Today we unpack the likelihood that inflation in Canada will fall as expected, and which sectors of the Canadian marketplace look positive in the near-term. Host Pamela Ritchie speaks with Max Lemieux, portfolio manager of Fidelity True North® Fund, a Canadian equity fund that seeks to invest in companies that are expected to grow over the long term and that are trading at reasonable valuations. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem spoke recently in Quebec City and reaffirmed that no new rate hikes will be needed if inflation falls as expected. Meanwhile in Washington, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that further rate increases are ahead, after January’s extraordinarily strong jobs report. Max shares if this news will impact his investment thesis. He also reflects on the diversity within Canadian markets, noting that the market is more diversified now than in the early 2000’s, with energy and resources now not even 30% of the market. Max also shares that each sector and each stock has its own characteristic, and each stock will have its own bottom before or maybe after the market has reached its own bottom. This reaffirms that it’s the portfolio managers job to take a detailed look at all earnings and data, and then determine whether a stock is very close to its bottom or peak. Max and Pamela also discuss recession probabilities, private markets, and housing in Canada, among other topics.

Recorded on February 8, 2023.

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