES-T)
18. Westshore Terminals Income Fund (WTE.UN-T)

Updated:
1. AltaGas Income Trust changed to AltaGas Ltd. (ALA-T)
2. Arc Energy Trust changed to ARC Resources Ltd. (ARX-T)
3. Bank of Montreal (BMO-T) – removed discount
4. Canexus Income Fund changed to Canexus Corporation (CUS-T)
5. Charter REIT changed to Partners REIT (PAR.UN-T)
6. Daylight Resources Trust changed to Daylight Energy Ltd. (DAY-T)
7. Enbridge Income Fund changed to Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc.(ENF-T)
8. Enerplus Resources Fund changed to Enerplus Corporation (ERF-T)
9. Enervest Diversified Income (EIT.UN-T) - removed minimum
10. Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Trust changed to Firm Capital Mortgage Investment (FC-T)
11. Fort Chicago Energy Partners L.P. changed to Versen Inc. (VSN-T)
12. Freehold Royalty Trust changed to Freehold Royalties Ltd. (FRU-T)
13. Just Energy Income Fund changed to Just Energy Group (JE-T)
14. Keyera Facilities Income Fund changed to Keyera Corp. (KEY-T)
15. Macquarie Power & Infrastructure Income Fund changed to Capstone Infrastructure Corporation (CSE-T) and Share Purchase Plan (SPP) terminated
16. NAL Oil & Gas Trust changed to NAL Energy Corp. (NAE-T)
17. Northland Power Income Fund changed to Northland Power Inc. (NPI-T)
18. Parkland Income Fund changed to Parkland Fuel Corporation (PKI-T)
19. Pengrowth Energy Trust changed to Pengrowth Energy Corporation (PGF-T)
20. Penn West Energy Trust changed to Penn West Exploration (PWT-T)
21. Phoenix Technology Income Fund changed to Phoenix Technology Services (PHX-T)
22. Provident Energy Trust changed to Provident Energy Ltd. (PVE-T)
23. Telus (T-T) – removed discount
24. Vermilion Energy Trust changed to Vermilion Energy Inc.(VET-T)
25. Zargon Energy Trust changed to Zargon Oil & Gas Ltd.(ZAR-T)

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Canadian DRIP & SPP List updates

2010-07-20T16:07:00.000-04:00

I have added the following new plan:

NuVista Energy Ltd. (NVA-T)
NuVista Energy Ltd.-Announces Dividend Reinvestment Plan

I have updated the following plan:

TransAlta Corporation (TA-T) - 3% discount added
TransAlta declares dividend

As always, if you see any discrepancies please post a comment.

Happy DRIPping,
Ken

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Reason this site has been down

2010-07-19T13:32:00.000-04:00

Dear readers,

I am sure some of you came to my site over the past week only to be greeted with a message that my blog had been removed.

Well, last Saturday Google decided to mark this blog as spam. When they do that they take down the site until I can prove I am the owner. Once I did then they had to do a manual review of my blog to see if they could re-instate it. I eventually escalated the problem up the chain of command and the site was re-activated this afternoon.

I am not sure how this occurred in the first place. My site has been up since 2005 and in those past five years nothing like this has ever happened. I am sorry if this outage has inconvenienced anyone.

Thank you all for your patience and I hope that you will continue to visit my site in the future.

Sincerely,
Ken

Globe and Mail column on DRIPs

2010-07-05T15:11:00.000-04:00

Globe and Mail columnist John Heinzl is at it again. On Saturday July 3, 2010 he did an in-depth report on dividend reinvestment plans and included a feature on Robert Gibb, who is probably better known as OperaBob of the
The DRiP Investing Resource Center message boards.

Gibb highlights some of his holdings in the article, gives some excellent reasons on why one should hold DRIPs and then talks about how one can start becoming involved in DRIPs.

I also really like this quote from the article: "It’s a get-rich-eventually scheme." How true!

The full article can be found at DRIPping your way to wealth page.

Happy DRIPping,
Ken

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John Heinzl's excellent article on income trusts

2010-06-21T10:41:00.000-04:00

John Heinzl contributed an interesting article regarding income trusts to the June 18, 2010 edition of The Globe and Mail. In the column, he basically gives a state of the union update on income trusts and their conversions to corporations.

