AGF Asian Growth Class

Posted by on Jul 31, 2007 in Mutual Fund Updates | 0 comments

Fund Company AGF Investments Inc.
Fund Type                     Asia Pacific ex Japan Equity
Rating $
Style Bottom up Growth
Risk Level High
Load Status Optional
RRSP/RRIF Suitability  
TFSA Suitability  
Manager Eng Hock Ong since January 2005
MER 3.18%
Code AGF 214 – Front End Units
AGF 944 – DSC Units
AGF 282 – Low Load Units
Minimum Investment $500

 

Analysis: How can we only give a $ rating to a fund that gained 44.7% in the year to June 30/07? It’s easy when we look at the broader picture. That “great” gain was actually sub-par for the category and this fund shows a below average record over all time frames. Yes, it has made money – just not as much as many of its competitors. This is a large-cap Asian fund which invests throughout the region, with the exception of Japan. South Korea dominates the portfolio with almost a quarter of the total assets, heading by electronics giant Samsung which has a 4% portfolio allocation all by itself. However, that’s well down from 7.1% last fall. China and Hong Kong together account for 31% of the assets. Globefund gives this a four-star rating. Frankly, we can’t understand why; it is a chronic underachiever and has lost money in five of the past seven calendar years. There are much better funds of this type out there.

 

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