Happy New Year to all…from the office window where we are oddly looking out at the green grass poking through the remnants of snow banks. For those that are skiers, the season has yet to deliver but in the absence of that…the spring-like weather is a welcome surprise. Speaking of surprises… we had expected Suzanne to start her maternity leave early in the new year but baby Joseph Curtis Normoyle decided to arrive early on December 29^th! We wish Suzanne and Justin every happiness.

Market Updates

It is, in part, nice to see the back of 2022. In our year-end missive, we focused on inflation, interest rates and their associated silver linings but we have to acknowledge that both stocks and bonds produced negative capital returns last year. The TSX was off -8.50%, the S&P 500 was down -19.24% and the tech heavy Nasdaq lost -33.36%. Bonds and fixed income made all of their scheduled interest payments but did not escape unscathed as the index declined -12.60% in the face of higher rates. We responded throughout 2022 by adding into all asset classes and taking advantage of the higher yields available in bonds and preferred shares. In most cases, this limited our downside as our Canadian equity portfolio, comprised largely of higher yielding companies, paid and increased dividends through 2022.

2023 has opened on a more positive note and as is usual at the start of the year, we have received market updates from every corner of the financial world. What is unusual is that they are more mixed in nature with everyone, including central bankers, hedging their bets. If there ever was a year to be true to your investment policy – this is surely it! Early reports from European countries show lower than expected inflation causing the bond market to reverse course and predict lower rates. Is it a one off? I don’t think anyone can truly say. Better to ensure that we have sufficient fixed income and income certainty in your accounts generating the funds required to cover necessary withdrawals. Couple that with excess capital being added into underperforming sectors to ready ourselves for an eventual market recovery. 2023 will no doubt prove to be an active year!

TFSA, RESP & RSP Contributions

The team has started the early year administration of topping up TFSA’s, RESP’s and RSP’s. As of January 1^st, you may contribute an additional $6,500 to your TFSA to benefit from tax-free growth.

For those with standing instructions on file, we will make the contributions accordingly and will notify you upon completion. If you don’t have any prior instructions with us or you wish to make a change to any previous directions, please reach out and we will ensure that we make the updates.

Please connect with us if you have any questions or concerns – we are always happy to help.

Best,

Livingston Wealth Management Group