You don’t have to be a macro-focused investor to take notice of what the Bank of Canada has been doing this year. Two surprise interest rate increases from the central bank have been accompanied by surges in the 10-year Government of Canada bond yield, as investors appear to be finally looking ahead to the beginning end of an extremely long period of low or declining rates.

“It seems like the sentiment is that rates have bottomed out, so that’s really on investors’ minds,” said Tim Caulfield, portfolio manager at Calgary-based Franklin Bissett Investment Management. ”

The co-lead portfolio manager of the $3.2 billion Franklin Bissett Canadian Equity Fund, which he runs with the firm’s chief investment officer, Garey Aitken, believes valuations in many parts of the Canadian equity market pose a fair amount of risk to future potential returns — and low rates are largely responsible.

“The grab for yield has been going on for a long time, but we continue to see much too much emphasis on dividend yield,” Caulfield said.

Dividends are just one component of the total return picture at Franklin Bissett, where a bottom up, growth at a reasonable price (GARP) approach rooted in fundamental research, supersedes any attempts to make macroeconomic predictions. It also includes a long-term focus targeting businesses that demonstrate good visibility for the next five to 15 years.

Read more: Risks rise for dividend stocks as the rate cycle turns, this fund manager says