Jaime Carrasco.
Jaime Carrasco is director and associate portfolio manager at Bank of Nova Scotia. His focus is resource and utilities stocks and REITs.
Top Picks:
Dream Global REIT (DRG.UN-TSX)
Freehold Royalties (FRU-TSX)
Scorpio Mining (SPM-TSX)
Past Picks: April 3, 2014
Silver Standard (SSO-TSX)
Then: $11.22; Now: $6.71 -40.20%; Total return: -40.20%
Veresen (VSN-TSX)
Then: $16.68; Now: $18.47 +10.73%; Total return: +17.83%
Ceres Global Ag Corp. (CRP-TSX)
Then: $7.00; Now: $6.16 -12.00%; Total return: -12.00%
Total return average: -11.46%
| Disclosure | Personal | Family | Portfolioéfund |
| SSO | Y | Y | Y |
| VSN | N | N | Y |
| CRP | N | N | Y |
Market outlook:
I continue to advise that assets must be positioned in a combination of four main investment strategies, with consideration in each dependent to account for each client's investment objective and risk tolerance.
Pensioners have been pushed further up the risk scale because of a low interest rate policy. In this environment a good selection of high dividend-paying companies like pipelines, utilities, and REITS offer great bond alternative yield. These very same policies have been flooding the market with liquidity, inflating investment assets resulting in high-priced fixed income and equity assets. The market's rise in the deteriorating global economic reality should continue due to global central bank liquidity. Considerations in health care, high tech, and global blue chips should continue to do well in this environment. However, sooner or later the negative consequences of this massive monetary experiment will be felt, and insurance must be bought by any rational investor. Considerations in precious metals bullion and good quality precious metals producers will offer the best protection and benefit. Lastly, I recommend considerations that are benefiting from areas of true economic benefit such as health care, high tech, energy, and participation in regions that are experience faster economic growth. All portfolios have considerations that participate in all these strategies; however they are proportionately allocated to each client's individual risk return parameter.
In the portfolios I have been re-allocating the REITS to have a greater foreign exposure through participation in the Dream Global REITS (DRG.UN-TSX), this considerations' German assets should do well when the euro reverses, and is paying a healthy dividend to wait. I have also started to raise the stop-losses on my U.S.-based assets, expecting volatility to continue to rise into the summer and fall due to the slowing global economy. I'm beginning to slowly add to energy through the Freehold Royalty (FU-TSX), and feel that the geopolitical reality should continue to support Brent crude prices. Lastly, on the precious metals front I'm happy to report that our holdings management teams delivered great financial results this quarter, and I no longer hear many calls for $600 dollar gold. Has the wind changed?