New 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 biggest drawback was that it was complicated to explain. Whenever an advisor or investor would ask about my rating system, I could never explain how I...
read moreCI Harbour Fund
Fund Company CI Investments Inc. Fund Type Canadian Focused Equity Rating D Style Blend Risk Level Medium Load Status Optional RRSP/RRIF Suitability Good TFSA Suitability Good Manager Stephen Jenkins since June 1997 MER 2.44% Code CIG 690 – Front End Units CIG 890 – DSC Units Minimum Investment $500 Analysis: Until December 2012, this fund had been managed by respected veteran, Gerry Coleman, when he handed over the reins to longtime associate, Stephen Jenkins. Despite the change in manager, there hasn’t been any major changes to the...
read moreNovember 2013 Market Recap
Happy Holidays!! It is hard to believe that another year has passed and the holiday season is once again upon us. I hope that you and those who are important to you have a wonderful holiday season, and a safe, happy and prosperous New Year. I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your readership. I hope that you continue to find this information to be helpful. In the new year, I will be making some tweaks to my rating system and benchmarking methodology that will make my analysis more robust. I am always open to comments and...
read moreOctober 2013 Market Recap
Despite U.S. government shutdown, global markets rally higher Historically, October has been one of the most volatile months for equity markets, and this year looked to be no different. The stage was set for a bumpy ride as continuing uncertainty over the prospect of the U.S. Federal Reserve slowing the pace of its bond buying program weighed on investors. Adding fuel to this potential flame was the high stakes game of chicken playing out between the Republicans and Democrats that led to a 16 day shutdown of the U.S. government and raised...
read moreSeptember 2013 Market Recap
Lack of taper announcement pushes markets higher As we entered September, investors were focused on the September meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee. The consensus was that this meeting would be when the Fed chair Ben Bernanke finally announced that they would begin to slow the pace of their massive bond buying program, signaling the beginning of the end for low interest rates. Traders were widely expecting a cut of between $10 billion and $20 billion per month. Then, Mr. Bernanke did the unthinkable and did not...
read moreAugust 2013 Market Recap
Global tensions and taper talk worry investors Investor worries over when the U.S. Federal Reserve would begin tapering its massive bond buying program re-emerged in August, pushing bond yields higher. In the U.S., the yield on the benchmark ten year U.S. Treasury Bond rose from 2.60% to 2.78%. It was the same situation in Canada, where the yield jumped from 2.45% to 2.61% on the Government of Canada ten year bond. This continued rise in yields caused losses in the bond market, with the DEX Universe Bond losing 0.60%. Not surprisingly,...
read moreJuly 2013 Market Recap
Third quarter starts off strong The third quarter started off well with gains in both stocks and bonds. Worries over higher interest rates took a back seat to improving economic fundamentals both at home and abroad. In Canada, the S&P/TSX Composite Index rose by 3.2%, led by strong gains in gold companies, consumer staples and financials. Gold rallied by more than 7.3% on expectations that the low interest rate environment may fuel future inflation. I don’t expect that this gold rally is sustainable given that there are no meaningful...
read moreJune 2013 Market Recap
Traders spooked by prospect of early end of QE3 I think a lot of the last few weeks have been an overreaction to the true situation. U.S, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke only said that he will be slowing down bond purchases (which we already knew) and would base that slowdown on economic statistics (which we already knew). The only thing that sort of came as a surprise is that he expects to meet the thresholds sooner than he had originally expected – later this year or early next year instead of next year or later. He also reiterated that even once...
read moreMay 2013 Market Recap
Fed Uncertainty Pushes Yields Higher Bond yields moved sharply higher across the board on rumours that the U.S. Federal Reserve would be ending their massive quantitative easing plans sooner than many had expected. Yields on the benchmark ten year government bonds rose on these rumblings, with the Canadian ten year moving from 1.69% to 2.06%, and the U.S. ten year rose to 2.16% from 1.87%. This caused a selloff in the bond markets, with the DEX Universe Bond Index falling by more than 1.5%. Long bonds and real return bonds, with their...
read moreApril 2013 Market Recap
Global Markets Rally Sharply Higher Global equities continued their impressive streak of gains while Canadian equities were lower thanks to continuing weakness in the materials and energy sectors. The S&P/TSX Composite Index shed 2.07%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.95% in Canadian dollar terms. The star of the month was the MSCI EAFE Index gaining 4.43%, besting all other major indices. Regionally, both Europe and the Pacific Rim were sharply higher, gaining 3.7% and 5.9% respectively. In Europe, news of a bailout agreement in Cyprus...
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