Nothing red today, Innovation has best return
ORBX ran hard again and still only edged out FCMO on contribution. Momentum took the U.S. and International, Canada went the other way by almost nothing.
Régis Holstein and Anthony HolsteinWednesday, August 12, 2026
Thirteen of our holdings rose, none fell, and ZMID sat perfectly still at 0%. REQT ended +0.72%.
What we kept staring at is how close those four bars are. Innovation put +0.16% into the total. International managed +0.20%. The reason is the return: Innovation moved +1.65% against International's +0.77%, and a small slice moving that far catches up to a big slice moving normally. The U.S. sleeve did what it usually does, which is finish first on contribution at +0.23% without having the best return of the group. At 40% of the model it doesn't need one.
ORBX printed +4.11%. That's a space basket for you, and we've said before that we brace for that number in both directions. On a 3% weight it was worth +0.13%, which put it at the top of the sheet, but only barely: FCMO rose +1.07% and added +0.11% on more than three times the weight. Two very different kinds of day producing nearly the same result for us. FCIM was next with +1.64%, and ZEM behind it at +1.52%, so the international side had real strength in it once you get past FCIV, which rose +0.07% and barely registered at +0.00%. ZSP, our largest position, was one of the quieter tiles at +0.42%.
Momentum was the better side in the U.S. and International, value in Canada, and the average spread came out at −0.77%. International was the wide one at −1.56%, and Canada was so close it hardly counts as a result, +0.08% in value's favour with both Canadian funds green anyway. We hold momentum and value at equal weight inside every region, no tilt toward either, which means a gap like the International one mostly cancels between the two legs. It tells you what the market paid for today. It doesn't tell you much about our number.
| Fund | Today |
|---|---|
| REQT this model portfolio | +0.72% |
| GEQT iShares ESG Equity | +0.81% |
| HEQT Global X All-Equity | +0.61% |
| XEQT iShares Core Equity | +0.54% |
| TEQT TD All-Equity | +0.52% |
| CAGE Avantis / CIBC All-Equity | +0.52% |
| ZEQT BMO All-Equity | +0.51% |
| FEQT Fidelity All-in-One Equity | +0.47% |
| VEQT Vanguard All-Equity | +0.46% |
We finished ahead of seven of the eight all-in-one funds, with GEQT out in front at +0.81%. Innovation is the only structural reason a gap between us and that group exists at all, since none of them hold global innovators or space technology, and on a day when that sleeve returned +1.65% the gap went our way. Total absolute contribution across the holdings was +0.72%, so this was a decent day rather than a dramatic one.
Year to date REQT sits at +21.96% and the trailing year is +33.44%.
Thanks for reading, and we'll be back with the next one right after tomorrow's close.