Insurance, Investments and Group Benefits

FINANCIAL MARKETS AT A GLANCE

December 31, 2023 Canadian and U.S. equities were positive over the quarter. Yields fell through the quarter. Government bonds outperformed corporate bonds, and long-term bonds outpaced short-term bonds. Here are the financial markets at a glance.

	CANADIAN EQUITIES		U.S. EQUITIES
	Sector 10 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 10 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	Information Technology Financials Real Estate 18.8% 12.7% 10.7% Energy   Materials    Health Care -9.1% 1.9% 4.9%		Real Estate  Information Technology 15.9% 14.3% Energy Consumer Staples -9.2% 2.9%
	Company size performance comparison  Large sized companies outperformed medium and small sized companies, and all were positive over the quarter.		Company size performance comparison  Small companies outperformed large and medium sized companies, with medium trailing. All were positive over the quarter.
	Large Companies Medium & Small Companies		Small Companies Large & Medium Companies
	What’s working/What’s not working From an investment style perspective, value outperformed growth while the S&P/TSX Composite Index trailed but all were positive over the quarter. Momentum and low volatility outperformed the S&P/TSX Composite Index while dividends and quality 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. 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.     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 quality and momentum outperforming the index. Dividends and low volatility trailed the index.		Yields fell this quarter. Long-term bonds outperformed short-term bonds. Government bonds outperformed corporate bonds.  Relative bond performance  Long-term Bonds Short-term Bonds     Government Corporate      Bond yield    Both shorter and longer date bond yields fell over the quarter. Yield on the Canada 2-year fell from 4.87% to 3.88%. Canada 5-year fell from 4.25% to 3.17%. Canada 10-year fell from 4.03% to 3.10%. Canada long bond fell from 3.81% to 3.02%.

* 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 December 31, 2023. © 2023 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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December 2023