Turning Off The Taps A Bit

Over the past couple of years I have had DRIPs turned on for a few positions. I haved DRIPped shares and units of Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund (BPF.UN), Cominar REIT (CUF.UN), Dream Office REIT (D.UN), Killam Properties REIT (KMP.UN), Enbridge (ENB.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO). Some of these positions are through the brokerage while others are directly with the transfer agent. The latter is the basically the "old" way of buying stocks where you get actual stock certificate. The downside of the "old" way of purchase stocks is that you do not have control over the purchase price or sell price as you just send in a check and the shares or units are purchased on a certain date. Also the purchase prices could be averages of the last few days or some other criteria that would be often spelled out in the documentation.

Recently, I have had DRIPs turned on the Enerplus Corporation (ERF.TO), D.UN, CUF.UN, BNS.TO, and ENB.TO. The DRIPs for BNS.TO and ENB.TO are directly with the transfer agent and these positions are in the investment tab spreadsheet and have partial shares. Some brokerages off partial shares, but they are few and far between.

I have turned off my DRIPs for D.UN, CUF.UN, and ERF.TO. The dividend payout for ERF.TO is no where close to being able to purchase 1 whole. D.UN was dripped in both my TFSA and margin accounts. I have turned off the DRIPs due to my current financial situation. I would prefer to keep the DRIPs on for both D.UN and CUF.UN as these positions are trading above my average cost basis per share.

I am keeping the DRIPs on for ENB and BNS with the transfer agents. For disclosure, I also have positions in ENB in my TFSA and BNS in my margin account.

The benefits of DRIPs, is that it is a way to acquire more assets for doing basically nothing. Also, a lot of DRIPs have discounts on the shares purchased with re-invested dividends. Does this apply to DRIPs by brokerages? Some brokerages pass the discounts along while others do not. My brokerage, Questrade, does not pass the discount along.

There is also some posts on DRIPs in my DRIP tab above.

DISCLAIMER

I am not a financial planner, financial advisor, accountant or tax attorney. The information on this blog represents my own thoughts and opinions and should NOT be taken as investment or business advice.

Every individual should do their due diligence to make their own financial decisions based on their financial situation and tolerance for risk.