We hope that everyone had a nice time over the Christmas Holidays and a good finish to 2015. The girls and I enjoyed some down time over the last week of December and Natalie and I got some things done around the house. It was a fairly quiet Christmas but a very nice one.
While I’d like to say that 2015 was a great year, it certainly wasn’t one of the better ones. We witnessed the price of Oil drop to levels we haven’t seen in years and it has affected Jobs, Housing Prices (in some provinces) and the Stock Market. While we had a couple of Interest Rate decreases in Canada, the USA raised their rates for the first time since 2008 which depreciated many Fixed Income Investments. All-in-all, it was a tough year for Stocks, Bonds, Real Estate and Precious Metals. The Toronto Stock Exchange was down 11.82% in 2015 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.29%. This represents the first negative year in the USA since 2008.
There were losses in many European Markets too but it wasn’t all bad news overseas. The German DAX went up 10.02% in 2015 while the Japanese Nikkei Index was up 9.07%. France had their share of troubles this year with a couple of horrific terror attacks. Their market managed to appreciate 9.99% though so clearly there is some optimism out there. Globally Diverse Portfolios held their own last year and investments with US Dollars also did well simply because the US Currency has been so strong (especially compared to the Canadian Dollar).
There is obviously a lot to talk about right now. You’ll be getting Annual Statements in the coming weeks and that will give us an opportunity to discuss re-balancing and more exposure to Foreign & Alternative Investments. If we continue to see Oil Prices stay low, we likely won’t see high returns out of the Canadian Stock Market for the foreseeable future. This may mean that adding more exposure to Global Investments and Non-Traditional Asset Classes will be suitable for 2016. Please contact me at your convenience to discuss further.
On behalf of our entire family, have a wonderful start to 2016!
Bryce A. Borden