He describes the conversion process in the following statement: "As an income trust, a business can distribute its earnings to shareholders and thereby pay no tax. Concerned by what it described as tax leakage, the federal government announced that trusts would have to start paying taxes in 2011 (real estate investment trusts meeting certain conditions were excluded)."

He goes on to state: "Income trusts as we know them will largely be gone by the time a new trust tax kicks in next year. In their place will be a new category of stock that in some cases will be more attractive to some investors than trusts were."

"I’m calling it the high-yielding corporation," said Harry Levant, the independent analyst behind the IncomeResearch.ca website. “It’s a new beast that has come out of the income trust process and demand for income."

"At their peak, there were about 265 income trusts listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Takeovers and privatizations will reduce the total number of high-yield corporations to around 90, in Mr. Levant’s estimation."

The full article can be found at: A new investment beast: the high-yield corporation page.

Happy DRIPping,
Ken

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Column on Canadian dividend growers

2010-06-18T15:04:00.000-04:00

In the June 10, 2010 edition of The Globe and Mail, columnist John Heinzl compiled another list of dividend growth stocks in Canada. The Globe has really gotten on the dividend bandwagon over the past few years and they tend to run these dividend screener articles several times a year.

For this one, they were looking for companies with "a market capitalization of at least $1-billion." They also wanted at least a 2.5% dividend yield and a "five-year annualized dividend growth rate of at least 5 per cent." The final criterion was a dividend payout ratio of less than 80%.

Of the companies that made the list, many have dividend reinvestment plans: Shaw Communications Inc. (SJR.B-T), Telus Corporation (T-T), AGF Management Limited (AGF.B-T), Just Energy Income Fund (JE.UN-T), Fortis Inc. (FTS-T), Royal Bank of Canada (RY-T), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD-T),
Sun Life Financial (SLF-T), National Bank of Canada (NA-T), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T), TransCanada Corporation (TRP-T), Enbridge Inc. (ENB-T), Bank of Montreal (BMO-T).

The full article entitled Canada's best dividend growth stocks can be found at the Globe's All about dividend stocks page.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

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Canadian DRIP & SPP List update

2010-06-18T14:32:00.000-04:00

I have deleted the following plan:

Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH-T)
Premium Brands Holdings Corporation Announces December 2009 Dividend and Suspension of DRIP

As always, if you see any discrepancies please post a comment.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

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Canadian DRIP & SPP List updates

2010-06-02T15:15:00.001-04:00

There have been three changes since my most recent list update.

I have added the following new plans:
Manitoba Telecom Services (MBT-T)
Manitoba Telecom Services Dividend Reinvestment Plan approved by TSX

Superior Plus Corp. (SPB-T)
Superior Plus Announces May 2010 Cash Dividend, Reestablishment of Dividend Reinvestment Program

Timbercreek Mortgage Investment Corporation (TMC-T)
Timbercreek Mortgage Investment Corporation Announces a Dividend Reinvestment Plan for TSX listed Class A Shares

As always, if you see any discrepancies please post a comment.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

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Canadian DRIP & SPP List update

2010-05-05T13:43:00.000-04:00

I have added the following new plan:

Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE-T)
Cenovus Energy achieves strong Q1 cash flow

As well, two income trusts with dividend reinvestment plans have also made recent announcements that they will convert to corporations. I have included links to their announcements below:

AltaGas Income Trust (ALA.UN-T)
AltaGas Reports First Quarter Results and Announces Plans for Corporate Conversion

Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund (BA.UN-T)
Bell Aliant announces plan for conversion to a corporation

As always, if you see any discrepancies please post a comment.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

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An introduction to Tom Connolly

2010-04-22T11:25:00.000-04:00

I entitled this piece an introduction to Tom Connolly but for many of you he needs know introduction at all. Tom can easily be considered Canada's dividend prophet.

I first heard of Tom back in 2004 when I started to get serious about dividend stocks and DRIPs. I was intrigued by what he had to say about the investment style. I read through his entire website and gathered many ideas about the soundness of the strategy.

