Future Returns: Investing In The Cannabis Industry

Several years ago Morgan Stanley did a poll of over 1,000 high-net-worth investors to see if they’d invest in legal cannabis. A full 65% said they were not likely to invest if cannabis were legalised in the next 12 months.

But Matt Bottomley, equity research analyst at Canaccord Genuity in Toronto, doesn’t hear this same level of objection to the industry today, and for good reason. “At the end of the day, I think the U.S. cannabis sector at maturity is probably US$80 billion to US$100 billion in sales,” he says.

The stigma once associated with cannabis has dropped off dramatically, and within the past month states including New York and Virginia, as well as Mexico, have either legalised it or announced plans to do so.

“You’re going to see it slowly, over the next years and decades transition from a more traditional consumer-packaged goods market,” Bottomley says. Presently, leading U.S. companies “are kind of doing everything in every market,” he says—from growing to producing, up to creating edibles and even operating retail in some markets. As legalisation expands across the world, big pharma may look to get in on it, changing valuations.

Big-name companies trading in the U.S. such as Canopy and Tilray see their stock prices appreciate when pro-legalisation stories hit the news. But because cannabis is still a Schedule I drug, meaning tightly regulated by the government, Bottomley says, “the fundamentals are not necessarily going to flow down to those types of companies.”

Meanwhile, leading American companies like Curaleaf or Trulieve trade on Canadian junior exchanges, less easily accessed by the overall U.S. retail investor market. He thinks there’s a tremendous amount of capital yet to come into this space. Many companies, he adds, are underserved by institutional investors as well.

“Over the long term if you pick the right horses in the sector, there’s still quite a lot of growth to be had.”

Here are three things Bottomley says to keep in mind when investing in the cannabis sector.

Take Stock of Your Risk Profile

Investors entering the cannabis market have to consider their risk thresholds. “All of our buys on cannabis stocks to date are all speculative buys, and we do have holds and sells as well,” Bottomley says.

The sector can be home to wild price swings where for weeks at a time stocks go in one direction, before pivoting and going the other way. If they consider a 2%-to-3% move in a day outside their risk threshold, it might not be for them. Especially because the “wild directions” stocks move in aren’t necessarily tied to company performance.

Bottomley says it also requires a lot of patience. “You really have to be comfortable about where you are on that growth curve and how far ahead of markets opening up—you want to invest your incremental dollar to get ahead of what could eventually be a very large push upward.”

Valuation is Relative

Cannabis is a sector where policy announcements about the future of legalisation can cause stocks to move in the same direction, but investors can’t let that alone sway them. Even if every cannabis stock is moving up or down, and the shift seems uniform, Bottomley advises exercising caution.

Not every cannabis company has exposure to the same markets or regions. When looking at companies in the cannabis space, he says it’s necessary to see how they’re situated in markets relative to their peer group.

He offers the example of a Canadian company trading at 30 or 40 times its forward profitability metrics, or Ebitda (short for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), but that lacks access to the U.S. market or other growth drivers.

“I prefer buying a company that’s trading at a lower multiple than that, but actually has that exposure,” he says. “That’s the first thing that I look at when I’m putting a rating to any of these companies that I cover.”

Understand the Management Team

For Bottomley, management teams and their philosophies are particularly important in the cannabis industry. “We’ve seen a lot of good case studies for huge success stories and a lot of case studies where things haven’t gone so well,” he says.

Prior to Covid-19, Bottomley went on a lot of site visits, meeting management teams. What benefits investors long term, he says, are companies that aren’t too aggressive with mergers and acquisitions, don’t overpay for assets and focus on core markets where they have competencies and market share. But this also means having good infrastructure, like call centres to support patients for medical cannabis companies, or adequate supply for and quantity of retail locations to gain market share.

“Management teams can be fairly aggressive with respect to their messaging,” Bottomley says, “and that’s fine if you can back it up, but I think that’s something investors have to be particularly careful of when they’re choosing which operators they want to back.”

Happy is the family whose members—parents, grandparents and grown children—trust each other enough to cooperate on shared goals, especially financial ones. When that is truly the case, Uncle Sam’s tax rules can help as well.

This matters especially now that mortgage rates are above 7%, and many families are looking for ways to help younger members. If the elders have resources and are confident younger ones can cooperate, a family loan could make homeownership possible while providing the elders with a useful income stream.

Other strategies can actually lower taxes, such as when funding 529 plans or Roth IRAs, or when someone inherits a traditional IRA with required withdrawals larger than they will need.

