Key takeaways:
Emblem Portfolios - Canadian: Increased U.S. equities, decreased international equities.
Emblem GIF Portfolios - Global: Increased U.S. equities, proceeds from bonds and/or accumulated cash
Equity markets across the globe have experienced very strong moves since their December 2018 lows. At yesterday’s close, the S&P/TSX Composite has gained 20%, 21% for the S&P 500, and 13% for the MSCI EAFE index. With such strong moves in a compressed period of time, any improvement in fundamentals has not been able to keep pace.
That being said, the bond market does not offer a meaningful option to deploy assets. Government bond yields have come down significantly over the past few months on increased expectations that the Federal Reserve will no longer raise interest rates over the remainder of 2019. Additionally, corporate bond spreads have meaningfully narrowed alongside the equity market run.
In our view, the U.S. equity market offers an advantage in the current late-cycle environment when seeking a balance between continued growth and defensive characteristics. Layering on top of this is the tendency for the U.S. dollar to be stable in times of global economic uncertainty and equity market volatility.
A larger factor in the tactical decision, however, lies in the stock-by-stock composition of our U.S. equity portfolio, which is comprised of high quality companies with durable competitive advantages, are highly cash generative, or are more defensive in nature.
Empire Life Emblem Portfolios: Asset allocation update
Empire Life Emblem Global Portfolios: Asset allocation update
*Change in asset mix from April 24, 2019 to April 26, 2019
Empire Life Investments Inc. is the Portfolio Manager of the Empire Life segregated funds. Empire Life Investments Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Empire Life Insurance Company.
Empire Life Emblem GIF Portfolios currently invest primarily in units of Empire Life Mutual Funds.
A description of the key features of the individual variable insurance contract is contained in the Information Folder for the product being considered. Any amount that is allocated to a Segregated Fund is invested at the risk of the contract owner and may increase or decrease in value.
Policies are issued by The Empire Life Insurance Company.
Empire Life Investments Inc. is the Manager of the Empire Life Emblem Portfolios and Empire Life Mutual Funds (the “Portfolios” or “Funds”). The units of the Portfolios and Funds are available only in those jurisdictions where they may be lawfully offered for sale and therein only by persons permitted to sell such units.
This document includes forward-looking information that is based on the opinions and views of Empire Life Investments Inc. as of the date stated and is subject to change without notice. This information should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell nor should they be relied upon as investment, tax or legal advice. Information contained in this report has been obtained from third party sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Empire Life Investments Inc. and its affiliates does not warrant or make any representations regarding the use or the results of the information contained herein in terms of its correctness, accuracy, timeliness, reliability, or otherwise, and does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage that results from its use.
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