Mutual Fund Updates

Brandes Global Small Cap Fund

This deep value offering from Brandes had a very strong quarter, gaining nearly 9%, outpacing both the index and its peer group. The management team follows a very disciplined and repeatable process that looks to buy companies that are trading a significant discounts to their true value. While this process may result in periods of underperformance, over the long-term, I expect it can to deliver...

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Trimark U.S. Companies Fund

This is a concentrated portfolio of attractively priced U.S. companies that have distinct proprietary advantages, strong management, industry leadership and a history of strong capital allocation policies. During the first quarter, it gained more than 6.9%, handily outpacing the S&P 500 and most of its peer group. The main reason it outperformed were its technology and financial holdings,...

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CI Signature Select Canadian Fund

This was the top performing Canadian equity fund in the first quarter, with a gain of 4.97%, outpacing both the category average and the S&P/TSX Composite Index. It has about half the fund invested outside of Canada, which helped boost performance, thanks in part to a falling Canadian dollar. It is fairly defensively positioned, underweight materials and energy, and overweight more defensive...

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Dynamic Advantage Bond Fund

With the potential for the interest rate environment to once again become rather choppy, this fund, with its actively managed portfolio, and duration management strategy remains my top pick. I would expect that it will lag during a bond market rally, but will outperform during periods of higher than normal bond market volatility.

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TD Short Term Bond Fund

As the name suggests, it invests in a mix of government and corporate bonds that have a term to maturity of less than five years. The current mix favours corporate bonds, which make up nearly 60% of the fund. It has a duration of 2.7 years which is considerably shorter than a traditional bond fund, which would be in the ballpark of 6.8 years. It pays a variable monthly distribution that has...

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Cundill Canadian Security Fund

Fund Company Mackenzie Investments Fund Type Canadian Focused Equity Rating B Style Value Risk Level Medium High Load Status Optional RRSP/RRIF Suitability Good TFSA Suitability Good Manager Lawrence Chin since April 2009 MER 2.54% Code MFC 738 – Front End Units MFC 838 – DSC Units Minimum Investment $500 Analysis: The Cundill Funds have long had a reputation as being contrarian, concentrated...

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