Why this $6-billion money manager is buying Prologis and selling AtkinsRéalis

THE MOVER Why this $6-billion money manager is buying Prologis and selling AtkinsRéalis BRENDA BOUW SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO Open this photo in gallery: Laura Lau, chief investment officer at Brompton Funds in Toronto. Illustration by Joel Kimmel ILLUSTRATION BY JOEL KIMMEL COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. Although the latest rift in the Canada-U.S. trade war has created more economic uncertainty, money manager Laura Lau believes the worst is over for investors. “I do think we’ve seen maximum risk” in terms of tariffs, says Ms. Lau, chief investment officer at Brompton Funds in Toronto, who oversees around $6-billion in assets across various funds. “It’s hard for investors because there’s a lot of noise and [U.S. President Donald] Trump likes chaos,” she says. However, Ms. Lau says she believes the worst market impact was in April of last year, when Trump announced sweeping global tariffs as part of what he called “Liberation Day.” Since then, many tariffs have been dropped or scaled back and markets have roared ahead, driven by increased capital spending across sectors such as technology, infrastructure, energy and defence. “Earnings have been absolutely spectacular,” Ms. Lau says. “Outside of recovery from a recession, we’ve never had earnings this strong, especially in the U.S.” Although investors should still be concerned about geopolitics, high market valuations and growing government debt, Ms. Lau remains bullish on the near-term market outlook, particularly in sectors such as technology, infrastructure, energy and utilities – especially companies tied to the rapid build-out of artificial intelligence. Her Brompton Global Infrastructure ETF BGIE-T -0.18% decrease has returned 12 per cent year-to-date and 15.3 per cent over the past 12 months. Its three- and five-year annualized returns are 20 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively. The performance is based on total returns, net of fees, as of July 31. The fund’s top five sectors include industrials (49 per cent), energy (18 per cent), utilities (9 per cent), real estate (9 per cent) and materials (7 per cent). Its top five holdings, at about 5 to 6 per cent each, include Targa Resources Corp. TRGP-N -1.73% decrease , GE Aerospace GE-N -3.29% decrease , Valero Energy Corp. VLO-N -0.41% decrease , Welltower Inc. WELL-N -0.81% decrease and Quanta Services Inc.…