Global Markets Commentary: All hail the diversified investor

July saw a welcome return to normal, meaning cash, bonds and a wide variety of stocks contributed to performance. The month was a victory for the well-diversified investor – our strategy and portfolios performed handsomely....

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The first will be last and the last will be first

Escalator up, elevator down. This old trading cliche aptly describes recent stock market action in our view. After a relentless ascent led by the “Nifty AI Five” (Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Google) and a few other names, market volatility h...

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Global Markets Commentary - 2024 at the Half: A Good Time for Investors

The first half of 2024 has delivered solid equity market results. Bond yields have been volatile; the Canadian bond market posted a small year-to-date loss. A typical well-diversified Canadian balanced investor is sitting with a total return in the m...

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What does cooling inflation mean for the markets?

No one ever thinks they’d find themselves rooting for an economic slowdown, but that’s what some investors found themselves doing earlier in the year as they longed for some relief from runaway inflation....

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Where the chief strategist for BMO’s private wealth arm sees markets heading next - and the ‘magic’ ingredient for portfolio success

The Canadian stock market has displayed two attractive characteristics this year, a positive, albeit modest, return for the overall index combined with low market volatility....

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Investment Strategy - June 2024

With investors still focused on inflation trends—which have admittedly been running a little hotter than expected in the U.S.—some may have missed the global uptrend occurring in stocks...

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Global Markets Commentary: Bulls Bounce Back

After April’s disappointing performance in capital markets, the bulls bounced back in May with solid gains for stocks and bonds. A balanced investor with 60% diversified global equity and 40% Canadian bonds enjoyed a monthly gain of 2.5% – enough to...

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Budget implications: Should you realize your capital gains before June 25?

The surprise over the Federal government’s decision to increase the capital gains inclusion rate in the 2024 budget has mostly subsided, but now investors, entrepreneurs and their advisors must determine how that change might impact their portfolios....

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Global Markets Commentary: Shake, Rattle and Roll

April brought shaking to the equity markets and rattling to the bond market, with tandem declines for both asset classes. However, we saw continued rolling recoveries in housing, manufacturing and non-U.S. global economic growth, all of which support...

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Federal Budget 2024: Capital gains taxes climb; some nuggets for entrepreneurs

After decades of discussion, it finally happened: the Federal government raised capital gains taxes. However, the increase, which bumps the capital gains inclusion rate to 66.7% from 50%, only applies to individuals who realize more than $250,000 in...

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Retirement Planning Calculator Tool

This Retirement calculator will allow you to input assumptions to generate a retirement illustration and a tool for estimating income in retirement.  This self-input calculator tool will provide a good high level summary while we would develop a more comprehensive tax optimized plan for our clients using our access to a more detailed and sophisticated planning software when we meet.  Enjoy!

https://www.bmo.com/financial-calculators/retirement-savings/

 

Portfolio

To Preserve & Protect Your Legacy

Managing the Health of Your Wealth by Building Smarter Portfolios

 

We believe the greatest opportunity for clients to achieve their investment objectives and to realize optimal risk-adjusted returns is by using a well-constructed portfolio combining active, passive and alternative strategies allocated to meet their unique needs. Given all of these factors, we believe portfolio construction efforts should focus on seeking a balance between growth potential and downside protection. This means being sensitive to stock valuations, ensuring wide-ranging diversification and focusing on income.
 



In its broadest sense, diversification means exposure to a variety of asset classes that have historically had lower correlations to each other.  For many investors, this could mean adding real estate, international exposure and alternative strategies (such as long-short, absolute return, and market neutral mandates) to their portfolios.

Our Portfolio construct provides adequate and prudent diversification to global equity markets and fixed income, while incorporating an allocation to Absolute Return managers. 

Please contact us to learn more about our portfolio construct and historical performance.
 

Why Select a CFA

Why Choose a CFA?

The Case for Passive VS Active US Equity

Historically, the US equity market as represented by the S&P 500 Index, has been extremely difficult to beat!  In the past 15 years, less than 3% of Active Managers have been able to Outperform the Index. 

The S&P 500 is highly efficient, liquid, and does not suffer from high single security concentration risk (ie. like the TSX Index has in Canada in the past with Nortel, RIM, Valeant, and Shopify today). 

Please click here to see the latest SPIVA research on how difficult it is to outperform the S&P 500 US equity index.  This is why our core strategy for US equity market exposure is a Passive US Equity allocation incorporating low cost Index ETFs.

Benefits of Alternatives

With markets at all-time highs, volatility at multi-year lows, high equity market valuations and general political and economic uncertainty, investors have a desire to protect capital and earn a competitive return. Absolute Return Strategies are often utilized by High Net Worth families to Enhance Returns & Add Downside Protection to complement Traditional Portfolio Asset Exposures.

Click here to discover the Power & Benefits of Adding Alternatives to your Portfolio!