I’m no financial expert.
I once blew a wad of cash on Nortel stock plus, I took a savage beating when I bought Superior Plus at $ 33 a share.
Still, I’ve had my moments in the market with Canadian banks, pipelines, energy companies, pharmaceuticals & McDonald’s, so I’m confident enough to make my own decisions in some key areas.
But I’ve got to admit, I really don’t understand why the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan is looking to sell their stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
The OTPP, let alone the teachers themselves, often get vilified for their role in operating the sports conglomerate, fronted by one of the most futile NHL operations ever.
However, I’ve always applauded the operators of the Teachers Pension Plan for knowing a good thing when they see it, and then buying it in order to profit for their membership.
And there’s the perplexing part.
The Pension Plan people have a mandate, and it’s not to win the Stanley Cup, although that would be nice every millennium or so.
No, the mandate is to generate a continuous stream of revenue to the very people who have paid their money into that plan, the good teachers of Ontario, and turn a 6 percent, 8 percent, 10 percent profit on their holdings per annum.
Looking at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment with the hockey club selling out, the price of beer skyhigh, the Raptors, the Marlies, TFC, the condos, the sports bar, the trademark logo, everywhere I look, I see a never ending flow of cash.
Today and for the long term future.
So to me, the Leafs and their parent company represent a far more secure stream of profit than Canadian banks, pipelines, energy companies, pharmaceuticals & McDonald’s.
What could go wrong with the Leafs that hasn’t already happened in the last 43 years ?
I’ve often wished I was a school teacher, if only to benefit greatly from the shrewd people operating their pension plan.
I say, ” hold “.
I’m Fred Wallace