Dave Paterson’s Top Funds Report is published on a monthly basis and highlights the best funds that were reviewed in the past month. This is an invaluable tool that provides you with indepth, expert analysis on a wide range of mutual funds and ETFs.
You can browse through our previous editions below. You can also view our recent Mutual Fund Reviews here.
If there is a fund that you would like to see reviewed in a future edition, please send your request to feedback@paterson-associates.ca.
Top Funds Report – November 2018
As T.S. Eliot famously wrote in his poem The Waste Land, “April is the cruelest month….” I disagree. I will just come right out and say it: October is. I hate October. Rolling through the summer months, all is good in the world, and then Labour Day hits. I start to get a bit nervous as traders come back to work, and then it seems almost like clockwork, as they start to get ornery a few weeks after the break. And when traders get ornery, they sell stocks. And sometimes, they sell a lot of stock in a very short time.
read moreTop Funds Report – October 2018
After a nice summer break, traders got back to work in September. Markets were largely mixed, with global equities rising in local currency terms, Canadian equities mostly lower, and bonds falling in the face of rising bond yields.
read moreTop Funds Report – September 2018
In August, the equity markets were mixed as U.S. equities trended higher, while global markets were mostly lower. What makes this particularly interesting according to some analysts is that the big U.S. equity benchmarks scaled uncharted new heights in August, making this the longest bull market in history. Others dispute this claim, arguing that some previous bull market cycles were longer.
read moreTop Funds Report – August 2018
On balance, July offered up a solid start to the third quarter. Global economic growth numbers continue to point to continued expansion despite the potential fallout from a trade war instigated by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Offsetting the trade tensions that have been dominating the business news in the past few months were second-quarter corporate earnings, particularly in the U.S., which were stronger than the consensus had expected, thanks largely to the tax cuts introduced by President Trump back in December.
read moreTop Funds Report – July 2018
Tensions remained high in June as the world remained teetering on the brink of an all-out trade war, instigated by U.S. President Donald Trump. Investors remained unsettled through June, resulting in another month of choppy market performance.
read moreTop Funds Report – June 2018
Download a PDF Copy of this report Markets gain in the merry month of May But equity indices likely to remain rangebound as volatility becomes the new normal … May started out nicely for equity investors as markets rallied higher on stronger corporate earnings and rising oil prices. Over the course of the month, the volatility that we had seen in February, March, and April seemed to settle down, with markets taking on a calmer tone. A calmer tone, that is, until the final few days of the month, as political uncertainty in...
read moreTop Funds Report – May 2018
Download a PDF Copy of this report Stocks positive but yield concerns loom Rising inflation rates and geopolitical tensions could create headwinds… The stock market volatility that characterized trading in February and March continued through most of April. Geopolitical headlines dominated the news, with the growing prospect of a trade war between the U.S. and China, as well as rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Syria. Still, equities were mostly positive in the month as first-quarter earnings continued to...
read moreTop Funds Report – April 2018
The wild ride that started in February continued in March, sending investors on a roller coaster ride. While the market attempted a comeback of sorts later in February, March came in like a lion and again clawed back any gains, as the major stock indices posted losses for the month.
We can cite many reasons for the renewed volatility, including fears over the number of times the Fed will raise rates in the year, worries over Trump’s trade wars, and the selloff in the so-called FANG tech giants (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google-parent Alphabet), which in turn was triggered by news that Facebook users’ data had been harvested without their knowledge or consent.
read moreTop Funds Report – March 2018
February saw the return of volatility, sending markets on a wild ride, with swings that were reminiscent of 2008. The S&P/TSX Composite Index peaked in early January, and largely held its own until the last week of the month, when the freefall started and really picked up steam through early February. Peak to trough, the S&P/TSX Composite fell more than 8.1%.
But then, from the February 9 low, the index managed to claw back nearly 3% of the losses to end the month down only 3% from its peak. It was a similar story south of the border, where the S&P 500 Composite Index fell more than 10% peak to trough, but then managed to gain back nearly 5% in February to close out the month lower by only 3.7% in U.S. dollar terms.
read moreTop Funds Report – February 2018
Download a PDF Copy of this report Volatility Returns to Markets Normal-course market correction brings valuation levels back down to earth Markets came bursting out of the gate in early January, making it look a lot like “2017, the sequel.” U.S. and global markets rallied higher, with the S&P 500 gaining 5.7% in U.S. dollar terms, and the MSCI EAFE Index rising 5.0%. Emerging Markets were also very strong, with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index rising by 8.3%, and China gaining 12.5%. Closer to home, the S&P/TSX...
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