Here are three strategies useful for functional families.

Intrafamily loans

It is perfectly legal for families to lend money to a relative for a down payment or even a private mortgage.

But it is important not to cut corners, says Ryan McKeown, a CPA with Modern Wealth Enhancement in Minnesota. If the loan is for a down payment, be honest with the mortgage provider and have a formal agreement. The lender owes tax on the interest payments received.

If the loan is for a private mortgage, both sides should have legal representation with a formal written agreement, including payment terms. The lender owes tax on the interest, and the borrower often can deduct it if he or she itemizes.

To avoid IRS trouble, the interest rate shouldn’t be lower than the agency’s Applicable Federal Rate at the time of the loan. Currently that is about 5% for loans longer than nine years; about 4.5% for loans three to nine years; and about 4% for loans three years or less. Currently, traditional mortgage rates are generally above 7%.

In addition, the lender could use the $19,000 annual gift-tax exemption (described below) to forgive some or all of the interest or principal annually. If both lenders and borrowers are married, that is up to $76,000 a year. There is no tax for the borrower on such forgiveness, because it is from a gift.

If you’re going this route, McKeown advises against having a fixed plan to forgive the debt. Instead, do it in one-off letters specifying the amount—and keep careful records. Otherwise the IRS might try to treat the loan as a taxable gift.

Asset gifts

Powerful tax-saving moves for families often use gift-tax provisions. Under current law, anyone can give anyone else up to $19,000 of assets annually, free of gift tax. That means a married couple with three grandchildren could give them a total of $114,000 in 2026.

The gifts can be cash or other assets, like stock. For noncash gifts, the cost basis—which is the starting point for measuring taxable gain after a sale—“carries over” to the recipient. So if someone buys $1,000 of stock and gives it away when it is worth $5,000, the recipient’s cost basis is $1,000. If the recipient later sells the shares for $8,000, the taxable gain is $7,000.

Here’s an example showing how gifts could save a family taxes. Grandma is a widow of modest means, while her child and spouse have prospered. The couple has two children, and they want to contribute $5,000 to a 529 college-savings plan for each—but they need to sell stock to do it. Their tax rate on the sale would be 18.8%, and they would need to sell about $11,000 of stock.

However, Grandma’s federal tax rate on the stock sale is 0%. If the couple gives $10,000 of shares to Grandma, she could sell them, pay no tax, and fund the grandchildren’s 529 plans. This saves about $1,000 of tax.

These moves are legal, and they could be used in other ways, such as to help a young person fund a Roth IRA.

But trust among family members is essential: Under the law, givers can’t put conditions on a gift. Grandma could use her stock proceeds to take a cruise, but she makes 529 contributions instead.

Mark Sellner, a retired tax attorney and CPA living in Sarasota, Fla., uses this strategy. His children sell stock he gives them and fund 529 plans for his grandchildren.

The family’s tax savings aren’t huge, but he likes other benefits. The sales by his children don’t boost his adjusted gross income, which in turn could raise his Medicare Irmaa premiums or his 3.8% surtax on net investment income.

Sellner doesn’t worry about his children using the funds for another purpose.

“There can’t be any strings attached to gifts. Of course, it is up to us to decide whether to make them in the future,” he says.

Two caveats: The “kiddie tax” applies to most children under age 24, and it is levied at the parents’ rate on investment income above $2,700 in 2026. Consider this before making gifts to a young person.

Investors who give away stock also forgo the step-up, an important provision that exempts assets held at death from capital-gains tax.

Sellner knows he’s losing a step-up, but says, “The children could use a little more now. Why should they wait 20 years to get it?”

Disclaimers

A disclaimer is a highly useful strategy in which one heir renounces an inheritance in favor of another heir. Assuming family members cooperate, this can save taxes.

Here’s one example. Dad died and had a large traditional IRA that he left to Mom. She has enough assets and income to cover her expenses, and she lives in a state with a stiff estate tax. The inherited IRA would put her estate over the threshold.

Also surviving are three young-adult children. If Mom disclaims all or part of Dad’s IRA within nine months of his death, that amount could go directly to the children. They will have 10 years to empty the account, and the family as a whole will likely save estate and income taxes.

Disclaimers have many key details, especially regarding beneficiary documents. Although heirs have great freedom in choosing what assets to disclaim, the rules about who gets disclaimed property are rigid. It is best if the original owner names tiers of heirs so that if one disclaims, the next recipient is clear.