Below are a few of our recent fund updates. Log in or subscribe to see all of them.
AGF Global Government Bond Fund
The best place to have your money in 2008 was in foreign bond funds. They all did amazingly well, especially when you consider the fact they were underachievers for years, in large part because of the rise of the loonie. When the Canadian dollar suddenly faltered in the fall of 2008, these funds started clicking on all cylinders. Currency gains combined with big moves in government bond prices to create perfect profit conditions for this category.
read moreimaxx Canadian Equity Growth Fund
is not your typical Canadian equity fund with a boring line-up of banks and big oil companies. There are a lot of interesting things going on in this growth-oriented portfolio, where manager Glenn Paradis has assembled an unusual combination of blue-chip stocks (e.g. Research in Motion, EnCana) and little-known small/mid-caps, such as Oilexco and Addax Petroleum. Whatever he’s doing, it works.
read moreABC Fundamental Value Fund
This fund has a great long-term record but right now it is going through a rough patch, losing 16.6% in the six months to Nov. 30/07. We’ve seen this before and we expect the fund to recover but investors may wish to wait on the sidelines for the time being. Manager Irwin Michael has a history of outperforming in weak markets: this value fund scored gains for investors in every calendar year of the 2000-2002 bear market and subsequently posted double-digit advances in every year up to 2007.
read moreABC American Value Fund
After honing his value investing technique in the Canadian markets, manager Irwin Michael, the driving force behind the ABC Funds, decided to take his act across the border in 1996 by launching this fund, the third in his stable. As with his other funds, stocks are selected based on exceptional value, using a well-developed set of screening techniques.
read moreAGF China Focus Class
China funds have been on fire recently, with big gains across the board. This one posted an advance of 78.8% in the year to Aug. 31/07 and it wasn’t even the best of its type! The three-year results show an average annual compound rate of return of 32.5%. The rising tide lifted all boats! However, a China fund can be extremely volatile and this one is no exception. So if you’re going to invest here, make sure you understand the risk and don’t put it into an RRSP.
read moreABC Fully Managed Fund
This fund has struggled recently and as a result its returns over all times frames have slipped. However, some caution is warrented when comparing results. It the recent shake-up of fund categories, this one was reclassified as a Canadian Focused Small/Mid-Cap Equity fund. However, it is actually a balanced fund, which at the moment is weighted towards stocks. When you compare the returns of this fund to the averages of the Canadian Equity Balanced category, where we think it more properly belongs, the returns for five years and more look much better by comparison.
read moreAGF Global Real Estate Equity
Manager Steve Way’s primary focus here is country. He looks first for nations where the real estate market prospects are good and then uses a blend of value and growth to select individual stocks. Europe was his favourite stomping ground in the first half of 2007, with 42.6% of the portfolio invested in that continent. By contrast, North America, which dominated the portfolio a few years ago, had a weighting of only 23.1% as of June 30/07.
read moreAGF Dividend Income Fund
AGF announced in June that Marc-André Robitaille has returned as manager of this fund after a six-month hiatus during which Martin Hubbes filled in. Robitaille had run the fund since its launch in April 2003. It’s not clear why he parted company with AGF at the start of 2007 but the press release announcing his return described it as a “long-term exclusive arrangement” so we have to assume he’ll be in the job for the foreseeable future.
read moreAGF 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 more