Brett Girard's Top Picks: March 25, 2022
BNN Bloomberg
Top picks from Brett Girard, chief financial officer and portfolio manager at Liberty International Investment Management
Brett Girard, chief financial officer and portfolio manager at Liberty International Investment Management
FOCUS: Global stocks
MARKET OUTLOOK:
Between energy-led inflation, labour market strength, developments in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and equity sector dispersion, there has been no shortage of headlines so far in 2022. As these trends evolve over the balance of the year, investors should expect to be (unfortunately) more than repaid for the suppressed volatility of 2021.
In light of this, portfolio management must be a focus. Sticking to a target asset mix and maintaining a broadly diversified set of holdings, with appropriate position sizes, allows for risk to be kept in line with premeditated goals. Doing so also helps avoid the temptation of sweeping portfolio changes at an inopportune time.
On security selection, investors should focus on pricing power as an inflationary hedge, appropriate levels of corporate leverage and the capital allocation skills of a given management team. Moreover, investors need to consider ungluing from the daily noise and enjoying the first Canadian spring largely free of COVID-19 restrictions in two years.