I love reading about Tom's insight into the current markets. He has published a newsletter about dividend investing called The Connolly Report since 1981. Although it has been closed to new subscribers for many years, non-subscribers can purchase copies from Tom when he has extras available. His new website - DividendGrowth.ca - is open only to subscribers but I highly recommend dividend investors still visit it on a regular basis. The plethora of free information is an excellent read as there are nuggets of information on dividend-paying companies and wisdom on dividend investing.

He has also made available two documents containing his thoughts on the current markets and dividend investing in general.

Tom is not a big fan of DRIPs though. You can read his thoughts on them here.

Finally, Tom has been generous enough to provide paper copies of his newsletters to select libraries across Canada. You can find the locations here. If you are close to one, I highly recommend that you make the effort to read them. Also on this page you can find out a little more about his background, as well as some inspirational stories about how holding dividend-paying stocks can really pay off over time.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

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2010 Dividend Index Changes

2010-04-19T11:14:00.005-04:00

There have been many changes over the past year to TSX indexes that track Canadian dividend paying companies.

First, the people at Mergent's have decided to remove their list of dividend achievers from their public website. This was an invaluable list to people wishing to buy companies with an excellent track record of dividend payments. (Note: If I am wrong in saying Mergent's has removed their list, could readers please reply with the link to the new page. Thanks!)

Second, in December 2009 the other major dividend index - S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats - announced that it was removing 15 members (including most of the big banks) and that it was only gaining one new listing: Cogeco Inc. (CGO-T and CCA-T).

The corporations removed were: Astral Media Inc. (ACM.A-T), Bank of Montreal (BMO-T), Boardwalk REIT (BEI.UN-T), Calloway REIT (CWT.UN-T), CIBC (CM-T), First Capital Realty Inc. (FCR-T), Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC-T), National Bank of Canada (NA-T), Northern Property REIT (NPR.UN-T), Primaris Retail REIT (PMZ.UN-T), Reitman's Ltd. (RET.A-T), Royal Bank of Canada (RY-T), Sherritt International Corp. (S-T), Sun Life Financial (SLF-T) and Yellow Pages Income Fund (YLO.UN-T).

To stay on Standard & Poor's list, constituents must "have followed a managed-dividends policy of consistently increasing dividends every year for at least five years." The current list has 56 members including The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS-T), Canadian National Railways (CNR-T), Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (CP-T), Enbridge Inc (ENB-T), Power Financial Corp (PWF-T) and The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD-T).

You can view the list of current members (after a free site registration) using the link above.

An extensive article entitled Banks are no longer pillars of this select dividend club was written about these changes by John Heinzl of The Globe and Mail on December 14, 2009. I did not include a link to the column on the Globe's site because it is no longer free. However, if you Google the article's title you should be able to find it on other websites.

Third, the Dow Jones Canada Titans 40 Index was changed to the Dow Jones Canada Titans 60 Index. Similar to the S&P's list, the index "measures 60 of the largest and most liquid equity securities trading in Canada. On a monthly basis, the top companies in the index universe by float-adjusted market list." (As above, the list is only available after you register on their site.)

Their index contains many of the same members as the S&P. However, they don't seem to have placed a five-year performance period on those listed as Tim Hortons Inc. (THI-T) is already listed. As well, many smaller resource companies like Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW-T) and Eldorado Gold Corp. (ELD-T) are also here.

Finally, while most companies listed in these indexes have dividend reinvestment plans, not all do. This is why it is a good idea to compare the list of each index's constituents to the List of Canadian DRIPs and SPPs on this site to see which companies offer a DRIP.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

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List of Canadian DRIPs and SPPs Updated

2010-04-15T13:07:00.000-04:00

There has been one change since my most recent list update.

I have added the following new plan:
Zargon Energy Trust (ZAR.UN-T)
Zargon Energy Trust Announces Adoption of a Distribution Reinvestment Plan

As always, if you see any discrepancies please post a comment.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

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This site in the news

2010-04-13T13:25:00.002-04:00

Since I created this site in 2005, it has grown steadily in popularity. So, I thought I would create a post listing the locations where this blog has been mentioned in the news.

