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CONTRIBUTORS

Ahmed Farooq, CIMA®, CFP

Senior Vice President
Head of Retail ETF Distribution
Franklin Templeton Canada

Happy New Year everyone. Where do I start after a year like 2020? One thing is for sure, we will all remember the past year for the rest of our lives, both from a personal and professional standpoint.

Aside from ubiquitous masks and hand sanitizer, one of the major changes has been the shift to working from home, accelerating a digitization trend that already had a lot of momentum before the pandemic. In the investment world, the markets experienced a historically steep drop in late February and March, but bounced back strongly, driven by the performance of some of the mega-cap names in the tech space. By the end of 2020, all major market indices had posted positives returns and fixed income markets were also up, allowing most investment portfolios to finish the year with gains. This recovery in the markets is contrary to the health of the global economy, however, which is still being battered by the pandemic.

Personally speaking, 2020 did have some positives. Without the countless hours spent on the road and flying on airplanes, I was able to spend more time with my family—a daily breakfast routine with my kids, school drop offs and family evening walks—which I greatly appreciated.

Professionally speaking, digital meetings have largely served their purpose and proven effective, but I’m looking forward to seeing clients in person again. The adrenaline of flying somewhere to see a client or speaking at a conference is something I miss greatly. The rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines was a positive development to end a pretty bleak year, although the distribution of those vaccines will be a huge logistical challenge for world leaders in 2021.

Overall, and despite the coronavirus still dominating our lives, I’m looking forward to the coming year. Hope is one of the key elements of life, so here’s hoping we can continue to make progress in our fight against COVID-19 and bring some normalcy back to our lives in 2021. I can’t wait to see clients, co-workers, and my extended family and friends in real life. So, good riddance to 2020, and wishing everyone success for 2021.

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