Triasima Canadian All Capitalization Equity Fund Commentary – Q3 2026

The economy

Economic growth remained average and steady in the United States over the third quarter, supported by spending by households and for infrastructure building. It reaccelerated in Canada after a poor first half of 2026. The labour market stayed balanced.

The war in Iran and the fight over the Strait of Hormuz lingered on, pushing up energy prices, with inflation following suit. This situation, combined with concerns over American budgetary deficits and trade uncertainties, has led to large increases in interest rates of all maturities. 

Central bankers took notice and some, notably those of the United States, Europe, and Japan, reversed their accommodating stance and lifted their benchmark rates. The Bank of Canada stayed put.

European economies suffer from the higher energy prices and inflation, and governments are using fiscal stimulus to offset the effects. In China, the technology sector is booming, partially offsetting poor consumer and infrastructure spending.

The Canadian equity market

The S&P/TSX Composite Index had a 1.6% return this quarter.

The market had a two-speed tone. The Information Technology (18%) and Materials (13%) sectors led by a large margin, while eight of the other nine sectors had negative returns. 

Shopify (+30%) drove the gain in the Information Technology sector. The Materials sector gained as gold prices surged alongside higher inflation and the announcement of bond buybacks by the American Treasury Department. 

The laggards were the rate-sensitive sectors. Communication Services (-9%), Utilities (-7%), and Real Estate (-7%) each fell as interest rates surged.

The Fund

The Triasima Canadian All Capitalization Equity Fund had a -2.0% return this quarter.

Sector allocation and security selection detracted value. The gold producers underweight in the Materials sector was especially costly. Security selection also had a substantial negative impact in the Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology sectors.

Main security contributors to relative performance :

*Securities not held or underweighted in the Fund.

Some poorly rated or poorly performing holdings were eliminated, half of which from the Energy sector. Four new securities were introduced: SSR Mining, Thomson Reuters, Alimentation Couche-Tard, and Blackberry. Sector weightings varied little and there are no significant sector weight deviations relative to the benchmark.

The Three-Pillar Approach™

On the quantitative side, the Fund’s parameters are closer than usual to those of the benchmark. Expectations, Profits growth, and Volatility and risk metrics are better. No metrics category is worse.

The Canadian equity market repeatedly set new highs in the first two months of the third quarter, but its uptrend weakened afterwards. An eclectic mix of Value, Profitability, and Volatility style factors outperformed.

The fundamental outlook deteriorated somewhat during the quarter due to the general rise in interest rates, higher oil prices and inflation. Resilient economic growth and growing profits are partial offsets.

Legal notices

The posted rate of return is a historical total rate of return compounded annually, except for periods of less than one year, which are not annualized. The rate of return shown takes into account fluctuations in unitholder value and the reinvestment of distributions. The posted rate of return does not take into account investment management fees and income taxes payable by the unitholder, which would have the effect of reducing the return. The Funds are not guaranteed, their value fluctuates, and past performance is not indicative of future results.

Data on the FTSE Canada 91 Day T-Bill, FTSE Canada Short Term Bond and FTSE Canada Universal Bond reference indices are provided by FTSE Global Debt Capital Markets Inc.  (“FTSE”). Data on the S&P/TSX Income Trust, S&P/TSX Preferred Share, S&P/TSX SmallCap, and S&P/TSX Composite reference indices are provided by TSX Inc. (“TSX”). Data on the S&P 500® Index are provided by Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”). Data on the MSCI EAFE, All Country World, and World reference indices are provided by Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. (“MSCI”). Lastly, the classification of securities according to the Global Industry Classification Standards (“GICS”) is provided jointly by MSCI and S&P. (FTSE, TSX, S&P, and MSCI are hereafter collectively referred to as “indices and data providers”.) 

The indices and data providers have awarded limited licences to Triasima allowing it to use the above-mentioned indices and data in its portfolio statements. The information provided by the indices and data providers may not be redistributed, sold or used without the prior written consent of the indices providers concerned. The indices providers assume no liability with respect to the accuracy or completeness of these data or for any delay, interruption, or omission with regard thereto, and makes no warranty or declaration, either explicit or implicit, with regard to the results that might be obtained by using these data or as to the marketability or appropriateness of the data for a specific use.