By Ian Ardill
Happy New Year! In 2021, we had the privilege of serving you through a great year for our portfolios, and we look forward to 2022 with great enthusiasm.
Just over one month in, it has been an interesting year already, as the public markets are down significantly. The S&P 500 is down approximately 6% at time of writing, for example.
It is clear that inflation, now at a 30-year high, is one of the driving factors. As are interest rates, in that people are anxious about them rising further. The market does not like uncertainty, and yet uncertainty prevails, because despite all the pundits and predictions, no one has a crystal ball (see here for John Ardill’s thoughts on just this issue).
My view is that choppy waters are ahead – and this is great news! Because guess what? Right now, because the market is down, there are companies on sale. Now is the time to deploy more money, and if you are not in the market, now is the time to get in – because the market will go up over the long term, just as it always does. And we must look at the long term as being years – not days, weeks, or months.
Corrections are inevitable (something we mentioned in the Q2 2021 edition of this blog). And sure enough, here one is – a normal event, which demonstrates that the markets are working properly, and which is a normal part of the economic cycle.
We are of course discussing the public markets. We view the private markets, which we have access to through my registration with Raintree Financial Solutions Inc, as a good diversifier – although there are pros and cons to the public and private markets alike.
Would you like to have a conversation about what the private markets might have to offer you? Just let us know.
PS Last call for RRSPs! If you would like to discuss an RRSP contribution this year, please contact me now, as the deadline is March 1st.
Ian Ardill, B.A., M.T.S.
Private Wealth Advisor
CEO, Ardill Group
Direct: 1 905 717 5698
Office: 1 905 907 7000
ian@ardillgroup.com