In 2022, Canadians who owned a classic 60/40 portfolio learned an uncomfortable lesson — that is, stocks and bonds can fall at the same time. Both the S&P/TSX Composite and Canadian bond indexes posted negative returns that year, and the textbook diversification story, that bonds cushion equities, didn’t hold up.

That experience is partly why gold and, more recently, bitcoin keep coming up in conversations about Canadian investment portfolios. Gold hit fresh record highs in 2024 and 2025, and while crypto has lost some of its lustre, it remains popular with investors. According to the Bank…