BMO Investments Inc. announced on Friday that shareholders approved changes to BMO Global Balanced Class and BMO Short-Term Income Class.

The shareholders of the BMO Global Balanced Class Fund approved the proposed changes to the investment objectives at the shareholders meeting that was held on April 26. Accordingly, effective April 30, the investment objectives for BMO Global Balanced Class will be changed in order to allow the fund to invest primarily in dividend-yielding common and preferred shares of companies from around the word. The fund’s name will also be changed at this time to “BMO Global Dividend Class” to reflect the change to the fund’s investment objectives.

“Investors are increasingly looking outside of Canada for opportunities to participate in the stability and growth potential of large-cap blue chip firms,” said Ed Legzdins, president and CEO, BMO Investments Inc. “Investors in BMO Global Dividend Class will benefit from global equity exposure and geographic diversification in their portfolio, with an emphasis on dividend distributing equities.”

In addition, as of April 30, KBC Asset Management International Ltd. will become the portfolio manager for this fund, replacing Insight Investment Management (Global) Ltd.

KBC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of KBC Asset Management Ltd., in Dublin, Ireland, which has been managing assets for more than 25 years and is ultimately owned by the KBC Group.

Meanwhile, the shareholders of the BMO Short-Term Income Class Fund approved the proposed changes to this fund’s investment objectives, as described below, at the shareholders meeting that was held on April 26. The approved changes, including the name change from “BMO Short Term Income Class” to “BMO Capital Yield Class”, will be implemented later in the year, when the manager is in a position to proceed with the changes in a manner that is cost-effective and compliant with applicable regulatory requirements, and is in the best interests of the shareholders.

Once implemented, the new investment objectives will be to provide a return similar to that of a fixed-income fund by investing primarily in Canadian equity securities and entering into forward contracts or other permitted derivatives in order to provide the fund with a return determined by reference to the performance of a fixed income fund. It is expected that the earnings derived from these transactions will be treated as capital gains and, if distributed to shareholders, will be capital gains dividends for tax purposes. Where, in the opinion of the portfolio manager, the after tax returns do not outweigh the costs of using the derivative strategy, the fund may primarily invest directly in fixed income securities. In these circumstances, it is expected that the earnings generated will be interest income.