Alberta economic downturn presents investment opportunity: experts

As people in Calgary continue to cope with the economic downturn, some investment managers say it's a good time to re-evaluate investments and even think about buying opportunities.

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"In the last year or two, diversification to aCalgarianwas having five per cent in their house and, you know, everything else in oil and gas stocks. And that's a problem," saidJoeJugovic, president ofQV Investors in Calgary.

"It's unfortunate, but too many people are discovering that right now,"saidJugovic,one of the investment managerstaking part in a conference in Calgary this week.

Economists say Alberta's economy will contract in 2015, after five years of strong growth, and slip into recession this fall, if it hasn't already.

ATB Financial anticipates modest growth of close to 1.4 per cent in 2016, aftera contraction of 0.7 per cent of Alberta's real GDP in 2015, according to the bank'sfourth quarter economic outlook.

Upside to the downturn?

ForCalgarianshit by tanking oil prices, layoffs and shrinking incomes,a series of lectures this week on "wealth management" may sound like a cruel joke, because there's so much uncertainty.

"I think the atmosphere is a nervousness...because there has been a lot of change, especially in Western Canada,"Jugovicsaid.

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"We went throughmore or less a decade of very good years and now this is quite the shock. And there's a real feeling of, 'Is this going to be like the mid-80s or potentially even worse?'"

Butthere is an upside to the downturn, finance experts say,and some investors who know the oil industry well are wondering whether it's time to get back in.

"Doesn't look like it quite yet, but certainly those that are morecontrarianin view will begin to think about the opportunities for buying," saidBeth Hamilton-Keen, withMawerInvestment Management.

That is, she says,"if they're so well-equipped that they can do so."