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5 Takeaways From Banyan Hill’s 2024 Total Wealth Symposium

Aaron James
Banyan Hill's 19th Annual Total Wealth Fellowship

Joy is a retired missionary.

She lives in Minnesota. And like many of us, she’s trying to figure out how to thrive in retirement.

She stopped me in the hallway of the Ritz Carlton in Orlando to tell me how grateful she is that our experts … Charles, Ian, Mike, and Adam … helped guide her investments over the last few years.

She’s even in the process of buying a home in Mexico, thanks to our friends at Real Estate Trend Alert. The process has been extremely smooth. She couldn’t be happier.

Joy’s story, along with the stories of the other 199 attendees at our Total Wealth Symposium, reminds me of why I do what I do every day.

Our mission here at Banyan Hill is to make investing simple, fun, and profitable for those who desire more: more knowledge, more opportunities, and more money, so they can truly feel the freedom of total wealth.

Joy has that freedom.

I could SEE it in her eyes and HEAR it by the way she spoke. There’s confidence.

It was a true privilege to speak to her in person about her amazing journey.

At the conference, she continued to pick up more insight from our experts on…

Over this three-day event, she heard about dozens of other investment ideas, along with tax strategies and asset allocation tactics to increase her returns and reduce her risk.

I’m glad Joy was there and that I was able to get to know her, along with so many of the other attendees.

I wish you could have been there too.

And even though we can’t share our stories over a cocktail, I do want to do the next best thing.

I want to send you all the presentations, so you can get the exact same insight Joy was able to get.

Here’s a quick taste of what was covered at the Total Wealth Symposium:

And that was just a snippet of Day 1.

Day 2: Investment Recommendations Galore

Charles Mizrahi went on to share some key insights into the Nobel-prize-winning research behind his latest investment strategy, Profit Accelerator.

Charles is the rare genius who can take academic research and apply it consistently and profitably to the markets. And creating a system helps investors avoid making biased investment decisions.

So it’s no surprise that Profit Accelerator has already shown some market-beating gains in just a few weeks since it launched, with its positions up nearly 4X the stock market (his top picks are up 40.5%, 49.7%, and 51.8% … in less than two months).

And Amber Lancaster revealed her #1 energy play for 2024. It’s a niche of the market related to energy storage. The tiny company currently benefits from clear supply chains … and it’s a source whose costs dropped 24% in the past year.

It’s a microcap stock trading for under $2.00. But it won’t stay that low priced for long.

(By the way, Amber holds Banyan’s track record for the best investment recommendation from a Total Wealth Symposium. So the energy storage market is worth a closer look in the weeks ahead.)

Then, our experts sat in on a panel discussion on artificial intelligence and how to best invest in it this year. That panel alone was worth the price of admission!

Honestly, that’s just scratching the surface.

Michael Carr held an Options 101 course. This is a course that would normally cost $500 alone. It shows you how to use options to increase your investment returns … and how to avoid the biggest risks.

Ian King and Andrew Prince dove into a cryptocurrency course. You’ll find out the best strategy to profit from the cryptocurrency market with tools such as staking and airdrops.

We also had a few guest speakers attend.

One was Tom Wheelwright. He’s Robert Kiyosaki’s CPA. He talked about switching the tax conversation from “Is this a write-off?” to “How do I make this a write-off?”

With the strategies revealed, you could save thousands of dollars annually.

Another guest speaker was Caleb Guilliams, founder of Better Wealth. Caleb talked about the “And” asset. This is a unique way to fund a whole life insurance account so that you get money now, AND your heirs get money later.

Again, I don’t want you to be left out.

I spared no expense in getting a high-quality video team to cover every speech and panel at this year’s Total Wealth Symposium.

I know the importance of being able to sift through a conference after the fact. To get the key data and investment ideas. And so that you can get whatever your top five takeaways are. Because as you’ve seen, there were dozens of ideas presented.

That’s why I’m making the conference video available to all members of our Banyan Hill community at a significant discount to attending in person.

The sooner you download it, the better.

Some of the stocks are already moving higher.

Simply click here to see all the topics covered and find out how you can access the content.

While I’m recovering from our fantastic conference, I thought it would be wise to circle back to the investment recommendations I’ve made in Banyan Edge over the past few months.

My Three Recommendations So Far

Update #1:  Wrap Technologies (Nasdaq: WRAP)

I outlined the opportunity in this small-cap growth stock at the start of the year.

Wrap Technologies provides law enforcement agencies with a unique weapon that wraps a suspect up with a bola wrap. Many officers are already turning in their Taser guns in preference for this new “wrap” gun.

Shares are up more than 50% since I recommended it. This is mainly due to an update from Wrap’s new CEO that they’ve been able to increase their manufacturing capacity while slashing costs by about 30%. Those are massively positive signs for Wrap.

Update #2:  Bitcoin (BTC)

On November 5, I noted that I was buying more bitcoin … and that you should too. That was right at the start of the hype over the approval of a bitcoin ETF. Since then, the SEC has approved 11 such ETFs. And bitcoin’s price is up 36.7%.

Bitcoin has now had a healthy pullback after its recent rally higher. With the bitcoin halving coming up in just two months, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap is likely to continue moving higher through the end of the year.

Update #3: Office Properties Income Trust Preferred Shares (Nasdaq: OPINL)

In October, I recommended this 13% dividend payer. Since then, the office property outlook has grown darker. Shares have fallen on the news that the company is slashing its regular dividend by 96%.

