Tips for a successful year & 2023 markets, what to expect

Am not a fan of new year's resolutions, as historically they don't get held up past January, but what type of wisdom can I share to guide you on a path towards an incredible year? Here are some ideas that I use that I do find extremely useful.

1. Select a theme word for the year, as an example: growth. Then you can filter all your activities to see if they are in line with your achieving growth.

2. Perhaps reflect on all areas of your life, from your relationships to money, to self-care, the experiences you had in life and what you want to have, your health, your business and your career and see journal what you wish to see achieved in each area. Start with what does success look like in that area by the end of 2023? Then work backwards, and set up daily, weekly and monthly actions to get you towards that goal.

I hope those tips will assist you in setting up for a healthy, prosperous and fulfilling year.

As for the market, here are a few comments as to what to expect in 2023.

As difficult as 2022 has been with rate hikes, high inflation and market swings, the worst is now probably behind us and the conditions created for a much more compelling investing environment going forward:

Central bank policy, which operates with a lag, is likely to weigh on the economy into 2023

• Equity valuations have normalized, and the potential returns of several asset classes offer attractive opportunities

• Corporate earnings, in general, have remained resilient, and supply chains are finally moving again.

Regardless of where we are in the market cycle, it’s important to take a disciplined approach to invest and stay focused on your long-term goals. This has been a huge part our commitment always and especially during markets as we have had.

Equity Market Reminders & Comments

Here are my key comments and reminders:

• keep in mind in most of your portfolios, you own good quality businesses with healthy balance sheets and long-term track records maneuvering many markets

• market pullbacks are never permanent, and even if the economies take time to re-adjust, the businesses you own will come out on top as they have time and time again in the past

• owning quality businesses is one of the key ways to grow wealth over time as it ensures we can grow 3 or more % above inflation every year

Few additional comments on current markets from Myles Zyblock, chief Investment Strategies from Dynamic Funds:

Expectations are for Rates to Peak in the First Half of 2023

• The futures market has the Fed funds rate peaking at about 5% during the second quarter of 2023. Were the Fed to lift interest rates by 0.75% at their meeting this week, it would imply about another 100-125 basis points of monetary policy tightening to follow before levelling off.

The Labor Market Remains Strong

• In the latest labor market report, the unemployment rate declined from 3.7% to 3.5% with the help of 263,000 new jobs. For the inflation objective to be achieved, the Federal Reserve believes it will need some help by way of a softer labor market

• An unemployment rate of 3.5% reflects one of the strongest labor market environments since the 1960s.

Don’t Read too Much into Immediate Market Reaction

• Sometimes equities rallied on "Fed announcement day" and sometimes they declined. A similar story holds for bond yields.

• The key for investors is not so much what the Fed does on a given day, rather the read on the expected longer-term trajectory for financial conditions, inflation, and the health of the economy. At this stage, inflation has remained stubbornly high leaving the Fed with little wiggle room to take their foot off the brakes.

The market has faced many economic downturns over time.



Historically, despite many periods of increased volatility, markets have remained resilient.

Recessions, while unsettling, are usually short-lived

The good times (economic expansion) usually last much longer than the bad times (economic recession)

Ultimately, the ride up is usually bigger than the ride down

Many of the strongest returns in the markets occur in the period immediately following a sharp decline. Those who exit the markets, even for a short while, risk missing great opportunities when the markets recover.

Bottom line: Keep your long-term plan in mind, work with an experienced planner and tune out the notice.

2022 Fall Market Update

I hope all of you are enjoying this warm fall weather. Last few weeks, I have been attending several conferences and manager meetings on your behalf. Here is a picture from our Keybase conference (so you can see the depth of a team behind Maria and me), plus a few summary points so you can get a sense as to what to expect for the remainder of 2022 and early 2023.

Manager Market Comments:

From Mark Schmehl, Portfolio Manager at Fidelity Investments:

Let’s do a recap, what has been happening in the stock market over the past two years? • You need to frame it in the context of the inflation story - I think energy has peaked, and I think inflation and rates are peaking now. There’s an opportunity here. There are pockets of opportunity now.

• If you think inflation has peaked - we now wonder what happens to the economy. In some sectors, you don’t need to know. Some stocks have fallen so much that if you buy them now and ignore them, you will make money.

Is this a good time to look at the stock market? • You’re not going to have the same bull market as you’ve had over the past 15 years. Scarcity is a theme. At the same time, a lot of innovation people invested in is still there - it got mispriced, and you can still invest against those dynamic themes.

• The dot com bust - some of these growth names you will want to own! Those themes aren’t going away. Tesla, for example, will grow for the next 10 years; they have the best electric car - people aren’t going to stop buying electric cars. We are going to use tons of software, biotech - all the things will be the same; it’s just the price we pay.

Opportunities in Canada?

• Best market in the world - the answer is yes. Energy and resources are great. There are a lot of good companies in Canada. Expensive at the moment - Dollarama - it is more expensive than almost anything, like Costco. There are so few relative others, they are well known.

Final thoughts? • Stylistically been a painful 18 months. I am down 25-30% - I think that we can finally start getting constructive on the market. There is value appearing in pockets of the market. The worst is behind us in terms of a big drawdown - time to start adding risk to the portfolio.

From Dan Dupont, Portfolio Manager, Fidelity Investments

What is your market outlook?

• IG bonds are yielding over 7%. I am a naturally bearish person. I try to buy things when they are cheap. • CPI - it is basically how much it costs for 40% of the population to live. The top 60 are unbelievably different. People who have money are travelling and spending money on airfare and cruises, slowly decreasing in the wealth they accrued.

• In Canada, mortgage delinquencies spike, credit losses are high, and chances of recession increase. 2025 is the bottom - we are at 0.1 mortgage delinquencies in Canada. The mortgage market is so far from being stressed. Maybe house prices need to come down. We get back to a point where it is more typical. Pre-2006, house prices in Canada when were expensive. You can easily make a case for house prices to go down by half.

• That is what we have to go through - the process has started for asset prices to come back to normality. Utilities were priced in much lower interest rates.

From Hugo Lavallée, Portfolio Manager, Fidelity Investments

What are your thoughts on this market?

• It has been a frustrating market. I finally saw the light. The more we go down, the more things are coming my way. Keep your eyes on the prize. All the hard work we are doing right now eventually pays off.

Our bottom line, we must continue to focus on the plan we put in place. We have different asset classes and structures for this reason (markets pulling back).

I have been working hard to ensure the managers we are working with are positioning your portfolios accordingly and will continue to do that. It is often best to review your investments and for me to be able to provide you with the context in terms of your particular situation.