Vancouver-based Steadyhand Investment Management Ltd. has launched Steadyhand Founders Fund, a global equity balanced fund that aims to attain long-term capital and income through a diversified portfolio of primarily Canadian and foreign common stocks, fixed-income securities and money market securities. The fund was designed to reflect Steadyhand president Tom Bradley’s oversight on market valuations and asset allocation. Steadyhand Founders Fund has a long-term target objective of maintaining an asset mix of 60% equities and 40% fixed-income securities, but the equities portion can comprise 40%-75% and the fixed-income can comprise 25%-60%. The fund operates on a no-load structure, with no sales charges or trailing commissions. The management fee is 1.34% for A-class units and includes all operating expenses. Minimum investment in Steadyhand Founders Fund is $10,000 — although if a pre-existing account with Steadyhand exceeds $50,000, the minimum investment will be waived.
> Dynamic Funds creates new portfolios
Toronto-based Dynamic Mutual Funds Ltd. has expanded its family of DynamicEdge managed portfolios with the creation of DynamicEdge Conservative Class Portfolio and DynamicEdge Defensive Portfolio. These additions have a higher fixed-income allocation than the other portfolios in the family and are aimed at giving financial advisors a broader product offering for clients. Both new funds seek long-term capital growth and income by investing primarily in fixed-income and equity mutual funds. For both funds, advisor commissions are 0%-5% for front-end sales; 5% for deferred sales; or 2.5% for the low-load option. Redemption fees for the regular DSC schedule begin at 6% in Year 1 and end at zero after Year 6; for the low-load schedule, they begin at 3% in the first 18 months and end at zero after 36 months. Trailing commissions are 0.75% for front-end sales; 0.3% for deferred sales; and 0.3% for the first three years of low-load sales, and 0.75% thereafter. Management fees for A-class units are 1.6% for DynamicEdge Conservative Class Portfolio and 1.5% for DynamicEdge Defensive Portfolio. Management fees for F-class units are 0.75% for both portfolios. Minimum investment in each portfolio is $500.
> Horizons unveils commodities-based ETFs
Toronto-based Horizons Exchange Traded Funds Inc. has launched three new commodities-based exchange-traded funds, as well as completed changes to an existing ETF. The new ETFs are Horizons Silver Yield ETF, Horizons Crude Oil Yield ETF and Horizons Natural Gas Yield ETF. These ETFs are designed to give investors a tax-efficient, monthly income and exposure to a commodities asset class — silver, crude oil and natural gas, respectively. In order to lessen downside risk and generate income, each ETF uses a covered-call option-writing strategy on 33% of the invested portfolio. For Horizons Silver Yield ETF, the management fee is 1.1% for A-class units. For both Horizons Crude Oil Yield ETF and Horizons Natural Gas Yield ETF, management fees are 1.15% for A-class units. The company also has completed the conversion of Horizons Gold Yield Fund into an open-end ETF. This fund has been renamed Horizons Gold Yield ETF and is now available in A-class units. Its objective is to provide exposure to the price of gold bullion while providing tax-efficient monthly payouts. The management fee on the gold-based ETF is 1.05% for A-class units.
> Manulife Mutual Funds shakes up portfolio
Toronto-based Manulife Mutual Funds has made big changes to the Manulife Diversified Income Portfolio and announced a new subadvisor for Manulife Canadian Large Cap Value Class Fund. Regarding the Manulife Diversified Income Portfolio, the company has removed the minimum allocation weight for equities securities and increased the allowable weight for fixed-income securities to 100% in order to serve the fund’s investment objectives better. This portfolio aims to generate interest income by holding all of its assets on deposit in a demand-deposit account with an administered interest rate at Manulife Bank, pending the automatic switch of fixed amounts into eligible mutual funds managed by Manulife Mutual Funds, as pre-selected by the investor. Four mutual funds have been added to the portfolio: Manulife Asian Total Return Bond Fund, Manulife Emerging Markets Debt Fund, Manulife High Yield Bond Fund and Manulife Long Term Bond Fund. The subadvisor change to Manulife Canadian Large Cap Value Class Fund involves naming Monika Skiba of Manulife Asset Management Ltd. as lead portfolio manager.
Compiled by Olivia Li (oli@investmentexecutive.com).