To assist financial advisors, we have created a series of model portfolios that are designed to meet the investment objectives and risk tolerance of a number of different investor types. These portfolios are updated on a monthly basis. Alternatively, if you would prefer to have something more customized, contact us and we can work with you to help you build a fully optimized portfolio or series of portfolios based on your specific fund preferences and investment criteria.
October 2014 Portfolio Review
You can download our full portfolio review here. It was another solid month for the portfolios, with all firmly in positive territory and all outpacing their benchmarks. Given the conservative nature of the portfolios, this is not unexpected. I have built these portfolios to deliver decent returns in most market conditions, with a particular emphasis on managing risk. Recent markets have highlighted the effectiveness of this approach. The main contributors to the positive performance were the equity funds, specifically the Fidelity Canadian...
read moreSeptember 2014 Portfolio Review
Despite the high levels of volatility in the markets in September, our model portfolios held up relatively well. While none failed to stay in positive territory, they all were able to outpace their benchmarks in the month. You can download the full portfolio review here. The biggest contributors to the absolute performance was the TD U.S. Blue Chip Equity Fund, and the Mackenzie Ivy Foreign Equity Fund. Both finished in positive territory. The Manulife Strategic Income Fund was also firmly in the black, however the strategic portfolios had...
read moreModel Portfolio Review – August 2014
Each of the portfolios was firmly in positive territory in August. The Growth Portfolios were the strongest performers, and the Strategic Models outpaced the Tactical Models. You can download the full portfolio review here. While performance was decent, they again lagged their respective benchmarks. The main reason for this underperformance is many of our favourite funds tend to be much different than the benchmarks. For example, the Dynamic Advantage Bond Fund is a fund that is very defensively positioned, and is better suited for an...
read moreModel Portfolio Review – July 2014
Despite each of the portfolios ending the month in positive territory, each lagged their respective benchmark. You can download the Monthly Portfolio Report here. Within fixed income, the Dynamic Advantage Bond Fund was the biggest detractor from performance. It gained a modest 0.14% in July, which lagged the 0.63% rise in the DEX Universe Bond Index. Given the fund’s positioning, with a much shorter duration this underperformance, while disappointing is not surprising. The main reason I like the fund is that it is defensively positioned,...
read moreModel Portfolio Review – June 2014
It was a positive month for the portfolios as each finished both the month, and first half of the year with modest gains. The portfolios were up between 4% and 5% on a year to date basis, with the more conservative portfolios posting the strongest performance. You can download our Monthly Portfolio Report here. Despite these gains, the portfolios have lagged their respective benchmarks. The main reason for this underperformance has been the underweight exposure in energy and materials, which have been two of the strongest performers so far...
read moreModel Portfolio Review – May 2014
It was a positive month for the portfolios, with all finishing in positive territory, except for the Tactical Balanced Portfolio, which was down by 0.1%. You can download our Monthly Portfolio Report here. The Strategic Models handily outperformed the Tactical Models, which have been more conservatively positioned. This positioning comes from the expectation that there will be an increase in volatility over the coming weeks, and the goal of the portfolios is to minimize the severity of any drawdown. Despite the positive performance, the...
read moreModel Portfolio Review – April 2014
It was another mixed month for the portfolios, with all but the Growth Portfolios posting gains. The portfolios all lagged their respective benchmarks. You can download our Monthly Portfolio Report here. The main reason for the underperformance was the TD U.S. Blue Chip Equity Fund, which lost another 2.9% in April, after dropping nearly 5% in March. Many of the fund’s Consumer Cyclical, Tech and Healthcare names have sold off on valuation concerns. Amazon, Priceline.com and Google have been the biggest detractors from the fund’s performance...
read moreModel Portfolio Review – March 2014
The Portfolios were mixed in March, with the more conservative portfolios outperforming the growth focused portfolios. You can download our Monthly Portfolio Report here. It was a poor month for the TD U.S. Blue Chip Equity Fund, which lost nearly 5% in March. It was this fund that dragged the returns for the more growth focused portfolios. I remain confident in the fund and its management, but will be watching it closely to make sure that this is not the start of a trend. I conducted a quantitative analysis of our tactical models, and based...
read moreModel Portfolio Review – February 2014
Our revamped Model Portfolios started off strong, with each portfolio posting modest gains in the month of February. You can download our new Monthly Portfolio Report here. At the end of January, we did a major overhaul on our portfolios. Historically, the portfolios had been very static in nature, with only modest changes being made in response to either poor performance or significant market events. After speaking with a number of investors and advisors, many indicated that they would like to see a slightly more active approach to the...
read moreModel Portfolio Review – January 2014
The portfolios started the year off with gains, with the Conservative Portfolio leading the way, gaining 2.3% in the month. The strong performance was largely the result of the fixed income holdings, particularly the Manulife Strategic Income Fund and the TD Real Return Bond Fund, both of which posted strong gains, but also outpaced the broader bond market. Except for the Renaissance Global Healthcare Fund, all the equity funds in the portfolio were in negative territory. While the performance of the portfolios has been within our...
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