Insurance, Investments and Group Benefits

FINANCIAL MARKETS AT A GLANCE

March 31, 2024 Canadian and U.S. equities were positive over the quarter. Yields rose through the quarter. Corporate bonds outperformed government bonds, and short-term bonds outpaced long-term bonds. Here are the financial markets at a glance.

	CANADIAN EQUITIES		U.S. EQUITIES
	Sector 9 of the 11 Canadian equity sectors ended the quarter in positive territory. Here are the best and worst performing sectors relative to last quarter.		Sector All of the 11 U.S. equity sectors ended the quarter in positive territory. Here are the best and worst performing sectors relative to last quarter.
WORST PERFORMERS BEST PERFORMERS	Energy Health Care Industrials 18.9% 18.4% 11.1% Telecommunications Services Utilities    Real Estate -7.2% -1.1% 1.7%		Telecommunications Services  Energy 18.9% 16.7% Real Estate Utilities 2.1% 7.3%
	Company size performance comparison  Small sized companies outperformed medium and large sized companies, and all were positive over the quarter.		Company size performance comparison  Medium sized companies outperformed large and small sized companies, with small trailing. All were positive over the quarter.
	Small Companies Medium & Large Companies		Medium Companies Large & Small Companies
	What’s working/What’s not working From an investment style perspective, growth outperformed the S&P/TSX Composite Index while value trailed but all were positive over the quarter. Momentum and quality outperformed the S&P/TSX Composite Index while low volatility and dividends trailed. All were positive over the quarter.		What’s working/What’s not working From an investment style perspective, growth outperformed the S&P 500 Index while value trailed but all were positive over the quarter. All factors and the S&P 500 Index were positive this quarter with momentum outperforming. Dividends and low volatility trailed the index.

	GLOBAL EQUITIES		CANADIAN FIXED INCOME
	Regional*   Company size performance comparison  Global large and small companies were positive over the quarter with large companies outperforming.     Large Companies Small Companies What’s working/What’s not working From an investment style perspective, growth outperformed the MSCI World Index. Value trailed the index and all were positive over the quarter. All factors and the MSCI World Index were positive over the quarter, with momentum and quality outperforming the index. low volatility and dividends and trailed the index.		Yields rose this quarter. Short-term bonds outperformed long-term bonds. Corporate bonds outperformed government bonds.  Relative bond performance  Long-term Bonds Short-term Bonds     Government Corporate      Bond yields    Both shorter and longer date bond yields rose over the quarter. Canada 2-year yield rose from 3.88% to 4.27%. Canada 5-year yield rose from 3.17% to 3.64%. Canada 10-year yield rose from 3.10% to 3.59%. Canada long bond† yield rose from 3.02% to 3.48%. † The term to maturity on the Canada long bond is 2053.12.01.

* Representative indexes are as follows: Canadian Equities - S&P/TSX Composite TR Index, U.S. Equities - S&P 500 TR Index, Emerging Markets - MSCI Emerging Markets GR Index, European Equities - MSCI Europe GR Index, Asian Equities - MSCI Pacific ex Japan GR Index, Japanese Equities - MSCI Japan GR Index. 

Source: Morningstar Research Inc. as of March 31, 2024. © 2024 Morningstar Research Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. 

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March 2024