DK Equity Growth Fund - Extract

March 31st, 2026i

In periods of heightened uncertainty and volatility, it is difficult, but it is imperative as a long-term investor to resist focusing on current events. The war with Iran began with the initial U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on February 28th. Since that time the news cycle has been dominated by reporting on the conflict and its impact on oil, gas, the global economy……. just about everything.

We could join the media, speculate, and make predictions about outcomes, but that would add no value. The best advice we can give based on roughly 60 years of immersion in financial markets is to stop focusing on current events and think longer term.

Let’s look back over the past 60 years since your author began a career in finance and focus on a sampling of shocking world events and the impact these had on the long-term trajectory of stock prices.

  1. 1960’s Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy

  2. 1965-73 America’s increasing involvement in the Vietnam war

  3. 1973-74 Arab Oil Embargo, recession, S&P 500 down 40%

  4. 1974-80 The Great Stagflation. Fed Funds rate peaks at 21%

  5. 1981-82 Double dip, worst recession since the 1930s, S&P 500 down 30%

  6. 1987 The biggest one day stock market crash in U.S. history. October 19th, Black Monday, S&P 500 down 20%

  7. 1990-91 Recession, savings & loan crisis, Iraq invades Kuwait

  8. 1997 Asian Financial crisis

  9. 1998 Russian debt default/ Long term Capital Management collapse

  10. 2000 Dot com bubble pops/ Nasdaq declines by 77% over next 2 years

  11. 9/11 S&P 500 declines 7% on the first day of trading after the attack

  12. 2008-09 Global Financial Crisis / worst recession since the 1930’s, S&P 500 declined 50% peak to trough

  13. 2020 Covid Crash/ recession/ S&P 500 declined 34% the fastest bear market in history

  14. Russia invades Ukraine

  15. Iran War

Plotting the events that occurred since the inception of the DK Equity Strategy, the graph clearly shows that in spite of the many shocks to the market, the best strategy was to exercise restraint and not react to short term events. The economy withstood the shocks in every situation, the economy continued to grow; corporate revenue and profits continued to grow, and the stock market and the Fund value continued to grow.

We strive to avoid making short-term decisions, especially in situations like we now find ourselves in. Asset prices are rocketing up and plunging downward on a daily basis. We are far better turning off our quote screens and news feeds….and then having a look at our portfolio of stocks 6 months or a year from now.

i The indicated rates of return are historical annual compounded total returns, gross of fees unless otherwise stated, including changes in unit or share value and reinvestment of all distributions, income, and dividends and do not take into account sales, redemption, distribution or optional charges or income taxes payable by any security holder that would have reduced returns. S&P TSX Composite Index and S&P500 Index total returns are used for comparable return analysis. Returns are net of fee unless otherwise stated.