It was a great day when I got my first notice in Canadian MoneySaver magazine from Robert Gibb. I was then mentioned in Derek Foster's second book entitled The Lazy Investor: Start with $50...and no Investment Knowledge that was published in 2007. From there, my blog has been referenced in newspaper articles and magazines. You can find many listed below.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

Toronto Star
Ellen Roseman, September 19, 2007 - Retiree, 37, did it the easy way

Ellen Roseman, June 22, 2008 - DRIPs a cheap way to invest for long term

Globe & Mail
John Heinzl, July 15, 2009 - DRIPs drop discounted shares in your lap

John Heinzl, February 12, 2010 - Why you should be a DRIP fan

MoneySense Magazine
Rob Gerlsbeck, May 2009 - Breeding wealth: A new combo can help your money multiply faster

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Globe Investor dividend articles website

2010-04-12T13:23:00.001-04:00

The Globe & Mail's Globe Investor website has gotten on the dividend bandwagon in a big way. They have been writing a lot more columns and articles on the value of dividend investing. As such, they have created a web page called All about dividend stocks that aggregates all of their stories about dividend stocks. This website is an excellent tool in keeping up to date on dividend stock trends.

Finally, this site has also been added to my list of finance links at the bottom of this page. I have also verified that each URL is correct. Check them out, there many excellent blogs and websites that deal with dividends and dividend investing.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

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Canadian DRIP & SPP List updates

2010-04-09T13:42:00.003-04:00

Thanks for your patience during the past few months as I have been trying to get this site updated. Thirteen months is way too long to go between updates and as you can see below, there have been many changes regarding Canadian DRIPs!

The list format has also been changed. I have made each stock ticker symbol a hyperlink so that you can get the latest stock information. Each link will use the new Globe Investor website. As well, all stock ticker symbols on this blog will now follow the Globe Investor’s stock symbol format.

Finally, I have verified each company’s link to their dividend reinvestment plan details and updated many of them.

As always, if you see any discrepancies please post a comment.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

I have added the following plans:
Bank of Montreal Exchange-Traded Funds
Brookfield Properties Corp. (BPO-T)
Canadian Western Bank (CWB-T)
Capital Power Income L.P. (CPA.UN-T) [Was formerly EPCOR Power L.P.]
Citadel Income Fund (CTF.UN-T) [Drip available early 2010]
Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG-T)
European Premium Dividend Fund (EPD.UN-T)
Exchange Income Corporation (EIF-T)
Fort Chicago Energy Partners L.P. (FCE.UN-T)
Loblaw Companies Limited (L-T)
Olympia Financial Group Inc. (OLY-X)
Paramount Energy Trust (PMT.UN-T)
Phoenix Technology Income Fund (PHX.UN-T)
Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH-T)
Progress Energy Resources Corp. (PRQ-T)
Student Transportation of America Ltd. (STB-T)
Tim Hortons (THI-T)
Vermilion Energy Trust (VET.UN-T)
Western Financial Group (WES-T)

I have deleted the following plans:
Canadian Oil Sands Trust (COS.UN-T) – DRIP suspended
Citadel Premium Income Fund (CPF.UN-T) – Merged into Citadel Income Fund (CTF.UN-T)
Citadel S-1 Income Trust Fund (SDL.UN-T) – Merged into Citadel Income Fund (CTF.UN-T)
Citadel Stable S-1 Income Fund (CSR.UN-T) – Merged into Citadel Income Fund (CTF.UN-T)
Contrans Income Fund (CSS.UN-T) – DRIP terminated
Deepwell Energy Services Trust (DWL.UN-T) – DRIP terminated
diversiTrust Income Fund (DTF.UN-T) – Merged into Dynamic Strategic Yield Fund
diversiTrust Stable Income Fund (DTS.UN -T) – Merged into Dynamic Strategic Yield Fund
Enerflex Systems Income Fund (EFX.UN-T) – Acquired by Toromont Industries Ltd.
Equal Sector Income Fund (ESF.UN-T) – Merged into INDEXPLUS Income Fund (IDX.UN-T)
Equal Weight Plus Fund (EQW.UN-T) – Merged into Citadel Income Fund (CTF.UN-T)
Income & Equity Index Participation Fund (IEP.UN-T) – Fund terminated
Eveready Income Fund (EIS.UN-T) – Acquired by Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc.
First Capital Realty Inc. (FCR-T) – DRIP suspended
First National Financial LP (FN.UN-T) – DRIP terminated
First Premium Income Trust (FPI.UN-T) – Fund terminated
Harvest Energy Trust (HTE.UN-T) – DRIP terminated
Huntingdon REIT (HNT.UN-T) – Dividends suspended
InStorage REIT (IS.UN-T) – Acquired by Storage Mart
Lawrence Income & Growth Fund (LIGF-T) – Acquired by Navina Capital Corp.
Magna International Inc. (MG.A-T) – Dividends suspended
Norbord Inc. (NBD-T) – Dividends suspended
Pembina Pipeline Income Fund (PIF.UN) – DRIP suspended
Pulse Data Inc. (PSD-T) – DRIP suspended
Realex Properties Corp. (RLX-X) – DRIP suspended
Retrocom Mid-Market REIT (RMM.UN-T) – DRIP terminated
Royal Host REIT (RYL.UN-T) – DRIP terminated
Sentry Select China Fund (CHZ.UN-T) – Converted to mutual fund of the same name
Sentry Select Diversified Income Trust (SDT.UN-T) – Converted to mutual fund of the same name
Trilogy Energy Corp. (TET-T) – DRIP terminated
Uranium Focused Energy Fund (UF.UN-T) – Dividends suspended
Series S-1 Income Fund (SRC.UN-T) – Merged into Blue Ribbon Income Fund (RBN.UN-T)

