The performance of equity markets continued its upward trend following the beginning of the vaccination campaign and the anticipation of the complete reopening of the economy.
In Q1, The S&P/TSX Total Return Index rose by 8.1%, the S&P 500 expanded by 6.2% while the MSCI ACWI ex. USA increased by 3.8%.
In Q1, NQICA returned 9.4% leading to a 1-year return of 48.5% versus the S&P/TSX composite which returned 44.2% on an annualized basis.
In Canada, the best Q1 sectors were Health Care up 38.1%, Energy up 28.2% and Financials up 12.7%. The worst sectors were Materials down 7.3%, Info-Tech up 1.0%, and Utilities up 2.4%.
In Q1, the best performers in NQICA were TFI International (TFII), Richelieu Hardware (RCH) and Equitable Group (EQB) up 44.2%, 25.4% and 25.3% respectively. On the other hand, the worst performers were Kirkland Lake Gold (KL), Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.B) and Parkland Corp. (PKI) down 18.9%, 6.6% and 5.8% respectively.
