Where did you put your money last year?

QUESTION OF THE WEEK
by RM Group of Richardson GMP 

http://bit.ly/13g2LOc

2012 ended on Monday of this week, where was the best place for Canadians to put their money last year?
 

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK

2012 ended on Monday of this week, where was the best place for Canadians to put their money last year?

In order to answer this question we need to look at index returns in different countries and adjust those returns for the difference in foreign exchange rates as Canadians would have to convert any foreign returns back into Canadian dollars. So we’ve compiled a list of major exchanges around the world and provided you with their Canadian dollar returns in 2012. We have included some countries that are not considered important in the world of equities, but were certainly topical last year such as Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain. So what did we find out? Greece’s Athens Stock Exchange provided the highest return, but let’s be serious here, the return may have been the highest, but so was the risk. With respect to a country where you’d likely have a more realistic risk tolerance, it would appear that Germany’s DAX offered the greatest return advancing 27.9%. The worst return amongst the group was the Brazilian Bovespa Index which fell 6.0%, although Spain’s IBEX was not too far behind. Canada’s TSX Index was positive in 2012, but ranked near the bottom amongst the other exchanges and underperformed the S&P 500 for a second year in a row. What some investors might find interesting is that most of the Eurozone countries that are in financial difficulty managed to post positive returns in the equity markets, but again, the risk profile of investments in those countries is much higher than investing in Canada. It was also interesting to note that the Shanghai exchange in China did manage to post a positive return, but it was very small when compared to Hong Kong and a struggling Japanese Nikkei. Next week we will take a look at commodity returns.

^{Source: Richardson GMP Limited
The opinions expressed in this report are the opinions of the author and readers should not assume they reflect the opinions or recommendations of Richardson GMP Limited or its affiliates. Assumptions, opinions and estimates constitute the author’s judgment as of the date of this material and are subject to change without notice. We do not warrant the completeness or accuracy of this material, and it should not be relied upon as such. Before acting on any recommendation, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and, if necessary, seek professional advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Richardson GMP Limited is a member of Canadian Investor Protection Fund. Richardson is a trade-mark of James Richardson & Sons, Limited. GMP is a registered trade-mark of GMP Securities L.P. Both used under license by Richardson GMP Limited.} 

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