A believer in growth stocks
George Karaphillis, 55
Occupation: Director of the MBA in community economic development program at Cape Breton University.
Portfolio: BCE Inc., CIBC, Encana Corp., Enbridge Inc., Onex Corp., Rogers Communications, Research In Motion, National Bank of Greece, Hellenic Telecom Organization SA.
A search for yield
George Karaphillis is a big believer in growth stocks, but he's been moving more toward investments that have a yield. To combine the two, he looks for stocks where the price-to-earnings ratio is less than the growth rate, known as the stocks' PEG ratio.
Where he's finding opportunities
A few weeks back, amid the daily headlines about Greece's financial crisis, he bought shares in Athens-based Hellenic Telecom. And, in what I'd call a pointedly contrarian move, he picked up shares in National Bank of Greece, which has fallen from a high of over $8 (U.S.) to last close at $2.61. Not only was the P/E ratio appealing, he also likes the growth prospects. "They're doing well in Bulgaria and Romania, and they own the second-biggest bank in Turkey."
His ETFs
Why does he like exchange-traded funds? "We teach finance here," he notes. "The fees on regular mutual funds are too high, and as a group, they underperform the market, and it's too difficult to find a good one."
His tax-favoured favourite
Nova Scotia has its own spin on the tax-favoured labour-sponsored funds. "Any community group can put out an IPO [initial public offering] after registering with the securities regulators," he says. The fund he's in focuses on mortgages, and the tax break along with a 3-per-cent dividend gives him the equivalent of an annualized 10-per-cent return.
Best Move
Best returns have come from oil stocks, along with Enbridge and natural gas producer EnCana. "EnCana has got brilliant management and they're very nimble," he says. "They know how to strategize, and know how to hedge and do contracts."
Worst Move
The only good thing he has to say about 01 Communique Laboratory Inc. is that it has a cool stock symbol, ONE. Founded in 1992, the firm had technology for controlling PCs remotely over the Internet. He thought it had a bright future, "But the space got congested, and other companies had better technology and better marketers." He paid $6.80 (Cdn.) a share, and the stock last traded at 18 cents.
Advice
"New research says that stocks that have dividends have basically outperformed any other category of stocks over time."
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