The biggest investment story in 2007 was the rapid appreciation of the Canadian dollar (Reader Jon pointed out that the higher loonie also resulted in pressure on retailers to lower prices): Our buck appreciated 18% against the U.S. Dollar, 7% against the Euro, 11% against the Yen and 17% against the Pound Sterling. The soaring loonie decimated total returns from foreign equities - US and EAFE stocks lost value and even returns from soaring emerging markets don’t look so rosy in Canadian dollars.
Bonds: 3.3%
REITs: -5%
Canadian Equities: 9.5%
US Equities: -10.5% (5.3% in USD terms)
EAFE Equities: -6.7% (10% in USD terms)
Emerging Markets: 16.5% (37% in USD terms)
A preliminary look at the Sleepy Portfolio suggests that you need a magnifying glass to find any gains - it’s up a scant 0.2%. I wouldn’t read too much into it since it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison because of significant changes to the portfolio during the year. Still, you should count yourself lucky if your portfolios posted gains in the low single digits during the past year.
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5 responses so far ↓
1 Jon D. // Jan 1, 2008 at 11:23 am
Top gainers on the TSX were Rim, Potash, & Agrium:
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/12/20/winners-losers.html
According to reuters, TSX comp gain for 2007 was 7.2%, compared to 14.5%:
http://www.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUSN3159083020071231
What’s interesting though is the volatility in all markets around the world has even pushed Mad Money stock picker himself Jim Cramer to recommend low-cost indices for most investors:
http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/dec2007/pi20071214_569100.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_top+story
2 Canadian Capitalist // Jan 1, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Jon: The returns for all asset classes in the post include cash dividends. The TSX yielded about 2.3% in 2007 for a total return of 9.5%.
3 The 2007 Sleepy Portfolio Report Card // Jan 1, 2008 at 11:18 pm
[...] Contact ← Asset Class Returns for 2007 [...]
4 Calculating Investment Performance for 2007 | Quest For Four Pillars // Jan 3, 2008 at 6:00 am
[...] Here is a list of some relevant asset returns for 2007 in Canadian dollars which is listed on Canadian Capitalist. [...]
5 Canadian Capitalist // Jan 4, 2008 at 3:56 pm
You can also find a asset class returns going back to 1970 on Norbert Schlenker’s website here:
Link
My calculations differ significantly from Norbert’s for EAFE and Emerging Markets. I’ll have to double check and ask Norbert for a clarification as well.
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