The Year in Review: 2023
Influenced by the events of 2022 – including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, high inflation, rapidly rising interest rates, and poor investment returns for both stocks and bonds – the general consensus at the start of 2023 was for another difficult year ahead and the inevitability of a global recession. However, despite central banks continuing to hike interest rates [...]
2023 Model Portfolios
As a portfolio manager, our mission is to help clients allocate their money to investment portfolios that provide efficient risk-adjusted returns over the long-term. To achieve this, we conduct an annual review of our portfolio construction process, consisting of four steps: Creating long-term capital market assumptions for various asset classes. Developing model portfolios with different allocations to these asset [...]
2023 Long-Term Capital Market Assumptions
As a portfolio manager, our mission is to help clients allocate their money to investment portfolios that provide efficient risk-adjusted returns over the long-term. To achieve this, we conduct an annual review of our portfolio construction process, consisting of four main steps: Creating long-term capital market assumptions for various asset classes. Developing model portfolios with varying asset allocations to [...]
The Year in Review: 2022
After more than a decade of steady inflation, low interest rates, and attractive equity market returns, 2022 felt like the end of an era. Inflation spiked, central banks aggressively raised interest rates, and the debt-fuelled speculative investment party that kicked into overdrive during the pandemic came to an abrupt end. Most asset classes experienced negative returns for the year, [...]
Tax Refunds Feel Good but Could Be a Sign of Poor Planning
As another year draws to a close, we will soon be turning our attention to our clients' tax returns. For many, the recurring annoyance of gathering documents and preparing a tax return is offset by the delight of receiving a sizeable tax refund. After all, who doesn't like seeing that nice deposit arrive in the bank every spring? However, [...]
Introducing Our Sustainable Investment Strategies
Today we are pleased to introduce two new investment strategies that incorporate sustainable investment principles into our portfolio construction process. Along with our Standard strategy, we will now be able to offer a range of investment options to better align client portfolios with client values. This article provides an overview of sustainable investment, outlines our approach to it in [...]
2022 Model Portfolios
As a portfolio manager, our mission is to help clients allocate their money to investment portfolios that provide efficient risk-adjusted returns over the long-term. Given the ever-expanding list of potential investment products, how do we determine the composition of client portfolios and select the securities to include? Our portfolio construction process – something we review each year – consists [...]
2022 Long-Term Capital Market Assumptions
As a portfolio manager, our mission is to help clients allocate their money to investment portfolios that provide efficient risk-adjusted returns over the long-term. Given the ever-expanding list of potential investment products, how do we determine the composition of client portfolios and select the securities to include? Our portfolio construction process – something we review each year – consists [...]
Commentary on Recent Capital Markets Performance
As emphasized in The Year in Review: 2021, we believe in passive investment management and therefore don't spend a lot of our time analyzing the economic cycle, worrying about current capital market valuations relative to our own estimates, or forecasting short-term returns for individual securities, sectors, or countries. Instead, we focus on establishing long-term (i.e. 10+ years) return assumptions [...]