March 6th, 2009, CIBC New Issued Preferred Shares will be accessable to the public. It offers 6.5% annual dividends and pays quarterly. Compared to TD, RBC, which have dividend yield at 6.25% for preferred shares, CIBC has a slight advantage.

The preferred share's original price is $25/share until it is publicly traded in the open market, and it will flutuate as the market movements, especially with the interest rate. Based on the relatively low risk (Canada's five biggest banks) and stable and consolidated financial structure of CIBC, 6.5% annualy is a pretty great deal for people who are looking for relatively "safety" investments. This preferred share has its first call in five years.

[SIZE="4"]The Risks among Stock, Bonds and Prefer Shares:[/SIZE]

Generally Bond holders [B]<[/B] Preferred Share Holders [B]<[/B] Stock Holders


When people are talking about risk, it is about the preference of corporation's obligatory to pay out the debt when it is going banktupt.
For example, when company A goes bankrupt, it declares Chapter 11 to fill the Bankrupcy Order. It clears up all the assets left to pay back the "debt holder". In this case, it will pay Bonds holder first, then preferred share holders, and last stock holders.