Market Ethos - Inflation risks are adding up Filed Under: Investment Services | Portfolio Management | Wealth Management Published by RWL on Aug 19, 2025 Unfortunately, inflation hasn’t come down as much as policy makers and consumers hoped. And it does potentially appear to be starting to turn back up. Meanwhile, the Fed is expected to cut rates in September, which would be the first rate cut in 2025... Read more
Market Ethos - Earnings surprise again Filed Under: Investment Services | Portfolio Management | Wealth Management Published by RWL on Aug 19, 2025 It is safe to say, with hindsight, that the consensus analysts have gotten it wrong so far. Trimming estimates for Q1 and Q2 as the tariff fiasco gripped markets was premature. Corporations have clearly been able to navigate the uncertainty even with... Read more
Market Ethos - Know thyself Filed Under: Investment Services | Portfolio Management | Wealth Management Published by RWL on Jul 22, 2025 This year, and for the past five years, markets have performed very well, but a smooth ride it wasn’t. It’s during these kinds of market gyrations that, upon reflection, you can better understand your investor ethos. Understanding your personal tendencies... Read more
Market Ethos - Dividends are back, but exposure matters Filed Under: Investment Services | Portfolio Management | Wealth Management Published by RWL on Jul 17, 2025 Dividend-focused investing underperformed the broader market by a decent amount in 2022 and 2023, just by a sliver in 2024 and roughly tied in 2025. The reason for this underperformance, even in the down market of 2022, was largely the result of rising... Read more
Investor Strategy: Halfway check-in: Comfortably numb? Filed Under: Investment Services | Portfolio Management | Wealth Management Published by RWL on Jul 13, 2025 Markets have enjoyed a good start to 2025, albeit with one helluva ride. From initially underreacting to the policy threat of tariffs, then overreacting and now perhaps underreacting to what lies ahead. The important lesson for portfolio construction... Read more
Market Ethos - Valuations leave little room to stumble Filed Under: Investment Services | Portfolio Management | Wealth Management Published by RWL on Jun 30, 2025 The S&P 500 has peaked out at around 22x a few times over the past five years. And while the TSX has seen valuations as high as 18x over the past decade, it certainly isn’t cheap anymore. Given valuations are already at the upper echelon, stumbles may... Read more
Market Ethos - The hedge debate Filed Under: Investment Services | Portfolio Management | Wealth Management Published by RWL on Jun 27, 2025 Accurately forecasting where a currency is going to go next is rather challenging. Additionally, for a Canadian’s portfolio there are many other considerations when it comes to the question of hedging. USD exposure has a portfolio diversification benefit... Read more
Market Ethos - Mind the cap Filed Under: Investment Services | Portfolio Management | Wealth Management Published by RWL on Jun 19, 2025 One recurring discussion topic over the past few months has been the size factor — specifically what to do with small or mid caps. We have largely been avoiding the space, but thought this would be a good time to dive back in, sharpen our pencil and share... Read more
Market Ethos - Risky business Filed Under: Investment Services | Portfolio Management | Wealth Management Published by Dolores Jandoc on Jun 10, 2025 Only in hindsight can you see if the market was overreacting or underreacting to a risk or opportunity. It’s easy to say it overreacted to trade policy risk, but harder to say it is now underreacting to risks or properly reacting to upside potential.... Read more
Investor Strategy: Opportunistic diversification Filed Under: Investment Services | Portfolio Management | Wealth Management Published by RWL on Jun 04, 2025 So far this year, markets have gone from being overly optimistic in the early months that trade policy would not be an issue, to overreacting to the downside, and now back to optimism. Policy could flare up again, but we do think the bigger risk is slowing... Read more