With literally thousands of mutual funds available for sale in Canada, tyring to find a fund or mix of funds that will have the potential to deliver strong risk adjusted relative returns can be a very daunting task. Our Recommended List of Funds does a lot of that heavy lifting for you. We have analyzed more than 1500 funds and narrowed the investment universe down to our best ideas. This comprehensive report includes what we feel are the best funds in a wide range of asset classes, includes quick bullet points on the fund and the current environment, and provides ideas on how to put your own portfolios together. This tool is a great way to help reduce the time you spend selecting funds and building portfolios and gives you more time to build and maintain client relationships.
Below, you will find our Recommended List of Funds reports. Subscribers have access to the most current reports, which are updated quarterly. If you would like reports from 2009 or 2010, feel free to email us at info@paterson-associates.ca with your request.
Recommended List of Funds – January 2016
. Download the PDF Version of the report here . List Changes . Additions There were no funds added to the list this month. Deletions Franklin U.S. Rising Dividends Fund (TML 201 – Front End Units, TML 301 – DSC Units) –When I first added this fund to the Recommended List I really liked its risk adjusted return profile. While it often lagged the broader market on an absolute basis, it’s lower than average volatility and excellent downside protection more than made up for it. This time however, it sold off more severely than the market and the...
read moreETF Focus List – December 2015
Download a PDF Version of this Report Additions First Asset MSCI Europe Low Weighted ETF (Hedged) (TSX: RWE) – The outlook for European equities remains mixed, but still somewhat positive. This is thanks to the increasing probability the European Central Bank (ECB) will take additional stimulus measures to help spur the moribund economy. Further, lower energy prices and a weakening Euro help to provide an underpinning of support. We are seeing business confidence improving, and according to consulting firm EY, investment and consumer spending...
read moreRecommended List of Funds – October 2015
Download the PDF Version of the report here List Changes Additions There were no funds added to the list at this update. Deletions Manulife Monthly High Income Fund (MMF 583 – Front End Units, MMF 483 – DSC Units) – I added this high quality Canadian balanced fund to the Recommended List in December 2015. It is managed by the team of Alan Wicks and Jonathan Popper, with an equity approach that is rooted in a value philosophy that looks for businesses that generate high and sustainable profits that are trading at attractive valuations. The...
read moreETF Focus List – September 2015
Download a PDF Version of this report Markets start to get choppy on China worries… The three months ending July 31 was disappointing for most of the ETFs on the Recommended List, with just more than half finishing in negative territory. The worst performers in the period were the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Canadian Fundamental Index ETF (TSX: PXC), which lost 8.6%, and the iShares S&P/TSX Completion Index (TSX: XMD) which was down 8.1%. In both cases, a large weight in energy names was the biggest drag, with the sector losing more than...
read moreRecommended List of Funds – July 2015
Download a PDF Version of the Recommended List of Funds List Changes Additions PIMCO Monthly Income Fund (PMO 005 – Front End Units, PMO 105 – Low Load Units) – This global bond fund came out of the gate at full speed, gaining nearly 18% in 2011 and 24% in 2012. Obviously these returns weren’t sustainable, and have since settled down to a more reasonable level, posting a 6.4% rise in 2013, and 6.6% in 2014. Managed by the team of Alfred Murata and Dan Ivascyn with the objective of income generation, it invests in a wide range of...
read moreETF Focus List – June 2015
Download the Full Report Here Decent quarter for ETF Rec List… It was a pretty solid month for the funds on the ETF Recommended List, with nearly 75% of the funds posting gains. The best performing ETF was the iShares S&P/TSC Capped Financials Index (XFN), which shot higher by nearly 10% on the back of stronger oil prices and a buoyant Canadian housing market. Still, there are worries on the horizon as recent economic numbers show a significantly slowing economy, which could create headwinds in the near term. If you have held this...
read moreRecommended List of Funds – April 2015
Download a PDF Version of this Report Additions PowerShares 1-5 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Fund (AIM 53203 – Front End Units) – This fund invests in a laddered portfolio of the most liquid short term corporate bonds with maturities between one and five years. It is fairly concentrated, holding only 25 bonds, all of which are investment grade. I like this fund for a couple of reasons, with the biggest being that it offers a higher yield to maturity than either the TD Short Term Bond or the PH&N Short Term Bond and Mortgage...
read moreETF Focus List – March 2015
Download the full report here Bank of Canada shocks markets by cutting rates… No material change to investment outlook When we did our last review of the ETF Recommended List in December, the thing that had everybody’s attention was the precipitous drop in oil prices and the effect it was expected to have on the Canadian economy. At that time, oil was trading in the $66 range, and has since continued its decline, touching a low of $44.45 at the end of January. It has since gained a bit of ground and shown some signs of stabilizing,...
read moreRecommended List of Funds – January 2015
Download the PDF Version of the report here. Additions Guardian Global Dividend Growth Fund (GCG 570 –Front End Units) – This go anywhere, global dividend fund is managed by Sri Iyer and his team at Guardian Capital, using a proprietary, multi factor quantitative model that screens the global equity universe looking for positive rates of change in the fundamentals of companies. The model looks at 31 key factors including growth, payout ratios, efficiency, valuation and investor sentiment. Each of the factors is weighted, with growth,...
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 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 more