Active Insights

Ian Cooke, Vice-President & Portfolio Manager and Joe Jugovic, President & CEO, QV Investors Inc. discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the markets and provide an update on Fund positioning.

Key takeaways

• We are cautiously and methodically taking advantage of new opportunities.
• We believe our portfolios are very well positioned for the anticipated recovery.
• Our top priority in a downturn like this is avoiding major mistakes.

Dan Bastasic, Senior Vice-President, Investments & Portfolio Manager, iA Clarington Investments discusses the impact of COVID-19 on the markets and economy, and provides an update on Fund positioning.

Key takeaways

• We may see further market bottoming before the anticipated recovery begins.
• We expect the economic fallout to be severe but relatively short in duration.
• We expect defensive stocks to outperform in the months ahead.

David Rolley, Vice-President & Portfolio Manager, Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. discusses the impact of COVID-19 on the global fixed-income markets and provides an update on Fund positioning.

Key takeaways

• We expect the economic damage to be deep but short-lived.
• We have increased our overall equity allocation and added new positions.
• We have found some exceptional opportunities in fixed income.

Jeff Sujitno, Senior Vice-President & Portfolio Manager, iA Clarington Investments, discusses the impact of COVID-19 on the credit markets and provides an update on Fund positioning.

Key takeaways

• We believe the market decline has created some very attractive opportunities.
• Governments and central banks are doing a very good job of managing the crisis.
• We expect the credit investments we hold to move back to par in a relatively short period of time.

Gretchen Amidon, Product Manager, Global Equities, and David Rolley, Vice-President & Portfolio Manager, Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the global equity and fixed-income markets.

Key takeaways

• We expect the increase in volatility to present attractive buying opportunities.
• We have already begun selectively adding new positions to the Funds.
• We expect the market and economic fallout of the coronavirus to be temporary.

On March 18, Clément Gignac, First Vice-President, Diversified Funds & Chief Economist at Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc., discussed the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and markets.

Key takeaways

• Uncertainty and forced selling are the key drivers of stock market volatility.
• We are overweight emerging markets, EAFE and the banking sector.
• We remain positive on the market’s ability to overcome the impact of the coronavirus.

Dan Bastasic, Senior Vice-President, Investments & Portfolio Manager, comments on the impact of COVID-19 on the markets and economy.

Key takeaways

• There is likely some downside remaining in the markets.
• Central banks and governments have responded well overall.
• A significant rebound is likely after COVID-19 cases flatten in key countries.

Jeff Sujitno, Senior Vice-President & Portfolio Manager, iA Clarington Investments, discusses the impact of COVID-19 on the credit markets and provides an update on fund positioning.

Key takeaways

• The negative impact of COVID-19 on our floating rate mandate has been relatively shallow.
• The Fund’s holdings are high-quality and have excellent potential to ‘snap back’.
• A long-term perspective is critical to benefitting from the anticipated recovery.
• Market weakness has created an opportunity to generate equity-like returns while taking first lien debt risk.