iProfile™ Portfolio – Global Equity Balanced Series F

The iProfile™ Portfolio – Global Equity Balanced, Series F rose over the period (by 6.4%) and outperformed its global equity balanced peer group median (6.0%). All component iProfile pools made gains, with the iProfile Emerging Markets Private Pool performing best, and the iProfile Fixed Income Private Pool delivering the weakest return. The portfolio benefited most from its North American equity components.

Global equity markets were mostly higher in the third quarter of 2025. The S&P/TSX Composite Index (12.5%), S&P 500 (10.5%), Dow Jones Industrial Average (8.0%) and Nasdaq Composite indices (13.9%) all touched record highs (all figures in Canadian dollars, total return). International markets, as reflected in the MSCI EAFE Index (7.1%) were higher, but several countries, including Germany, lost ground in local currency terms. Investors drew comfort, first, from trade deals (or outlines of trade deals) that reduced U.S. tariffs (or threatened tariffs) with many trading partners, reducing uncertainty. Secondly, economic data remained surprisingly solid, especially in the U.S., and contained inflation pressures that allowed several central banks to lower benchmark interest rates, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. As a result, the iProfile Canadian Equity Private Pool (8.7%), iProfile U.S. Equity Private Pool (9.3%), iProfile International Equity Private Pool (6.2%), iProfile Emerging Markets Private Pool (13.4%) and iProfile ETF Private Pool (9.7%), which together comprise just over 55% of the portfolio, accounted for more than three-quarters of the total portfolio return.

The iProfile Emerging Markets Private Pool was the top performer. It outperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (in Canadian dollars, total net return), as all three of the component mandates in the pool delivered double-digit percentage gains, and two outperformed the MSCI benchmark. However, the pool’s overall contribution to portfolio gains was limited by its relatively low weight allocation. The pool’s absolute performance benefited most from an overweight allocation to, and stock selection in, the information technology sector. More than 30% of the pool is invested in the sector and it accounted for more than 45% of the pool’s total return. Almost two-thirds of that came from Taiwan’s and South Korea’s electronics giants, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics, respectively. 

The U.S. equity and Canadian equity pools were the top equity contributors to total return. The Canadian pool contributed most, in part due to its weight. However, it underperformed the U.S. pool and its Canadian equity benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index. The Canadian equity pool’s relative underperformance was mainly due to stock selection in the financials and materials sectors, as well as an underweight exposure to the top-performing materials sector. The U.S. equity pool lagged the benchmark S&P 500 Index, mainly due to an underweight exposure to the technology sector, one of the top-performing sectors in the benchmark. Nonetheless, the information technology sector accounted for over 45% of the pool’s total return in the period.

The iProfile Fixed Income Private Pool (1.6%) is the largest component iProfile pool in the portfolio and so, despite its modest advance, contributed meaningfully to the portfolio’s total return. Global fixed income market returns were mostly modestly positive in the quarter, as bond yields slipped lower in North America but edged higher in Europe and Japan. Fiscal concerns (worries about increased government spending and inflation), in some cases related to political uncertainty, put upward pressure on bond yields in the U.K., France and Japan in particular. As a result, North American bonds outperformed international bonds. In both Canada and the U.S., corporate bonds slightly outperformed government bonds, with high-yield bonds outperforming investment grade corporate bonds, as credit spreads narrowed. The multi-sector fixed income segment (managed by Manulife and added to the pool in late 2024) was the best-performing pool component. The IG Mackenzie Real Property Fund was the only pool component to lose ground and detracted from the pool’s return.