More TakacsyRarely has there been a year when fund managers have breathed such a collective sigh of relief that it’s over. In 2022, stocks sank here and abroad, bonds posted record losses, and no matter one’s investing style – growth, dividend income, small cap, you name it – it just didn’t work. But a new year beckons, and money managers are eager to put their investment chops to work. To do so, they’ll need to navigate an expected slowdown that may drag major economies into recession and see corporate profits go into a tailspin.
We asked Canadian fund managers for their best advice on how to position portfolios for 2023, as well as for a top pick.
Stephen Takacsy, CEO and chief investment officer, Lester Asset Management
It’s important to stay fully invested, whether in stocks or bonds, as markets can rise very quickly on lower inflation data and less hawkish comments by central banks, which we believe will be the case in 2023. As the Canadian and U.S. economies remain strong with high employment rates, any slowdown in North America should be relatively mild. However, it is important to remain well diversified by industry in recession-resistant non-cyclical and non-resource businesses. With so much fear already discounted by the market, it’s a great time to buy high quality equities at low valuations and also take advantage of current high yields in the fixed-income market.
Top picks: For Canadian fixed-income portfolios, short-term high-yield corporate bonds trading at a discount to par are very attractive now with equity-like annualized returns to maturity in the 6-per-cent to 8-per-cent range. For equities, we are focused on Canada where there are many great businesses trading at historically low valuations, particularly in the small and mid-cap sectors. Examples include instant lottery ticket supplier Pollard Banknote
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, marine cargo handling and environmental services company Logistec , distributor of specialty home hardware Richelieu Hardware
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, and provider of air cargo services Cargojet.