Mackenzie Financial Corp. today announced the immediate availability of its newest fund: Mackenzie Universal Canadian Tactical Fund managed by Mackenzie senior VP, Karen Bleasby.

The fund aims to deliver long-term equity-like returns with balanced fund risk through active asset allocation among four asset classes: Canadian equities; foreign equities; Canadian fixed income securities and cash equivalent securities.

“Mackenzie Universal Canadian Tactical Fund harnesses the responsiveness of tactical asset allocation strategies with the best of our active management,” said David Feather, president, Mackenzie Financial Services Inc.

The fund is one of the first examples of an actively managed portfolio within a fund-of-fund structure. To implement the fund’s objective, Bleasby will initially invest in a combination of four Mackenzie Select Managers funds: Select Managers, Select Managers Canada, Select Managers International and Select Managers USA, plus exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to achieve exposure to equities. By investing in the four funds and ETFs, the fund of funds achieves a diversified exposure to both Canadian stocks and foreign stocks. The Mackenzie Sentinel Bond Fund will also provide a component of the fund’s exposure to fixed income.

Bleasby joined Mackenzie in September 2002 with a mandate to develop and manage the firm’s asset allocation initiatives. She has direct responsibility for the management of the Keystone and Star portfolios and also manages the Mackenzie Universal World Growth RRSP Fund, a global equity allocation fund. Prior to joining Mackenzie, Bleasby was chief investment officer at Spectrum Investments, responsible for the oversight of its funds.

“We’ve seen a strong run up in equities but there is a lot more risk than a year ago,” said Bleasby. “At some point the bull is going to get tired and there will be a benefit to follow a more defensive strategy.”

“The ability to reposition the portfolio between stocks and bonds to take advantage of different market environments is something we believe retail investors will also find very attractive.”