Jennifer Tozser, senior wealth advisor at National Bank Financial Wealth Management in Calgary.The Globe and Mail
Money manager Jennifer Tozser is advising investors not to get too emotional about current market conditions as tariffs and economic uncertainty put pressure on equities.
Ms. Tozser, senior wealth advisor at National Bank Financial Wealth Management in Calgary, notes that investors have experienced huge market swings before, including the 2008 global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, to name just two.
In most cases, she notes, long-term investors who ride out market volatility are rewarded.
“What I tell my clients is that every single unexpected event we get in the market, the response is worse at the beginning … then when you look back, you say, ‘It wasn’t that bad,’ because you saw it through to the other side,” Ms. Tozser says.
Instead of making significant changes to her portfolio, Ms. Tozser is making minor adjustments, shifting into more defensive investments and buying quality stocks at cheaper valuations.
Her portfolios include primarily North American stocks as well as bonds and alternative assets such as structured products (for which the return is linked to an underlying asset with predefined features) and private companies.
The investment style and mix have helped her achieve a return of 11.2 per cent over the past 12 months. Her three-year and five-year annualized returns were 9.3 per cent and 14.5 per cent, respectively. The performance is based on total returns, net of fees, as of March 31.
The Globe spoke with Ms. Tozser recently about what she’s been buying and selling:
Name three stocks you own today and why.
Oracle Corp. ORCL-N, the Austin, Tex.-based multinational computer technology company, is a stock I bought in January at an average price of US$185 a share – not the ideal time in the short term, but that’s the nature of investing. However, as I didn’t buy the full weighting on the first day, I have been adding to the position consistently since then and have made purchases as recently as April at an average price of US$130 a share. We watch the portfolio weighting, and our target weighting is about 1.5 per cent.
The stock dropped on concerns that the company might receive fewer government contracts as a result of the DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] cutbacks. But when I looked into this issue more closely, I realized there wasn’t much for them to cut back on in terms of what Oracle provides, which is software and cloud computing services that are quite essential, so I felt it was oversold.
Fidelity Global Innovators Class FID5982.CF is a mutual fund I bought about five years ago and have been adding to consistently to maintain a 2-per-cent weighting.
The fund manager, Mark Schmehl, is a very tactical investor. When markets decline, he looks for opportunities. I like the flexible investment strategy and focus on innovative companies.
Royal Bank of Canada RY-T has been a core holding for many years, and I added to the position in April at an average price of $162 a share.
I believe banks have been oversold in this environment because of recessionary fears. If we secure infrastructure commitments from the new government in Ottawa, the banks should make money. Canadian banks are often a good choice when there’s volatility because they are well capitalized and skilled at avoiding massive losses or taking calculated risks. They also pay a generous dividend. Royal Bank is the biggest, so it’s a good holding. I own other banks as well.
Name a stock you sold recently.
Suncor Energy Inc. SU-T is a stock I trimmed to take some profits after it exceeded my target portfolio weighting of 2 per cent. I opened the position in November, 2022, at $47.50 a share, added to it in May, 2023 at an average price of $39 a share and trimmed it for $55.65 a share in January, 2025. I still hold the stock but wanted to invest the money in other places because of its recent price appreciation.
This interview has been edited and condensed.