ClaringtonFunds Inc. on Friday announced several changes, including mergers and closures, to its fund family designed to provide greater cost efficiency for investors. As a result of the proposal, several funds will be closed to new purchases effective April 25.
Clarington has proposed several fund mergers that it says will investors to benefit from potential savings due to the increased economies of scale.
As well, Clarington has proposed to close two mutual funds and amend the investment strategy of the Clarington Global Equity Class. Certain of the proposed changes are subject to investor and regulatory approval.
“Cost efficiency is an important issue and these changes should lower the cost of investing while continuing to meet the needs of investors”, said Terence Stone, Clarington’s chairman, in a news release.
At a special meeting on July 14, Clarington will be asking investors to approve the following proposed mergers:
- Clarington RSP Global Value Fund will merge into Clarington RSP Global Equity Fund
- Clarington RSP International Equity Fund will merge into Clarington RSP Global Equity Fund
- Clarington RSP Technology Fund will merge into Clarington RSP Global Communications Fund
- Clarington Technology Fund will merge into Clarington Global Communications Fund
- Clarington U.S. Large Cap Value Class will merge into Clarington U.S. Mid-Cap Value Class, and the continuing fund will be renamed Clarington U.S. Value Class
Effective the close of business Friday, April 25, the terminating funds will be closed to new purchases, except purchases under existingpre-authorized chequing plans.
At the special meeting on July 14, Clarington will also be asking investors of the Clarington Global Equity Class to vote on amending the fund’s investment strategy. The fund is currently structured as a fund-of-funds that invests directly in units of the Clarington Global Equity Fund. Clarington proposes to revise the investment strategy so that the class can adopt the investment strategy of the Clarington Global Equity Fund and invest directly in foreign securities.
Clarington believes that this amendment will significantly reduce the capital tax expense attributed to the Clarington Global Equity Class. This amendment will not affect the current investment objective of the fund. Clarington believes that this fund will experience lower capital tax expenses if the amendment is approved.
Effective the close of business April 25, the Clarington Global Communications Class and Clarington Global Small Cap Class of Clarington Sector Fund Inc. will be closed to new purchases, except purchases under existing pre-authorized chequing plans.
Clarington has determined that it is not cost effective to continue to offer these funds since the assets of these funds have not grown significantly and do not have the economies of scale associated with larger funds. As a result, the funds will be terminated on June 27, 2003.
Existing investors of both funds can switch to another class of Clarington Sector Fund Inc., a Clarington mutual fund trust, or redeem their securities. The tax consequences of these transactions are disclosed in the simplified prospectus of these funds.
Investors should consult with their own advisors regarding the tax consequences relevant for their particular circumstance. Investors who purchased securities under the deferred sales charge option and switch to another class of Clarington Sector Fund Inc. or to the corresponding trust fund will continue under the same deferred sales charge schedule for those new securities.
On June 27, Clarington will take steps to purchase for cancellation any remaining shares of the funds.
Investors of the Clarington Global Communications Class can switch to the corresponding mutual fund trust, Clarington Global Communications Fund, which has the same investment mandate.
Similarly, investors of the Clarington Global Small Cap Class can switch to the corresponding mutual fund trust, Clarington Global Small Cap Fund, which has the same investment mandate as the Clarington Global Small Cap Class.