I have updated the following plans:
Brompton Oil & Gas Income Fund (OGF.UN-T) – Formerly Brompton Equal Weight Oil & Gas Income Fund
CIBC (CM-T) – Added 3% discount
Claymore Exchange-Traded Funds – All ETFs now offer a DRIP; The link now points to their general site
ClubLink Enterprises Limited (CLK-T) – Formerly Tri-White Corporation (TWH-T)
Emera Incorporated (EMA-T) – Added 5% discount
Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Trust (FC.UN) – Minimum changed to $250/month from $1,000/month
Intact Financial Corporation (IFC-T) – Formerly ING Canada (IIC-T)
Just Energy Income Fund (JE.UN-T) – Formerly Energy Savings Income Fund (SIF.UN-T); Added 2% discount
HOMEQ Corporation (HEQ-T) – Formerly Home Equity Income Trust (HEQ.UN-T)
Inter Pipeline Fund (IPL.UN-T) – Removed the SPP portion of the plan
Keyera Facilities Income Fund (KEY.UN-T) – Removed the SPP portion of the plan
Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC-T) – Added 3% discount; Manulife also removed all fees associated with its DRIP
Mulvihill Premier Canadian Income Fund (GIP.UN-T) – Formerly Global Plus Income Trust
Mulvihill Top 10 Canadian Financial Trust (TCT.UN-T) – Formerly Top 10 Canadian Financial Trust
NAL Oil & Gas Trust (NAE.UN-T) – Added 5% discount
Royal Bank of Canada (RY-T) – Removed 3% discount
Sun Life Financial (SLF-T) – Added 2% discount
Telus Corporation (T-T) – Added 3% discount

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Canadian DRIP & SPP List updates

2009-03-21T09:11:00.000-04:00

The world of Dividend Reinvestment Plans is constantly changing. These past few weeks have been no different. Since my last update I have made four changes to my list of Canadian DRIPs & SPPs. I have included links to some stories announcing the updates.

I have added the following new plan:
Equitable Group Inc. (TSX:ETC)
Equitable Group Inc. announces Dividend Reinvestment Plan

I have deleted the following two plans:
Advantage Energy Income Fund (TSX:AVN.UN)
Advantage Announces Intention to Convert to a Growth Oriented Corporation and a Strategic Asset Disposition Program to Increase Financial Flexibility

Boyd Group Income Fund (TSX:BYD.UN) - DRIP terminated

I have updated the following plan:
NAL Oil & Gas Trust (TSX:NAE.UN) – DRIP reinstated
NAL Oil & Gas Trust Announces March Distribution and Reinstatement of the DRIP

As always, if you see any discrepancies please post a comment.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

Derek Foster, "The Lazy Investor" and me

2009-03-11T16:05:00.001-04:00

I have received several inquiries lately as to whether I am Derek Foster or if I have some affiliation with him. To set the record straight, I am not him nor do I have any relationship to him.

