MARQUEST WEEKLY COMMENTARY – MARCH 14, 2016.

Liis Palmer, Cassels Investment Management Inc.

Global Balanced Fund

Last week the MSCI World Index was up 1.1 percent. The TSX was up 2.3 percent. The C$ was up 0.8 percent against the US$. WTI was up 7.2 percent to $38.50/barrel. The Marquest Global Balanced Fund A units closed at $16.96 compared with $16.86 the previous week. The European Central Bank announced an aggressive stimulus package of interest rate cuts and asset purchases. This bolstered confidence in financial stocks. The International Energy Agency said that curtailed production may indicate that oil prices have “bottomed out.” This news caused energy stocks to rally. The Fund has about a 15 percent weighting in energy.

Significant contributors to performance were Bank of Nova Scotia (up 4.7 percent) for a second week in a row, Royal Bank (up 4.0 percent) and Aetna (up 4.9 percent).

Laggards were Cameco (down 4.7 percent), JetBlue (down 8.1 percent) and Ryanair (down 2.4 percent).