December concluded a successful year for our ABC Funds. While the broader market faced challenges in the final month of 2024, all three ABC Funds delivered positive results, outperforming their benchmarks on both a monthly and year-to-date basis. Key contributors to this strong finish included core ABC Funds holdings of Broadcom, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and ServiceNow.
Looking back at 2024, our outperformance was underpinned by six key factors:
- Our overweight positioning in U.S. stocks, which outperformed Canadian and global equities
- Our significant exposure to the U.S. dollar, which appreciated relative to the Canadian dollar, contributed positively to investments returns
- Our focus on large capitalization technology, which was the primary driver of market gains throughout the year
- Our optimistic outlook entering 2024, which positioned our portfolios to benefit from a soft economic landing
- Remaining fully invested and staying true to our convictions through periods of market volatility
- Avoiding fixed income securities and instead favouring common stocks with higher yields and growth potential.
As we look ahead to 2025, we remain optimistic about the economic and investment landscape. We expect a robust American economy, lower interest rates, strong corporate earnings, and a new U.S. administration to provide a supportive backdrop for continued growth. More importantly, we believe we are at the forefront of a great transformative period in technological innovation and our ABC Funds are strategically positioned to capitalize on these advances.
We wish you a happy New Year and look forward to building on this year’s success as we navigate the exciting period ahead.
Irwin A. Michael, President
I.A. Michael Investment Counsel Ltd.