Q1 Recap

The Theme for 2015 : 

"Expect The Unexpected"

1. BOC cuts the Bank Rate by .25%
2. Deflation takes centre stage.
3. $US soars. Euro/$US hits lowest level since 2002.
4. US economic growth stalls.
5. No Fed rate increase (yet).
6. Eurozone economy shows growth.
7. Shenzen (China) has an approx. +38% return to lead global equity market performance.
8. Other top performing markets:

• Copenhagen (Denmark) +29%
• Argentina +28%
• Lisbon (Portugal) +25%
• Germany +23%
• Italy +22%

My 60/40 Model:

Best performing asset classes:

• You guessed it!! International Equities!
• Both Large Cap (large companies) and Emerging Markets up a little over 12%.
• Canadian Inflation Indexed bond index was next best with a return of over 7%.
• Canadian REIT index provided a return of a little under 7%.

Not so good performing asset classes (with some energy exposure):

• Canadian Preferred Share index was down about 4%.
• Canadian High Yield bonds down about 2%.
• Canadian Small Cap (small companies) flat.

Total return for the 1st quarter was approx. 2.75% (before fees and taxes), projected to an annualized return this comes to a little over 11%.

Unexpectedly ahead of target.

However, much can happen in the short-term and most of these numbers will change as the year progresses.

In the long-term, we expect annual average returns of between 7 and 8% (before fees and taxes) over multiple years.

Stay Tuned.