Thus far the massive trust conversion wave is breaking very gently. Of our How They Rate coverage universe, 39 Canadian income trusts elected to restructure to corporations on or about Jan. 1. Here are the key takeaways thus far. See the table “Symbol Switch” for data on each company.

First, 37 of the 39 transitions took place seamlessly for investors on both sides of the border. The exceptions were for Bell Aliant Inc (TSX: BA, restricted US) and Canfor Pulp Products Inc (TSX: CFX, restricted US). The primary reason was the bizarre decision by both companies’ managements to cash out US investors with less than USD5 million in assets (qualified investors under the 1940 Investment Company Act) and to restrict shares held by qualified US investors.

Bell Aliant has fully converted, and its shares apparently continue to trade in the US under the symbol BLIAF. It’s unclear, however, how easily they are to trade, so my advice is still to avoid Bell Aliant. Note that Bell’s dividend is now 47.5 cents Canadian per quarter, down from a prior 24.17 cents Canadian per month. The next dividend payment will be on or about Apr. 15.

Canfor has apparently set a new quarterly dividend of 35 cents a share Canadian, down from a monthly rate of 25 cents Canadian. Its first payment at the new rate will also be around April 15. My advice for Canfor Pulp Products is also to steer clear for now.

Second, most companies have kept virtually the same names as corporations they had as trusts, swapping in the descriptive appendage “Corp,” “Inc” or “Ltd” and swapping out “Income Trust,” “Income Fund” or variations thereof. Notable exceptions are the former Avenir Diversified Income Fund, which is now AvenEx Energy Corp (TSX: AVF, US TBD), Consumers’ Waterheater Income Fund, which is now EnerCare Inc (TSX: ECI, US TBD), Fort Chicago Energy Partners LP, which is now Veresen Inc (TSX: VSN, US TBD), Jazz Air Income Fund, which is now Chorus Aviation Inc (TSX: CHR/B, US TBD), Phoenix Technology Income Fund, which is now PHX Energy Services Corp (TSX: PHS, US TBD) and Swiss Water Decaf Coffee Income Fund, which is now Ten Peaks Coffee Company (TSX: TPK, OTC: SWSSF).

Third, 19 of the converters already trade under their new Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) symbols and US over-the-counter (OTC) or New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) symbols that should now remain permanent.

All NYSE-listed companies have maintained their NYSE symbols.

Fourth, thus far only one converting company–Just Energy Group Inc (TSX: JE, OTC: JSTEF)–is trading under a different OTC symbol in the US than it did as a trust. The new symbol, as shown above and in the table, is JSTEF.

Fifth, by Jan. 7 all of these converting companies should be trading under their new TSX symbols.

At that point, all should also be trading under a permanent OTC symbol.

Note that there may still be restrictions on trading Bell Aliant and Canfor Pulp, again owing to management decisions to place severe restrictions on US investors.

Finally, to date no conversion has involved a reduction in the dividend below the level set previously by the converting trust. Baytex Energy Corp (TSX: BTE, NYSE: BTE) boosted its payout 11.1 percent, effective with its Jan. 17 payment.

We’re in the process of recording these changes in the CE How They Rate and Portfolio tables. Our target date for all updates is the publication date of the January issue, which is Friday, Jan. 7, assuming all new TSX and OTC symbols are active by then.

Meanwhile, the upshot of the conversion process is we’re seeing minimal disruption of the markets. That’s better than I expected to see, and it’s a very good sign for our favorites’ performance the rest of the year.