TSX ETF Investor Centre
Are central banks losing their credibility on fighting inflation?
Markets could be losing faith in dovish narratives that seem to have been anchoring interest rates.
Learn more about how bond investors can protect their portfolio in period of rising interest rates.
Limited Recourse Capital Notes (LRCNs): Part Bond, Part Preferred Share?
Introduced to the Canadian marketplace almost two years ago LRCNs are hybrid securities that can be described as part-bond, part-preferred share.
Learn how to distinguish value between LRCNs, preferred shares and traditional bonds.
How to Interest-Rate-Proof your Fixed Income: Understanding Floating Rate Notes
For investors wanting to maintain exposure to fixed income and at the same time decrease exposure to negative price volatility from rising interest rates, one solution to consider is the floating rate note.
Is your bond portfolio prepared for rising interest rates?
Canadian inflation is at its highest level in decades and interest rates could move higher.
Passive bond market indices could be in trouble.
TSX ETF Report - Q2 2022
Dive into TSX ETF industry quarterly insights with the TSX ETF Report. Learn about Q2 TSX low volatility ETFs, new ETF listings, Top Traded ETF Options, and more.
With the world’s Central banks’ focus on using interest rates to combat headline inflation, Canadians are evaluating the personal impact of rising interest, inflation rates and the effect that the volatility is having on their investment portfolios.
Senior Loans: Rising Rates, Rising Coupons
On June 16, 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a 75-bps interest rate hike – the largest rate hike since 1994, bringing the Federal Funds target rate to 1.5-1.75%. Meeting participants (Federal Reserve Board members & Federal Reserve bank presidents) projected a median Fed Funds rate of 3.4% by year-end 2022, suggesting that interest rate hikes are likely to continue through the balance of 2022 and beyond in an attempt to control rising inflation.
The Real Solution for Inflation
The S&P 500 has officially entered a bear market regime as of June 14, having sold off 22% from its closing high on January 3, 2022. The selloff this year was triggered by a combination of factors, including record high inflation, the Russia-Ukraine war, and a substantial tightening of financial conditions driven by the Federal Reserve (“Fed”). Over the past 40 years the market has become accustomed to falling inflation, low/declining interest rates, and periods of quantitative easing, which led to high equity valuations and strong returns. Long-duration assets benefited the most in this type of regime. However, we argue that the current market environment is the opposite of the previous cycles. Characteristics including high inflation, rising interest rates, slowing GDP growth, and a hawkish Fed warrant a shift in investment strategy. Investors should generally look to position their portfolios more defensively than in the past. Additionally, investors need to look for strategies that can act as an inflation hedge and that have moderate to high dividend yields, which provide a margin of safety in volatile markets. One area of the market that meets these criteria is real assets equities, which we believe present an excellent opportunity for investors in the current market environment.
Healthcare - A Healthy Dose of Defense
The current equity bear market regime and recessionary concerns due to the fast pace of Fed rate hikes have prompted investors to seek defensive income-oriented strategies. We believe the healthcare sector provides both stable dividend and defensive characteristics. Demand for healthcare services continues to increase, with a growing and aging population enjoying longer lifespans. In addition, continued innovation in the sector drives the introduction of new treatments for more complex diseases and expanding market opportunities for Healthcare companies. Many large cap healthcare stocks generate durable cash flow, due to their diverse product offerings, and can maintain pricing power and pass-through costs in inflationary environments. These are attractive defensive investment characteristics. Since the 1960s, Healthcare has outperformed the broader market by approximately 3 percentage points annualized when inflation was elevated as shown in the figure below. In the past decade, Healthcare has also been one of the only parts of the market to consistently outperform when growth was slowing and real interest rates were rising.
Drilling Like it’s $40 Oil
You know oil prices are high when the President of the United States releases reserves from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (“SPR”) twice in less than a year. President Biden announced the first release of 50 million barrels (“Mbbl”) on November 23, 2021 and again in March of this year for another 1 million barrels a day over 6 months totaling another 180 million barrels – the largest release ever.
Brompton Split Corp. Preferred Shares: Investor-Friendly Features, Significant Outperformance
2022 so far has seen a sharp increase in interest rates, combined with record-high inflation in both the U.S. and Canada, putting pressure on most categories of fixed income securities. With the U.S. Fed and the Bank of Canada expected to further hike interest rates in the near future, and the potential negative economic impact from the Russia-Ukraine war, this continues to be a challenging time for the fixed income investors who are looking for stable income and capital preservation.