From the desk of CIO Paul Holba: 2022—a challenging year when defense is the best offense

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In 2022 defense was the best offense

2022 continues to be a challenging year—but it’s not all bad news.

Specific economic signals appear to be bottoming, although off low levels.
Equity valuations are now at more reasonable levels than earlier in the year.
Bond yields have become much more attractive.
Many markets experienced a strong October rally, trimming the year’s losses to varying degrees.

Although interest rates are likely to rise further, the Empire Life Investments team believes we are closer to the end of the current hiking cycle than the beginning, particularly in Canada.

Paul Holba, CIO, discusses how the team’s positioning of their investment strategies reflect their cautious view of the market environment—at a very high level, this is best described as being defensive. Gain deeper insights into where the team is seeing opportunities, how they’re positioning the funds to capitalize on them, and how a cautious strategy is working well so far.

Download the CIO update

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