Low volatility and excellent downside protection have been why this has been one of my favourite Canadian equity funds for the past few years. However, a recent uptick volatility has me a bit concerned. According to the managers, the reason for the higher volatility has been the fund’s significant weighting in the energy sector. Because of this, it has been un-characteristically dragged lower in lockstep with the market during the recent selloff. They believe this was an anomaly and that we should see a return to its previous risk reward profile. They also assure me that there have been no changes to their disciplined stock selection process and they continue to focus on high quality, dividend paying Canadian companies. I am inclined to believe them, particularly in light of April’s strong showing. Still I will monitor the fund closely.