Fiona Wilson, senior portfolio manager with i3 Investments at Guardian Capital LP in Toronto. Illustration by Joel KimmelThe Globe and Mail
After another wild few days on the markets, money manager Fiona Wilson is warning investors not to react to short-term news, given how quickly markets can fall – and recover.
“You can’t trade on headlines, especially in this kind of volatile market that’s being moved by geopolitics,” says Ms. Wilson, senior portfolio manager with i3 Investments at Guardian Capital LP in Toronto, who co-manages about $6.3-billion in assets.
Ms. Wilson expects volatility to continue and believes the best way to ride it out is to hold a diverse group of global companies that have strong earnings and dividend growth.
Guardian i3 Global Dividend Growth Fund, Series F, which she helps oversee, returned 3.17 per cent so far this year. Its one-year return is 5.63 per cent, while its three- and five-year annualized returns were 10.54 per cent and 18.36 per cent, respectively. The data are based on total returns, net of fees, as of Feb. 28.
The fund includes about two-thirds U.S.-based stocks, with the rest in Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada and India. Its top sectors include information technology, financials, energy, industrials and health care.
The fund’s top five holdings as of Feb. 28 were Apple Inc. AAPL-Q Microsoft Corp. MSFT-Q, Alphabet Inc. GOOG-Q, Meta Platforms Inc. META-Q and Broadcom Ltd. AVGO-Q.
The Globe spoke with Ms. Wilson recently about what she’s been buying and selling:
Name three stocks you’ve been buying recently.
ASML Holding NV ASML-Q, the Netherlands-based company that makes technology used in semiconductor chips, is a stock we bought in June, 2023, for about US$730 a share and have added to our position in the past year.
ASML has a near-monopoly on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems, which are critical tools for producing the most advanced AI and data centre chips.
ASML controls roughly 90 per cent of the overall lithography market by value, giving it substantial pricing power, high switching costs for customers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. TSM-N, Intel Corp. INTC-Q, and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and a structural competitive moat that’s extremely difficult for new entrants to challenge.
We believe ASML is well-positioned to benefit from the surge in semiconductor and AI spending, with a large order backlog that provides both visibility and stability in cash flow and revenue.
It’s also an investor-friendly stock, having raised its dividend by 17 per cent in 2025, and started a new share buyback program of 12-billion euros through to 2028. We think there will be strong earnings growth and continued dividend growth.
Eli Lilly & Co. LLY-N, the giant pharmaceutical company, is a stock we bought in August, 2025, at around US$759 share. It was a switch out of Novo Nordisk A/S NVO-N, which we sold in July last year.
We believe Eli Lilly is the global leader for obesity and diabetes drugs with its Monjaro and Zepbound products, which have become top-selling medicines and driven Eli Lilly’s revenue up 45 per cent year-over-year.
The company has issued strong revenue guidance for 2026, with about 25 per cent of year-over-year growth driven by continued demand for these GLP-1-based treatments.
Eli Lilly is advancing next-generation obesity candidates, including Orforglipron, an oral GLP-1 drug now in Phase 3 trials, while also broadening into related areas, including cardiovascular, renal and hepatic diseases, as well as other metabolic conditions.
The company also has a robust portfolio in Alzheimer’s disease, oncology and neuroscience, so it’s not just focused on one area. It has a strong balance sheet, profitability and healthy guidance for 2026.
Amphenol Corp. APH-N, which makes electronic and fibre-optic connectors and interconnect systems, antennas and sensor-based products, is a stock we bought in January this year for about US$145 a share.
Its main area is supplying data centres, which are seeing explosive growth, but it’s also diversified into aerospace, defence and automobiles. Last year, it bought CommScope Holding Co.’s COMM-Q connectivity and cable solutions business for US$10.5-billion, which is expected to deepen its position in the AI-driven data centres, communications networks and building infrastructure while being clearly accretive to earnings.
The stock has been volatile recently, but we still believe there could be a strong, long-term investment case given the growing demand for what it provides. We also believe there will be steady revenue and earnings growth, particularly given its strong margins that are expected to increase because of premium pricing and operational efficiencies.
Name a stock you’ve sold or trimmed.
Wolters Kluwer NV, the Netherlands-based global information services company providing software, data, and expert solutions, is a stock we recently sold. We bought it on Euronext Amsterdam in June, 2020, for 68.72 euros a share and sold it in January for 87.80 euros.
It’s a software-as-a-service provider in a sector facing mounting pressure amid a rapidly evolving AI landscape. The competition from AI is driving higher operating and capital expenditures and causing margin compression and uncertainty for software services companies such as Wolters Kluwer. An example is its health division, which accounts for about 25 per cent of its value, and AI disruption is accelerating there.
A recent leadership change added more uncertainty; chief executive Nancy McKinstry retired after about 22 years on the job. So, with increased competition, pricing pressure and structural challenges, the risk-reward portfolio just wasn’t there, and we saw better opportunities elsewhere.
This interview has been edited and condensed.