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RBC O’Shaughnessy Canadian Equity Fund
Like the other O’Shaughnessy Funds, the RBC O’Shaughnessy Canadian Equity Fund uses a quantitatively driven stock selection process that is highlighted in the manager’s book “What works on Wall Street”. Essentially the manager employs various screens looking for stocks that have a history of above average sales, above average trading value and above average cash flow. The manager will then pick the highest ranked 50 stocks for inclusion in the portfolio on an equally weighted basis. The screens are run several times a year, with the end portfolio being made up of between 150 and 200 stocks. The Fund will be fully invested at all times.
read moreTrimark U.S. Small Companies Class Fund
Despite the April 2011 defection of long standing co-lead portfolio manager Ted Chisholm to Edgepoint Wealth Management, this fund has held up relatively well. Stepping into Mr. Chisholm’s shoes is Virginia Au, who has worked on the fund since 2006. Adding bench strength to the team was the appointment of Jason Whitting who has managed a number of other small cap focused products for Trimark including the Trimark North American Endeavour Fund.
read moreChou RRSP Fund
Portfolio manager Francis Chou follows a well articulated, value focused approach in the management of this Canadian small cap fund. He looks for profitable, well managed companies that have strong balance sheets and strong cash flow generation, that are well positioned in their respective industry. Being a value manager, Mr. Chou pays particular attention to the price paid for a stock and is basically looking to buy $1 for $0.50.
read moreBMO Dividend Fund
This fund falls into the “what have you done for me lately” category. It was a top performer for a long time and earned our top $$$$ rating. But it started to slip in 2008, losing 26.3%, and has been a sub-par performer since with a fourth quartile finish in 2009 and below average results in 2010 and so far in 2011.
read moreAGF Canada Class
This fund has been distinctly unimpressive in recent years. While the Canadian stock market as a whole was performing well, the returns here lagged well behind those of the peer group and we don’t see any indication that will change. Manager Martin Hubbes uses a bottom-up investment style with a focus on mid to large-cap growth stocks.
read moreBeutel Goodman American Equity Fund
Managers Glen Fortin and Gavin Ivory have put together a well-diversified portfolio of blue chip U.S. stocks and have carefully avoided overweighting any one sector. Major holdings include Wells Fargo, one of America’s strongest banks, Kraft Foods, Metlife, ConocoPhillips, Comcast, IBM, and Chevron. The fund also has a relatively large position in Irish pharmaceutical and biotech company Covidien.
read moreAGF Emerging Markets Fund
According to a survey recently conducted by Franklin Templeton, many Canadian investors see emerging markets as the best places to invest in terms of profit potential going forward. If you’re in that group, this is a fund you should look at. Manager Patricia Perez-Coutts is doing a great job with it.
read moreimaxx Canadian Bond Fund
This is a relatively small fund with $88.6 million in assets under management but it has an excellent track record with above-average returns over all time periods from three months to five years. Over the 12 months to May 31/10 the fund had a strong gain of just under 10% compared to a category average of 6.7%. The five-year average annual compound rate of return was 4.2%. The portfolio is largely concentrated in corporate bonds (about 84% of assets) with federal issues accounting for almost 14%.
read moreAGF Global Resources Class
When it comes to consistency among resource funds, this one is hard to beat. It has been a first or second quartile performer every year but one since 2003 and has an outstanding five-year average annual compound rate of return of 15.2% (to Feb. 28), more than double the category average. That’s the second-best performance in the category over that time frame according to Fund Library rankings.
read moreAGF Canadian Large Cap Dividend Fund
The best adjective for this fund is “sound”. It’s not flashy and will rarely be a category leader but it is dependable and the risk factor is reasonably low. It usually ranks in the top 50% of its peer group (2008 was the only recent exception) and its long-term returns are much better than average for its type. Over the decade to Nov. 30/09, investors received an average annual return of 6.2%.
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