Investors shrugged off any potential economic fallout from the U.S. government shutdown and took equity markets higher in October. The Canadian dollar weakened compared with the U.S. greenback, which further boosted returns for Canadian investors.
Each of the portfolios was firmly in positive territory during the month, led by the Growth Portfolio which gained 3.9%. The Conservative Portfolio gained a more modest 2.2%.
While the portfolios made money, the all failed to keep pace with their respective benchmarks during the month. This is not unexpected. I have built the portfolios with an emphasis on managing risk and providing decent downside protection. Many of the funds in the portfolios, namely Mackenzie Ivy Foreign Equity, CI Harbour, and to a lesser extent Trimark U.S. Smaller Companies place a significant emphasis on quality companies. This tends to result in portfolios that will hold up better when markets drop, but will unfortunately lag when markets rally higher.
That said, I still monitor the performance on an absolute, relative, and risk adjusted basis to ensure that the portfolios continue to perform within expectations. As of October 31, the portfolios continue to deliver risk adjusted returns that are significantly stronger than their respective benchmarks. Their absolute return levels are well within our expected ranges based on the risk reward profile of each portfolio.
You can download our detailed Portfolio Review here.
Portfolio Performance (October 31, 2013)
1 Mth
3 Mth
YTD
1 Yr
2 Yr
3 Yr
5 Yr
10 Yr
Conservative
2.2%
2.5%
6.9%
8.0%
6.4%
5.3%
7.7%
5.7%
Moderate Balanced
2.7%
3.3%
10.8%
12.0%
8.1%
6.2%
8.0%
5.9%
Balanced
3.0%
3.8%
12.4%
13.6%
8.8%
6.5%
8.3%
6.2%
Balanced Growth
3.6%
4.6%
17.0%
18.2%
11.1%
7.7%
8.5%
6.4%
Growth Portfolio
3.9%
5.4%
21.5%
23.0%
14.0%
10.0%
9.7%
6.9%