Market and Investment Insights
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Portfolio Commentary – April 2025
Our April 2025 Portfolio Commentary provides an overview of recent market performance, key financial stories, and insights into the performance of our model portfolios.
Insights
2021 Year in Review
Brent Vandermeer gives a brief overview of 2021. It was undoubtedly a year of significant highs, a bit of volatility, and COVID was and remains a force in all our lives. As those challenges hopefully fade, we are ready and excited to meet whatever challenges and opportunities that 2022 has to offer!
December 2021 Commentary & Performance Review
Equity markets showed strength in December, including the S&P 500 which saw returns of 4.36% as hospitalizations from the COVID‐19 Omicron variant appeared to be fewer than expected.
November 2021 Commentary & Performance Review
Equity markets were on track to close another month at all‐time highs before the Omicron variant spooked investors and applied downward pressure in the last week of November. Should Omicron prove to be more transmissible and resilient…
October 2021 Commentary & Performance Review
In this month’s commentary, we discuss North American equity markets back to all-time highs, PayPal backing away from a Pinterest acquisition, The world’s (new) most valuable company and more…
September 2021 Commentary & Performance Review
Nearly all financial assets traded down during the month, outside of energy‐related equities and commodities. A slowing Chinese economy, potential U.S. domestic policy errors, and stagflation fears dominated headlines…
August 2021 Commentary & Performance Review
Global risk appetite improved, with stock markets rising while commodity and fixed income markets declined. Although the Delta variant is slowing the reopening in some regions, companies continued to raise…
Canadian Banks: We Love ‘Em & We Hate ‘Em
From the desk of Erin Gendron... You probably haven’t been able to avoid seeing the negative media attention (and resulting share volatility) the Big 5 Banks have been receiving over the past month. We’ve certainly taken note. The attention on the banks is due to...
Offering Professional In-House Tax Preparation Services
We are pleased to offer you the services of our in-house Tax Specialist. Robert Westgarth is an accountant and tax consultant, and has years of experience with tax preparation. We will continue to facilitate the tax preparation services of Steve Ernst (Converge...
Industrial Alliance (iA) Acquires HollisWealth from Scotiabank
The rumours in last week’s article in the Globe and Mail have been confirmed with today’s announcement that Scotiabank will sell their ownership in HollisWealth to Industrial Alliance (iA) effective in the third quarter of 2017. STABILITY We view this change...
Brexit Vote: This is Not a “Today” Event
As you likely know, the UK people voted to exit the European Union yesterday. This has and will continue to create political uncertainty as other member countries like the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, etc consider their own “leave” decisions. It’s important to note that...
Brent Vandermeer Awarded the ETF Champion of the Year
Last week, over 400 attendees from across the wealth management industry in Canada came together to celebrate the outstanding value that financial professionals provide to their clients. The 20 award categories recognize excellence across the industry, from community...
2016 Budget Overview
The Liberal government released its first budget earlier this week. Here are a few of the details that we thought you might like to be aware of: TFSA's TFSA contribution room is back down to $5,500 for 2016. If you haven’t opened or topped-up your account yet, please...
Stay the Course
Following the US election results, we would like to share some research on the impact this may have on markets and the economy. We also want to remind you about our investment philosophy and what that means in terms of portfolio management strategy during times like...
AI Leading the Way – May 2023 Review
Traders are beginning to express skepticism about the sustainability of the stock rally year-to-date and are issuing warnings about a potential market downturn later in the year. Despite optimism surrounding a US debt-ceiling…
Leaving a Legacy – My Par Gift
One of CrossPoint Financials’ core values is generosity. We hope to live that value out corporately, personally and to encourage our clients to consider the same.
Delivering Service Excellence to Aging Clients & Families
Jennifer Moir, Age Well Solutions and Brent Vandermeer, CrossPoint Financial | iA Private Wealth, discuss some important topics such as longevity planning, encouraging conversations with family members in advance, the five stages of caregiving and more.
Rate Hikes Hitting Earnings – April 2023 Review
The Q1 2023 US earnings season has begun and will show the impact of the Fed’s monetary policy on corporate profitability. Year‐over‐year earnings growth is expected at…
Prepare for Higher Oil Prices – March 2023 Review
OPEC+’s surprise production cut is expected to eliminate the current supply surplus and push world oil markets into a deeper deficit later this year. Before the intervention…
Q1-23 Quarterly Review
Brent Vandermeer gives a brief market and portfolio update in this short video, where he talks about what happened in 2022 and where we might be headed next regarding the economy and markets.