The reason the confusion has come about is that this blog was mentioned in Foster's second book entitled The Lazy Investor: Start with $50...and no Investment Knowledge published in 2007. It highlighted his venture into Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs) and how others can get started the same way. As people came to my site they began asking me questions about investing and money matters thinking I was him.

For those who don't know about Foster, he bills himself as Canada's Youngest Retiree. He wrote his highly successful book STOP WORKING: Here's How You Can Using the Strategy of Canada's Youngest Retiree in 2005. It was a national bestseller and it also spawned a third book called Money for Nothing: And Your Stocks for FREE in 2008.

For anyone looking to talk to Derek, you can contact him here.

If you would like to order his books, they are available on his site or at Chapters.

Happy Dripping,
Ken

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List of Canadian DRIPs and SPPs Updated

2009-03-05T14:54:00.000-05:00

There have been three changes since my last list update. I have included a link to each story announcing the Dividend Reinvestment Plan updates.

I have added the following new plan:
Realex Properties Corp. (TSX:RLX)
Realex Properties Corp. announces Dividend Reinvestment Plan

I have deleted the following plan:
Homburg Invest Inc. (TSX:HII.B) - DRIP terminated
Homburg Invest Inc. announces dividend policy

I have updated the following plan:
Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY) – 3% discount added
Royal Bank of Canada announces amendments to its dividend reinvestment plan

As always, if you see any discrepancies please post a comment.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

Column on bank dividends

2009-03-02T16:00:00.001-05:00

In the Friday, February 27, 2009 edition of The National Post, columnist Jonathan Chevreau talks about the fact that the Royal Bank (TSX:RY) has "sweetened its dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) by offering a 3% discount for common and preferred shareholders wishing to reinvest their dividends in more RBC stock."

This move falls on the heels of both The Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) and The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS) which each implemented a 2% discount late last year.

As for me, I love discounts! They can increase your postion faster and at less cost. And as Chevreau says, "With banks yielding a mouth-watering 6.27% to 9.72% these days, what's not to like if you're an income-oriented investor with a long time horizon?"

The full article can be found at: Drip discount tough to avoid

2009 Mergent's Dividend Achievers list

2009-02-24T14:55:00.000-05:00

I last wrote about the Mergent's Dividend Achievers list in January 2008. However, since then Mergent's has changed their hyperlink to the list. As such, I have included the proper link in this post and on the Blog Roll below.

Every year Mergents compiles a list of companies, royalty income trusts and REITs from Canada that have increased their dividends for five consecutive years or more. The 2009 Canadian version now has 71 constituents, up from the 46 I reported last year. This increase was not an easy feat given the troubling economic times we now find ourselves in.

Stalwarts like The Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS), The Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO), Fortis Incorporated (TSX:FTS) and TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) are consistently on the list. However, several income trust funds that also have dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) find themselves on the list including Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:REF.UN), Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:CUF.UN) and Keyera Facilities Income Fund (TSX:KEY.UN)

Mergent's have also published another index called the Canadian High Yield Dividend Growth 30 Portfolio. To be included, companies must trade on a major stock exchange like the TSX, have five or more years of equal or increasing regular annual dividend payments, a minimum average daily cash volume of $3,000,000 USD and a current dividend yield of 1%. The 30 companies with the largest market cap as of the last trading day in December are chosen for inclusion.

This index could be useful for an investor who wants to invest their money in large cap firms only. The indexes are by no means identical as companies like George Weston Limited (TSX:WN) and Loblaws Ltd (TSX:L) exist in the latter list and not the former.

Finally, while most companies in the indexes have DRPs, not all do. This is why it is a good idea to compare the index's list of constituents to the List of Canadian DRIPs and SPPs on this site to see which companies offer a DRIP.

List of Canadian DRIPs Updated

2009-02-16T15:18:00.003-05:00

Well, it has been almost one year since my last major list update. I want to start out by apologizing for the delay. I have had good intentions of revising my dividend reinvestment (DRIP) list for several months now but something has always seemed to crop up. Recently, I have received a couple of inquiries as to whether I was ever going to update my list (thanks for taking the time to write!). It was then I realized that I needed to spend some time working on this.

