acquisition

A: Verisk Analytics, $122.12, symbol VRSK on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 164.7 million; Market cap: $19.9 billion; www.verisk.com), offers risk-assessment services for property/casualty insurers and other businesses. Its decision-analytics technology helps clients understand and manage risks through fraud detection and prevention....

TORONTO-DOMINION BANK $79 (Toronto symbol TD; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $142.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.0; Dividend yield: 3.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.td.com) gets 58% of its earnings from its Canadian retail business, which operates 1,108 branches....

Direct investment in private equity, hedge funds and so on was once just for institutional and high-net-worth individuals. However, alternative assets are now also available through a limited number of ETFs. While they focus on high-risk investments, many aim to use strategies to cut some of that risk.


Here are three ETFs that provide access to alternative investments....

The best new stocks to buy will avoid these risky strategies and instead offer investors sound fundamental value

Chartwell Retirement Residences faces challenges as Canada’s largest operator of seniors’ residences, but it does sustain a distribution that yields an attractive 3.9%.

BROOKFIELD RENEWABLE PARTNERS L.P. $40.45 (Toronto symbol BEP.UN; Units outstanding: 296.3 million; Market cap: $12.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 6.3%; www.brookfieldrenewable.com) has interests in 217 hydroelectric generating stations, 77 wind farms and 537 solar power facilities....

ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $43.94 (Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 100.3 million; Market cap: $4.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 3.6%; www.alliedreit.com) owns 147 office buildings, mainly in major Canadian cities....

Pembina’s $9.7 billion purchase of Veresen Inc. late last year has already proven a great fit for the company: Veresen’s U.S. exposure and its assets, including a 50% stake in the Alliance natural-gas pipeline, have broadened Pembina’s operations. Veresen should also continue to boost Pembina’s cash flow and dividends—as well as its share price.


PEMBINA PIPELINE $44.20 (Toronto symbol PPL; Shares outstanding: 502.4 million; Market cap: $22.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.2%; www.pembina.com) owns pipelines that carry almost all of B.C.’s oil and half of Alberta’s conventional oil....

A: Crown Holdings, $42.61, symbol CCK on New York (Shares outstanding: 135.2 million; Market cap: $5.7 billion; www.crowncork.com), formerly Crown Cork & Seal Company, is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and sale of metal beverage and food cans, metal aerosol containers, metal closures and specialty packaging....

We’ve often pointed out that buying stocks when they’re in the broker/media limelight is a risky way to invest. Electric-car maker Tesla Inc. $282.03 (symbol TSLA on Nasdaq) may be today’s best example of what we mean. Founder Elon Musk and his company get a lot of attention because of his past successes with companies he launched earlier in his career, and because some of his business activities appeal to investors who have strong feelings about the risks of climate change....