Monthly Update
Year-to-date to November 28, the Ninepoint Focused Global Dividend Fund generated a total return of 13.13% compared to the S&P Global 1200 Index, which generated a total return of 17.89%. For the month, the Fund generated a total return of 0.95% while the Index generated a total return of -0.25%.
Ninepoint Focused Global Dividend Fund - Compounded Returns¹ As of November 28, 2025 (Series F NPP964) | Inception Date: November 25, 2015
1M |
YTD |
3M |
6M |
1YR |
3YR |
5YR |
Inception |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fund |
0.95% |
13.13% |
9.98% |
18.95% |
13.44% |
17.89% |
12.84% |
10.29% |
S&P Global 1200 TR (CAD) |
-0.25% |
17.89% |
7.92% |
17.04% |
18.25% |
20.72% |
15.19% |
12.97% |
It was a bit of a quieter month in November, as investors began to question the valuation levels, growth outlooks and debt loads of companies tied to the AI investment theme. The Magnificent Seven stocks took a breather, after strong year-to-date gains, and the money clearly flowed from the Information Technology sector (down 4.36% for the month1) into the Health Care sector (up 9.14% for the month2). Further, Nvidia’s results, reported on November 19th, were once again exceptional but the shares failed to respond positively. Finally, it was interesting to watch rate-cut expectations gyrate in November, moving from almost a 100% chance of a 25-bps cut, to a low of a 25% chance of a cut before rebounding to an 85% chance of a cut by month end. Equity markets, and especially rate-sensitive stocks, mirrored these moves, which made for some elevated intramonth volatility.
With the Q3 reporting season essentially complete, investors are now looking ahead to Q4 results, where earnings are expected to grow 7.7% (according to FactSet). This implies that full year 2025 earnings growth should come in at 11.9%, well above expectations at the beginning of the year. For full year 2026, revenue is currently expected to grow 7.1% and earnings are expected to grow 14.5%, accelerating from 2025. But valuation is still an issue, with the current forward 12-month P/E at 22.4x, well above the 5-year average of 20.0x and the 10-year average of 18.7x. Importantly, revenue and earnings growth of the largest stocks in the S&P 500 (primarily in the Communication Services and Information Technology sectors) remain significantly above the market average, which bodes well for continued strength into 2026.
The last major catalyst of the year should be the FOMC meeting on December 10th where expectations are leaning toward a 25-bps interest rate cut. As usual, the press conference will be closely followed for any clues regarding future policy, and we expect that Chairman Powell’s tone will be quite measured. However, we still think that we will get at least two more interest rate cuts in 2026, in line with consensus estimates today, which should be supportive of continued market gains. Nevertheless, we have reduced outsized allocations to individual stocks and investment themes while remaining invested in a broadly diversified portfolio, in case a growth scare or some other shock materializes over the next couple of months.
Top contributors to the year-to-date performance of the Ninepoint Focused Global Dividend Fund by sector included Information Technology (+549 bps), Communication Services (+256 bps) and Industrials (+218 bps), while only the Utilities (-100 bps) sector detracted from performance on an absolute basis.
On a relative basis, positive return contributions from the Industrials (+37 bps), Energy (+19 bps) and Real Estate (+17 bps) sectors were offset by negative contributions from the Utilities (-180 bps), Financials (-138 bps) and Health Care (-53 bps) sectors.
We are currently overweight the Health Care, Financials and Industrials sectors, while we are underweight the Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary and Utilities sectors. After a quieter month in the equity markets, we believe that easier monetary policy should broaden participation in the rally through year end and into 2026. To mitigate risk, we remain focused on high quality, dividend payers that have demonstrated the ability to consistently generate revenue and earnings growth through the business cycle.
The Ninepoint Focused Global Dividend Fund was concentrated in 48 positions as at November 28, 2025, with the top 10 holdings accounting for approximately 39.1% of the fund. Over the prior fiscal year, 40 out of our 48 holdings have announced a dividend increase, with an average hike of 22.3% (median hike of 9.3%). We will continue to apply a disciplined investment process, balancing various quality and valuation metrics, in an effort to generate solid risk-adjusted returns.
Jeffery Sayer, CFA
Ninepoint Partners
1Source: S&P Global
2Source: S&P Global