Insurance, Investments and Group Benefits

Key takeaways:

Emblem Portfolios - Canadian: September 22, 2021
Emblem GIF Portfolios - Global: September 27, 2021

• Incrementally less aggressive outlook/positioning towards risk assets
• Deploying cash to realign select asset class exposures back to targets
  
  

Highlights:

• Strong sustainable investing interest in the current environment
• Record fund flows into Canadian sustainable investment funds
• Wide interest/usage gap and demographic factors allude to potential for greater fund flows
• Discussion and education will be important drivers going forward

From an evidence point of view, the proliferation of sustainable investment strategies and strong fund flows into these products are easily researched through publicly available resources. Underlying these trends, however, is a more durable structural shift.

Myth #3: Sustainable investing is a fad

Myth #2: All sustainable investing approaches are essentially the same

It is vital in understanding the different approaches related to sustainable investing. While standards and definitions continually evolve, there are generally six approaches to sustainable investing. Depending on an investor’s motivation in considering sustainable investing, some approaches may be more relevant than others. 

Sustainable investing has experienced increased interest over the past few years, with a sharp acceleration in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other high profile social issues, such as the Black Lives Matter movement. There are, however, some common myths and misconceptions among investors that may be new to modern sustainable investing approaches. This educational resource attempts to provide insight and clarification into what we believe are the most misunderstood issues.

Myth #1: Sustainable investing is the same as ethical investing

Key takeaways:

Tactical Update - May 21, 2021

• Economies in Canada, the United States, and Europe continue their gradual re-openings following their COVID-19 induced shutdowns.

From the Desk of Ashley Misquitta and David Mann: In this recent article, the portfolio managers discuss the evolution of sustainable investing and its growing popularity among investors. Ashley and David  also share how they incorporate ESG factors into their investment process.

Since the beginning of November 2020, we’ve seen the outperformance of small cap companies in relation to larger corporations by nearly eight percentage points. Spurred initially by the announcement of the COVID-19 vaccination and distribution plans across the country, momentum continued through the end of the year.

Key takeaways:

Tactical Update - January 25, 2021

European markets have materially lagged US equities over the past year due to multiple reasons including index composition and Brexit uncertainties. This has resulted in Europe trading at a near record discount to the US. Given its cyclical nature, the Japanese market has performed well but continues to provide exposure to a rebounding global economy.