December 2020 Pricing Commentary

The North American stock markets continued their upward price trajectory during the month of December, enabling many equity indices to achieve new record highs at year end.

All five ABC Funds closed out the December 31, 2020 year end positively and at new 2020 price highs, having noticeably outperformed their index benchmarks for the year. In Canada, our top performing equities in December included: Bank of Nova Scotia; Canadian Pacific Railway; Minto Apartment REIT; and WPT Industrial REIT. Our top performing U.S. holdings during the month included: JP Morgan Chase; First Republic Bank; The Coca-Coca Co.; Johnson & Johnson; Becton Dickinson; Boston Scientific; Apple; Broadcom; Activision Blizzard; Electronic Arts; and Mastercard.

As we enter 2021, we remain optimistic on the equity market outlook. We expect our ABC Funds’ portfolio selections of predominantly large and mid capitalization, dividend paying Canadian and U.S. common shares to perform well in the year ahead. In closing, we wish all of our ABC Funds clients a healthy, peaceful, and prosperous 2021.

Irwin A. Michael, President
I.A. Michael Investment Counsel Ltd.