What We’re Reading & Watching This Holiday Season

Insights and Market Perspectives

Author: The editor's desk

December 16, 2021

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Continuing a holiday tradition at AGF, we asked members of our leadership team what they are looking forward to reading and watching this holiday season. This year, they included both leisure and business selections.

Mark Adams, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary

“As a result of the ever- increasing importance of sustainability at AGF (and globally), I plan to revisit the Simon Sinek bestseller Start with Why given its insights into a better understanding of organizational purpose – a key consideration for companies that are thinking more sustainably. In addition, amongst the holiday family activities and events, I also plan to square away a little “me” time to take in Peter Jackson’s sprawling seven+ hour Beatles break-up docuseries Get Back, which has been getting rave reviews.  Can’t wait!”

John Christofilos, Senior Vice-President and Chief Trading Officer

“After successive big return years in 2020 and 2021 in the equity markets, I will be reading quite intently the 2022 Outlooks put out by AGF (read AGF’s Outlook here) and other Financial institutions as to their outlooks for risk assets. I will also be reading a new book titled The 5AM Club. It is about owning your mornings to master your life. The author believes that winning starts at your beginning and the first hours are where the great heroes are made. On the personal side of viewing, I have my fingers crossed that Netflix will release new seasons of Peaky Blinders, The Crown and Formula 1: Drive to Survive. And the HBO/Crave series Succession is my current viewing pleasure.”

Arlette Edmunds, Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer

“I will be watching Ross Petty’s Alice in Wonderland from the comfort of my home for the second year. I love Ross Petty and maybe 2022 is the year of live theatre in Toronto again.  I’ll also be working on AGF’s HR 2022 strategy – lots of exciting changes coming … managing impacts to work with hybrid working and a new team and planning for an exciting move to CIBC SQUARE.”

Lora Goldberg, Senior Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer

“During the holidays, I am anxious to finish reading All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, a historical novel where a blind French girl and a German boy’s paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of WWII.  Right after, I plan to read Cloud Cuckoo Land by the same author; his latest and apparently his most ambitious to-date. We also plan to keep our family traditions going and watch A Christmas Story and Elf; both are lighthearted and good for a laugh.  In the theatre, we will definitely catch Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, as much as it’s hard to imagine even Spielberg improving on the original.”

Judy Goldring, President & Head of Global Distribution

“Every year around this time, I plan to read so many books in the upcoming year ahead and to get caught up with all the series and shows that have come out during the year. The truth is I am still reading the same book that I see Lora G. is reading – All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doer. I think it was on my bedside table last year.  That said, I do have a number of other interesting books I am keen to get to both fiction and non-fiction.  For fiction, What Strange Paradise, by Omar El Akkad, this year’s Giller prize winner, is on my list; for non-fiction, Mark Carney’s book, Values, Building a Better World for All is a must-read, I am told!  Always at Christmas, I watch Elf, A Christmas Carol, and of course, It’s a Wonderful Life. All great classics in their own way. My number one choice for a Netflix binge will be Succession, given all the shenanigans in corporate Canada this year.”

Chris Jackson, Chief Operating Officer

“I am looking forward to catching up on the latest season of Billions, which fits it into the rare combination for me of being something both business-related and a pleasure option. On the strictly pleasure side, I was a big fan of the previous Dexter series, and I am hoping to find time to check out the latest version that has just come out this year.”

Katarina Savic, Senior Vice-President, Operations and Client Service

“I have a stack of magazines to catch up on, ranging from Report on Business to Toronto Life to Design Lifestyle (I still like old-fashioned paper magazines). I’m also looking forward to checking out 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible on Netflix – about a group of Nepalese mountaineers who summit 14 peaks in six months (I’m exhausted just thinking about it!). All of the above while sipping Bailey’s in my coffee, and of course spending time with my family.”

David Stonehouse, Senior Vice-President and Head of North American and Specialty Investments

“While economics is often considered a dry subject, it can be fascinating in the hands of a good writer with a distinct perspective. I’m looking forward to reading There’s No Free Lunch by David Bahnsen and Bourbon for Breakfast by Jeffrey Tucker, each of which challenges current economic thinking in different ways. On the leisure side, I’m keen to watch The Beatles: Get Back, which provides a fresh view of the band’s working and personal relationships.”

Karrie Van Belle, Chief Marketing & Innovation Officer

“To be honest, I am not sure I have figured out what I am reading or watching this holiday season. I am frankly just looking forward to some down time from the race to and from hockey rinks so that I might actually be able to partake in a new TV series which is yet to be determined. I definitely have a long list of recommendations from colleagues and friends. That being said, we do have some holiday traditions and we will be watching our holiday favourites including Christmas Vacation and Elf while also playing various board games and cards — while the hockey games may have paused the competitive spirit does not.”

The commentaries contained herein are provided as a general source of information based on information available as of December 15, 2021 and should not be considered as investment advice or an offer or solicitations to buy and/or sell securities. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy in these commentaries at the time of publication however, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Investors are expected to obtain professional investment advice.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of AGF, its subsidiaries or any of its affiliated companies, funds or investment strategies.

AGF Investments is a group of wholly owned subsidiaries of AGF Management Limited, a Canadian reporting issuer. The subsidiaries included in AGF Investments are AGF Investments Inc. (AGFI), AGF Investments America Inc. (AGFA), AGF Investments LLC (AGFUS) and AGF International Advisors Company Limited (AGFIA). AGFA and AGFUS are registered advisors in the U.S. AGFI is a registered as a portfolio manager across Canadian securities commissions. AGFIA is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and registered with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. The subsidiaries that form AGF Investments manage a variety of mandates comprised of equity, fixed income and balanced assets.

^® The ‘AGF’ logo is a (registered) trademark of AGF Management Limited and used under licence.

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