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Q3 2020 Investment Commentary and Outlook

Markets climbed ever higher in Q3 on the back of ongoing monetary and fiscal stimulus from central banks and governments. Balanced portfolios saw gains in the mid single digits as every asset class posted positive returns for the quarter.




While returns since markets bottomed in March have been signif...

October 08, 2020 12:03 PM - Comment(s)
COVID-19 Update
Since our last quarterly update markets have continued to climb, benefiting from government and central bank stimulus and the gradual economic reopening. While we remain positive about the long-term outlook, thee are some cracks beginning to show that make us more cautious over the near-term. In sho...
August 13, 2020 01:03 PM - Comment(s)
Q2 2020 Investment Commentary and Outlook
2020 has taken investors on a record setting roller coaster with the S&P 500 experiencing the fastest 30% correction in history, followed by the largest 50-day rally in history.




While we were caught off guard in the initial sell-off, diversification softened the blow and provided us the opportuni...
July 04, 2020 09:15 PM - Comment(s)
Q1 2020 Investment Commentary and Outlook

As always, I like to start off each quarterly commentary discussing how the market has performed, then we’ll talk about the outlook. Q1 2020 has been a rough ride for investors to put it mildly. We experienced the fastest bear market in history with global markets falling roughly 30% in less than 1 ...

April 07, 2020 09:31 PM - Comment(s)
COVID-19, We are at War

Investors have just experienced one of the fastest bear market sell-offs in history. It seems like a distant memory, but Canadian equity markets peaked just one month ago on February 20, 2020. Since then Canadian stocks are down a third (33%), and Canadian energy is off two thirds (66%)! The speed a...

March 21, 2020 09:23 AM - Comment(s)
Economic Impact of Coronavirus and What Investors Should Do

There’s a lot of misconceptions regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19), so I want to devote the first part of this commentary towards education. Then we will discuss the financial implications and what we’re doing in our investment portfolios.


UNDERSTANDING COVID-19



Before we dive in, it’s worth mention...
March 09, 2020 11:32 PM - Comment(s)
Q4 2019 Investment Commentary and Outlook

Q4 2019 brought investors more positive returns to close out an exceptional year. In fact, in 2019 every major asset class was up, giving balanced investors double digit returns for the year. This was achieved with relatively low risk, as returns were positive in 10 out of 12 months.




WHERE WE STAND T...

January 09, 2020 11:58 AM - Comment(s)
Q3 2019 Investment Commentary and Outlook

During this quarter, investors have been bombarded with negative headlines including the trade war, inverted yield curve, negative interest rates, Hong Kong protests, Brexit, Saudi oil attacks and the recent impeachment inquiry. Given all this you might be surprised to learn market performance was s...

October 10, 2019 09:07 AM - Comment(s)
Wall of Worry

It's been a tough couple of weeks in the markets and I think the reasons are best summed up by Bloomberg’s “Wall of Worry”.




There’s a lot of legitimate issues here and since I can’t address everything, I want to focus on what binds all these headlines together, fear. It can be difficult to measure em...
August 16, 2019 12:37 PM - Comment(s)
Q2 2019 Investment Commentary and Outlook

After 4 straight months of gains starting in January, markets pulled back in May as trade talks between the US and China deteriorated. June saw markets recover as the Federal Reserve signaled they would halt interest rate increases, and possibly cut them in order to stimulate the economy if nee...

July 05, 2019 02:03 PM - Comment(s)
Value vs Growth
Following the financial crash, we have been stuck in a relatively low-growth and low-interest rate environment. Given this backdrop, firms with better growth prospects have been extremely attractive for investors as they are able to borrow cheap and reinvest this capital into higher growth projects....
July 05, 2019 01:40 PM - Comment(s)
Q1 2019 Investment Commentary and Outlook
If you haven't already read last quarter's commentary, I suggest you do that first as we will be building on some of its topics below.


It’s hard to believe but just one quarter ago equity markets were off nearly 20% and financial pundits were predicting the end of this decade long bull market. What a...
July 05, 2019 01:32 PM - Comment(s)
Q4 2018 Investment Commentary and Outlook

The holidays are approaching fast, which means spending quality time with family and friends. If your family’s anything like mine, the markets are an inevitable subject of conversation. As such, I wanted to provide some investment commentary early so you can be well informed should the topic come up...

July 05, 2019 12:34 PM - Comment(s)

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