Goodman & Co., Investment Counsel Ltd. announced late Friday a major initiative to streamline its product line-up and reduce management fees for a number of Dynamic mutual funds.

The streamlining initiative includes a series of mergers among the Dynamic group of funds as well as strategic changes to several related brands. The comprehensive plan will eliminate overlap mostly caused by previous acquisitions, and should achieve expense ratio cost-efficiencies for unitholders by merging mutual funds with similar investment objectives. The mergers will be subject to unitholder and regulatory approvals.

In addition to the anticipated cost-efficiencies resulting from the streamlining initiatives, Goodman & Co. plans to reduce management fees on several funds, effective October 1. The result will be a simpler and more cost-effective product line-up.

Investors will be asked to approve the mergers and related changes at special meetings to be held on November 10. Certain mergers will also require regulatory approval. If approved, the mergers will take effect between November 11 and November 19.

Effective October 1, eight Dynamic will have reduced management fees:

The mergers if approved will result in lower management fees for investors in 13 of the terminating funds.

Goodman & Co. also proposes to rebrand or merge the Cartier family of funds.

Cartier Canadian Equity Fund and Cartier Global Equity Fund will continue to operate, and will be rebranded as part of the Marquis Investment Program in early 2006.

Goodman & Co. proposes to merger Cartier Bond Fund, Cartier Small Cap Cdn. Equity Fund and Cartier Money Market Fund into established Dynamic Funds with similar objectives, and the merger of Cartier Multimanagement Portfolio into MultiPartners Balanced Growth RSP Portfolio.

MultiPartners Balanced RSP, MultiPartners Balanced Growth RSP and MultiPartners High Growth RSP Portfolios, which total $275 million net assets, will continue to operate, and will be rebranded as part of the Marquis Investment Program in early 2006.

The streamlining initiative also proposes the mergers of MultiPartners Global Balanced, MultiPartners Balanced Growth and MultiPartners High Growth Portfolios, into three Radiant Strategic Portfolios. Both the terminating and continuing Portfolios have strong positions in global markets.

Under the proposal, 27 mutual funds will be merged into other mutual funds managed by Goodman & Co. For a complete list of terminating and continuing funds, please see the attached news release.


In other proposed changes, subject to unitholder approval each of Dynamic Canadian Precious Metals Fund, Dynamic Canadian Technology Fund, Dynamic Focus+ Balanced Fund, Dynamic Focus+ Canadian Fund, Dynamic Focus+ Real Estate Fund and Dynamic Focus+ Resource Fund intends to remove from its investment objectives and strategies the requirement to invest primarily in Canadian securities. Where approved, the names of certain of these funds also will change

“We’re leading the industry in performance and we have been gathering assets under management in excess of our industry share,” said president and CEO David Goodman, in a release. “This plan simplifies our business, making it easier for clients to work with us as we continue to grow.”

Goodman & Co. is an investment firm with more than $17 billion in assets under management. The company is a division of Dundee Wealth Management Inc.