Templeton Global Smaller Companies Fund
On January 15, it was announced that Harlan Hodes would be replacing Martin Cobb as the lead portfolio manager on the fund. Mr. Cobb will remain with the firm, but as an analyst with responsibility for the chemical and materials sectors. I see this as a positive. To be blunt, the fund struggled under Mr. Cobb’s leadership, who took over in early 2011 after the departure of long time manager Brad...
Read MoreBrandes Emerging Markets Equity Fund
With a one year loss of 1.15%, 2014 proved to be a tough year for this fund, lagging both the index and most of its peers. In comparison, the MSCI Emerging Market Index lost 1.8% in U.S. dollar terms, but gained more than 7% in Canadian dollar terms, thanks to a falling loonie. The fund is managed by Brandes’ investment committee using a bottom up, value driven process that looks for companies...
Read MoreFidelity Income Allocation Fund
Over the past several years, the balanced funds at Fidelity have improved dramatically. They are now run much like a fund of funds, investing in underlying pools run by some of Fidelity’s top managers. The fund’s asset mix is managed by Geoff Stein, who was recently joined by David Wolf, formerly of the Bank of Canada. They monitor the macro outlook, market fundamentals, and investor sentiment,...
Read MoreNew Fund Rating System Launched in 2015
When I first started providing a rating on mutual funds back in 2002, I developed a formula that considered a number of key performance and risk metrics. It looked at absolute return, relative return, volatility and relative volatility. It also took into account the length of track record of a fund when determining the rating for a fund. It seemed to work very well over the years, but its...
Read MoreCIBC NASDAQ Index Fund
Fund Company CIBC Asset Management Fund Type U.S. Equity Rating A Style Large Cap Growth Risk Level Medium High Load Status No Load RRSP/RRIF Suitability Good TFSA Suitability Fair Manager Patrick Thillou since August 2005 MER 1.26% Code CIB 520 – No Load Units Minimum Investment $500 Analysis: U.S. growth stocks have definitely been the big winners over the past couple of...
Read MoreCI Cambridge Canadian Dividend Fund
Fund Company CI Investments Fund Type Canadian Dividend & Income Equity Rating A Style Mid Cap Blend Risk Level Medium Load Status Optional RRSP/RRIF Suitability Good TFSA Suitability Good Manager Brandon Snow since December 2013 Bob Swanson since December 2013 MER 2.40% Code CIG 11112 – Front End Units CIG 11162 – DSC Units Minimum Investment $500 Analysis: Since Cambridge took this fund...
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