An advisor at National Bank Financial shares his three top investment picks
Grant White, an Investment Advisor at National Bank Financial, shares his three top investment picks.
“As a value investor it has become more difficult to find great opportunities with good companies as valuations are a tad tricky out there,” White says. “They do exist but they are few and far between at this point. That being said, here are a few opportunities I like:
IBM – “This is one of those classic companies for me. IBM is a juggernaut that seems to continue to chug along. I like IBM going forward because they have put themselves at the forefront of cloud and artificial intelligence technology. More and more, cloud services are not the way of the future but the way things need to be done today. IBM is well placed in this area and should be the benefactor with their long history of execution.
Artificial intelligence is also becoming a bigger story every day, whether that comes from Elon Musk’s speeches about humanity needing to find ways to compete, or IBM’s Watson playing chess and winning. Artificial intelligence has amazing prospects and will likely be used to replace many jobs that humans currently undertake. Again, IBM is at the forefront of this technology and should do well. At current valuations below market averages this could be a nice value play. Fun fact, it is commonly believed that of all jobs that robots and AI will take over, medical doctors is often at the top of the list.”
TD – “Canadian financials have been in the news over recent months for all of the wrong reasons. News stories reported by CBC highlighting how banks are pushing products onto their customers have created a black mark on the bank brands. I, for one, don’t feel that this will affect the profitability of the banks long-term and these dips can be used as buying opportunities.
I have liked TD for a while and have been adding to my position when prices become attractive. I believe that they are well positioned to outperform the other banks not only in Canada; they are also well positioned in the U.S. where I expect to see strong growth. Considering all this along with current valuations, TD is getting my Canadian bank nod.”
Canopy – “This is for all the marijuana bugs out there. Full disclosure, I am not one of them. I personally feel that the marijuana stocks are all overvalued and I am choosing to stay away from them for that reason. That being said, I have placed a small amount of money with Canopy for a select number of my clients who were adamant about allocating some money to this new industry utilizing their “fun money”.
Ultimately I recommended Canopy out of their sheer size compared to their peers. I have a lot of concern over which companies are going to get whipped out in this industry and I feel that Canopy has the best hope to survive… and with any luck thrive. Be careful in this space, I feel the true winners have yet to show themselves.”
National Bank Financial is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of National Bank of Canada. The National Bank of Canada is a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (NA: TSX). The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of National Bank Financial. The securities or sectors mentioned herein are not suitable for all types of investors. Please consult your investment advisor to verify whether the securities or sectors suit your investor’s profile as well as to obtain complete information, including the main risk factors, regarding those securities or sectors.
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