March - CI Investments

COMMENTARYCI Investment ConsultingMarket overviewThe quarter began with a selloff in Canadian equities inlate January and early February which was precipitated bypassable – but not spectacular – economic data, moves bythe U.S. government to impose new rules on banks andquestions about the financial stability of Greece. With theemergence of stronger economic and earnings numbers, theCanadian equity market rallied and the S&P/TSX CompositeIndex gained 3.1% during the quarter – establishing a new18-month high. Credit concerns in Europe and strongcommodity prices helped push the Canadian dollar throughthe US$0.99 level for the first time in 20 months. The euroand the British pound depreciated 9% against the Canadiandollar, while the Japanese yen lost 4%. Against this backdrop,foreign equity returns reported in Canadian dollars were lessthan stellar. Global markets, as represented by the MSCIWorld Index in Canadian dollars, gained only 0.3%. Inthe U.S., the S&P 500 Index gained 4.9%, its strongest firstquarter since 1998, but the effect in Canadian dollars was arise of only 1.8%.Year-over-year, the S&P/TSX has risen 42.1%, while inCanadian dollars the MSCI World Index gained 23.5% andthe S&P 500 rose 19.5%. The shortfall was caused mainly bythe rise in the Canadian dollar.Portfolio performanceAll portfolios posted strong returns during the quarterand have rebounded nicely during this recovery. Thecombination of a prudent asset mix and superior investmentmanagement skills by award-winning portfolio managerssuch as Signature Global Advisors and Harbour Advisorsadded value to the returns. Individual stocks that were majorcontributors during this period included Toronto DominionBank, Apple Computer, Heineken and Rio Tinto.Returns in % 1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years Since InceptionPortfolio Series Income Fund 17.8 1.5 3.7 5.1 4.8 (Dec. 97)Portfolio Series Balanced Fund 21.6 -2.6 2.9 3.2 6.9 (Nov. 88)Portfolio Series Growth Fund 24.8 -4.6 1.5 n/a 2.2 (Dec. 01)Select 100i Managed Portfolio 11.3 2.9 n/a n/a 3.0 (Nov. 06)Select 50i50e Managed Portfolio 20.9 -1.6 n/a n/a -0.5 (Nov. 06)Select 30i70e Managed Portfolio 24.9 -3.5 n/a n/a -2.1 (Nov. 06)S&P/TSX Composite Index 42.1 0.0 7.4 4.7 n/aS&P 500 Index (C$) 20.7 -8.1 -1.6 -4.2 n/aMSCI World Index (C$) 23.5 -8.8 -0.1 -3.1 n/aDEX Universe Bond Index 5.1 5.3 5.2 6.5 n/aPAGE 35 • SPRING 2010 PERSPECTIVE AS AT MARCH 31, 2010