So, I have compiled the following list of changes:

I have added the following new plans:
Canadian Oil Sands Trust (TSX:COS.UN) – DRIP reinstated
Corus Entertainment (TSX:CJR.B)
EnCana Corporation (TSX:ECA)
First National Financial LP (TSX:FN.UN)

I have deleted the following plans:
Boardwalk REIT (TSX:BEI.UN) - suspended
Brompton Equal Weight Income Fund (TSX:EWI.UN) – merged into Brompton VIP Income Fund (TSX:VIP.UN)
Brompton Stable Income Fund (TSX:BSR.UN) – merged into Brompton VIP Income Fund (TSX:VIP.UN)
Business Trust Equal Weight Income Fund (TSX:BWI.UN) – merged into Brompton VIP Income Fund (TSX:VIP.UN)
Builders Energy Services Trust (TSX:BET.UN) - merged into Essential Energy Services Trust (TSX:ESN.UN)
Crown Hill Dividend Fund (TSX:PBK.UN) – merged into Crown Hill Fund (TSX:MYT.UN)
Fairway Diversified Income and Growth Trust (TSX:FDT.UN) – merged into Crown Hill Fund (TSX:MYT.UN)
Flaherty & Crumrine Investment Grade Preferred Fund (TSX:FAC.UN) – merged into Flaherty & Crumrine Investment Grade Fixed Income Fund (TSX:FFI.UN)
Fording Canadian Coal Trust (TSX:FDG.UN) - bought out by Teck Cominco (TSE:TCK.A)
Foremost Income Fund (TSX:FMO.UN) - suspended
Newalta Income Fund (TSX:NAL.UN) - converted to corporation
Paramount Energy Trust (TSX:PMT.UN) - suspended
Sixty Plus Income Trust (TSX:SIX.UN) - trust terminated
Strategic Energy Fund (TSX:SEF.UN) - converted to an open-end mutual fund called Sentry Select Energy Income Fund
Superior Plus Income Fund (TSX:SPF.UN) - suspended
Trinidad Energy Services Income Trust (TSX:TDG.UN) - suspended
Vermillion Energy Trust (TSX:VET.UN) - suspended

I have updated the following plans:
Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) – 2% discount added
Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS) – 2% discount added
Fortis Inc. (TSX:FTS) – maximum increased to $30,000; 2% discount added
NAL Oil & Gas Trust (TSX:NAE.UN) changed (DRIP suspended; SPP active)
Thomson Corporation – updated name and stock symbol to Thomson Reuters Corporation (TSX:TRI)
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD) – 1% discount added
TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) - discount increased to 3% in December

As well, I have verified that all of the company hyperlinks are working. They will again point the user to each company's DRIP information page.

While working on the blog I also had many ideas on how to improve it. So, I have created a list of additional items I wish to include and I will also be making constant improvements to the site over the next few weeks.

As always, if you see any discrepancies please post a comment.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

News on two DRIP plans

2008-03-06T09:59:00.000-05:00

While researching changes to my list for the most recent update, I found a couple of news items that may impact some DRIPpers that frequent these boards.

Energy Savings Income Fund Amends DRIP Program
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 24, 2008) - Energy Savings Income Fund (the "Fund") (TSX:SIF.UN) announced today that it has amended the Distribution Reinvestment and Optional Cash Payment Plan (the "Plan") to reduce the minimum number of Units required to be held by Unitholders to participate in the Plan from 500 Units to 100 Units. The amended Plan will enable Unitholders holding a minimum of 100 Units to acquire additional Units of the Fund.

Impax Energy Services Income Trust Announces Suspension of Cash Distributions
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 6, 2007) - Impax Energy Services Income Trust (the "Trust" or "Impax") (TSX:MPX.UN) announced today that the Trust is suspending its monthly distributions following the payment of the previously announced distribution to unitholders of record as of November 30, 2007, scheduled for payment on December 14, 2007. Impax Energy Services Master Limited Partnership ("Impax LP") is also announcing the suspension of its Distribution Reinvestment Plan ("DRIP") in accordance with its terms. The DRIP provides the opportunity for holders of Exchangeable Class A and Class B Units of Impax LP to reinvest their cash distributions in additional Exchangeable Class A Units of Impax LP from treasury. The suspension of the DRIP will not affect the distribution payable on December 14, 2007, which will be reinvested in Exchangeable Class A Units.

Happing DRIPping,
Ken

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