AGF Canadian Bond Fund
This fund has been a dependable performer for many years; never sensational but decent, with steady returns. We didn’t expect the managerial change that took place in 2006 to alter that, however we note with some concern that the results since then have been sub-par. This is a conservative fund from a portfolio safety perspective, investing primarily in government or government-guaranteed issues.
Read MoreAGF Canadian High Yield Bond Fund
This fund invests in high-yield bonds from around the world, including emerging markets – in fact 16.5% of the portfolio is held in emerging markets debt. The fund has been an above-average performer over the past three years with an average annual gain of 5.6% compared to 3.9% for the High-Yield Bond category (to June 30/07). Distributions are paid monthly and recently have been slightly more than 2c per unit, down from last year.
Read MoreAGF Asian Growth Class
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.
Read MoreAGF American Growth Class
Tony Genua took over this underperforming fund at the start of 2005 and it has shown some improvement since. Over the year to June 30/07 the fund showed a gain of 15.3%, about three percentage points ahead of the category average. This is highly encouraging, to say the least, and may finally signal a return to past glories. For a time in the 1990s, AGF American Growth was a powerhouse under the direction of Steve Rogers.
Read MoreAGF Aggressive Global Stock
This fund has a new managerial team with Lynette Schroeder and Meighan Harahan now running the show. However, both are with Driehaus Capital of Chicago, which has overseen this fund since the outset, so there is no change in the underlying aggressive style and the focus on small to mid-cap stocks. This approach results in huge NAV swings depending on the fortunes of the market. The fund gained 108% in 1999 and then proceeded to record big drops in 2000, 2001, and 2002.
Read MoreAGF Global Equity Class
This fund went through a long losing streak that lasted four years, from 1999 to 2002. However, only in the final year of that run was the loss serious, a setback of 17.2%. In each of the previous three years, the drop was less than 5%. Since the start of the bull market in late 2002, results have improved greatly and the fund is a consistent first or second quartile performer.
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