Yet, anyone who invested in the PREFERRED shares is still getting paid. See why I am even more excited about this investment.

Aaron James

CEO, Banyan Hill, Money & Markets

 

From the Mailbag: Why I’m Still Bullish on This 13.01% 15.1% Dividend

Let’s take a closer look at a high-income opportunity I wrote about back in October, the Office Properties Income Trust Preferred Shares (OPINL).

I’m covering this position again because we’ve had some interest from our readers.

Calvin writes in:

Aaron, I purchased $75k of OPINL at your recommendation. It’s now down 6% … should I be alarmed? Does this mean I will now get a dividend of 13.01%? 

Thanks for writing in, Calvin.

I know how you feel…

I bought the preferred shares at $12.46. Today, they’re at $10.60.

So, I’ve also “lost” on this position thus far.

Let’s talk about why shares have fallen, and why I’m encouraged by recent news and buying more shares today.

On January 11, 2024, Office Properties Income Trust (Nasdaq: OPI) announced that they were cutting the dividend on their common stock to a penny a quarter.

That’s a 96% cut!

The market did not react kindly. The common stock dropped nearly 30% that day.

Why? Because investors want the dividend. That’s why they invested in the company in the first place. With the dividend gone, investors sold in droves.

The good news? The dividend cut allows OPI to save $47 million a year.

I know that’s no consolation to the holders of common stock.

But remember, back in October, I mentioned that I wasn’t a fan of the common stock (OPI). It was the preferred shares (OPINL) that caught my eye.

And because OPI cut the common stock (saving $47 million a year), they have plenty of cash to pay out the preferred shares (which amounts to $10.3 million a year).

Keep in mind…

Preferred shares operate much like bonds. They initially sell at a “par value.” For OPINL, that was $25. At that price, they offer investors a 6.375% yield.

Most of the time, preferred shares trade near that par value.

But commercial real estate has been hammered over the past year — particularly office space. So, the price of the preferred shares has also declined.

When I bought at $12.46, or about half the par value, the yield was far higher, at about 13.1%. Since then, OPINL has dropped further, pushing the dividend up to 15.1% today.

Why?

Well … it is riskier due to several factors, from rising interest rates to an underlying company’s health due to a nasty commercial real estate market.

With OPI cutting its common dividend, investors are understandably wary right now. That’s reflected in the deeper discount in the OPI preferred shares as well.

But keep in mind, the company just saved $47 million … more than enough to pay the $10.3 million it pays out as a dividend to the preferred shareholders!

And again, a preferred share is more like a bond than a stock. The dividend must be paid!

Here’s some more encouraging news.

Last week, OPI announced the renewal of a credit facility. A handful of their properties secures it. Between that and the cost savings from the common stock dividend cut, I expect the preferred payments will continue to get paid.

Overall, OPI is in a tough spot. They’re a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) that’s been impacted by rising interest rates. And they’re focused on the office market, which is adjusting to the post-Covid reality of increased hybrid work.

However, while things look dire now, there are some signs of a recovery underway.

Demand for office space in New York City is up 40% year-over-year. Remember during the pandemic when some predicted the end of the Big Apple? How quickly perceptions change!

Plus, as I mentioned in October, OPI’s largest tenant is the U.S. government.

That’s a steady tenant. If anything, government demand for office space grows when the economy is dire. And when things recover? Well, it certainly doesn’t shrink!

OPI’s dividend cut may be a sign that we’re close to the bottom. However, common shares will take years to recover from that shock.

The preferred shares will likely rebound faster. When they do, I suspect that will provide a hint to investors that the office sector is recovering before it becomes a mainstream idea.

As Michael Gigliotti, a managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle, recently stated: “We’re seeing more bids, and we’re seeing more tours. You have maturing loans, you have dry capital, you have parties interested in investing in real estate.”

To wrap things up, I’m not worried about the OPI preferred shares over the long haul.

Yes, the share price may get cheaper over the next few months. But that’s true of any investment. In the meantime, I’m raking in double-digit income.

Today’s buyers can get a slightly better income and more upside when the shares trend back toward their par value. Remember, in time, OPI will have to buy back these shares at $25. It may take until 2050, however, so this should be considered an income investment first.

**Note: I could not buy shares online. My brokerage firm would not let me. I had to call my broker and state that I understood the risk with this investment, and then he put the trade in for me.

Back to Calvin’s question:

Aaron, I purchased $75k of OPINL at your recommendation. It’s now down 6% … should I be alarmed? Does this mean I will now get a dividend of 13.01%? 

Should you be alarmed?

I can’t answer that.

I am not your advisor and can’t tell you what to do personally. Plus, I don’t know your risk tolerance, or if $75,000 is a lot of money or a little money for you.

With that said, I expect OPINL to remain volatile. I would not be shocked to see shares trade lower.

But I expect the payments will continue to be made. And that is why I am in this investment … for the income.

As for the higher yield…

You will not get the higher yield.

That’s because your yield is based on what you paid for the shares.

For example, when these shares were issued, investors paid $25 per share, and they had a yield of 6.375%.

Since you paid about half that, your yield is much higher.

If you buy more today (at about $10.60 a share), it will be even higher still. Around 15%.

I’ll be adding a little more to my stake here. I don’t believe in buying into an investment all at once, just in case something like this happens. Of course, I’m also still going to stay diversified!

So again, thanks for writing in, Calvin.

If anyone else has joined me in investing in OPINL or any of the other opportunities I’ve highlighted in the past few months, feel free to drop me a line.

My email address is AaronJames@BanyanHill.com.