| Fund Company | PH&N Investment Management |
| Fund Type | Canadian Neutral Balanced |
| Rating | F |
| Style | |
| Risk Level | Medium |
| Load Status | No Load / Optional |
| RRSP/RRIF Suitability | Fair |
| TFSA Suitability | Fair |
| Manager | PH&N Management Team since September 2009 |
| MER | 1.08% |
| Code | PHN 640 – No Load Units PHN 6640 – Front End Units |
| Minimum Investment | $5,000 |
Analysis: For a number of people, socially responsible investing is a great way to help make the world a better place. There are a number of fund options that help investors do this. One such fund is the PH&N Community Values Balanced Fund. It invests in three other PH&N Community Values branded fund. As of October 31, it held 35% in the PH&N Community Values Canadian Equity Fund, 34% in the PH&N Community Values Bond Fund and 27% in the PH&N Community Values Global Equity Fund.
The underlying funds invest in stocks and bonds of companies that conduct themselves in a socially responsible manner. They screen the universe of companies based on more than 100 indicators for environmental, social and governance practices. This process removes those companies with poor practices compared to their industry peers. Once the selection universe is determined, they conduct investment analysis using the same multi disciplined approach that PH&N uses with their other funds.
The overall asset mix is strategically managed by the PH&N Asset Mix Committee to reflect the changing economic and market conditions. As a result, it typically will not make large shifts in the asset mix, but instead make changes gradually over time.
Their investment philosophy is based on three principles. First, they believe that equities are the best way to make money over the long term. Second, wealth preservation and income objectives are best met by a portfolio of stocks and bonds, and finally, the cyclical nature of markets requires the timely adjustments of the asset mix.
On an absolute basis, performance has been somewhat disappointing, posting a five year gain of 1.3% as of October 31, while the Fundata Canadian Balanced Index rose by more than 3.2%.
For those investors looking for a solid SRI fund offering, this is probably the best balanced fund around. It has a strong management team behind it and a low MER. However, for most investors we would still likely favour one of the balanced funds on our Recommended List over this offering.