Fourth Quarter 2022 and Year End North American Equity Strategy
2022 was another year of tremendous volatility, although we ended the year with some positive recovery as the S&P500 total return for the fourth quarter was +7.6% in US dollars. Adjusting for currency, the S&P500 returned +6.3% in Canadian dollars, as the Canadian dollar appreciated about 1.5 cents, closing the quarter at US$0.7381. The TSX total return was +6.0% in the fourth quarter. For the year, the S&P500 total return index was down -18.1% in US dollars or -12.5% in Canadian dollars, as the Canadian dollar depreciated -5.3 cents. The TSX total return for the year was -5.8%. To put this negative performance for 2022 in context, recall that in 2021, the S&P500 total return index was up +28.7% in US dollars or +27.5% in Canadian dollars, while the TSX total return for the year was +25.2% and that followed positive returns in 2020 even with the large COVID-19 drawdown in March of that year. As well, the North American Capital Appreciation strategy has managed to do better than the markets over these past two years.