Goodman & Company, Investment Counsel Ltd. announced on Wednesday that it is seeking unitholder approval for the mergers of several funds in order to create larger portfolios with broader mandates.

The company proposes the following mergers:

– diversiGlobal Dividend Value Fund with Dynamic Global Dividend Value Fund;

– diversiTrust Energy Income Fund with Dynamic Focus+ Energy Income Trust Fund;

– each of diversiTrust Income Fund, diversiTrust Stable Income Fund, diversiTrust Income+ Fund and diversiYield Income Fund with Dynamic Strategic Yield Fund

Under the proposed mergers, the Dynamic Funds would continue to operate as open-end mutual funds. The other funds, which are closed-end investment trusts, would be terminated.

For each merger that is approved, the applicable terminating fund will transfer all of its assets to the applicable continuing fund in exchange for Series A units of the continuing fund. In addition, the continuing fund will absorb all liabilities of the terminating fund.

The terminating funds will then wind up and each unitholder will receive Series A units of the same aggregate net asset value in the applicable continuing fund.

Goodman & Company said the mergers will be beneficial to the unitholders of the terminating funds, since the continuing funds have larger portfolios and broader investment mandates than the terminating funds, leading to improved portfolio diversification to unitholders. The company said unitholders should benefit from increased economies of scale and lower proportionate fund operating expenses.

In addition, Goodman said the Series A units of each of the continuing funds will have greater liquidity than units of the terminating funds, and the mergers will eliminate the discount to net asset value for each terminating fund.

The company added that changes to the tax treatment of income trusts have resulted in a reduction in the number of income trusts in which the terminating funds can invest due to merger and acquisition activity and conversions back into corporations, and it is anticipated that this trend will continue. It said that the interests of the unitholders of each terminating fund will be better served by being invested in a larger continuing fund with a more flexible mandate.

Each merger will require approval by two-thirds of the votes cast by unitholders of each of the applicable terminating funds at a special meeting of such unitholders, expected to be held on March 2, 2010.

The proposed mergers have been approved by the Independent Review Committee of each terminating fund and continuing fund, but remain subject to regulatory approval.