Mackenzie Investments has created new currency-hedged versions of Mackenzie Universal American Growth Capital Class and Mackenzie Universal U.S. Growth Leaders Capital Class funds.

“Canadian investors have watched our dollar rise strongly against the U.S. currency over the past few years. If they’ve been invested in unhedged U.S. equities, they may have received a diminished return even if the stocks have gone up,” says David Feather, President, Mackenzie Financial Services Inc. “These new currency-hedged funds give investors greater choice and the ability to participate in the growth of U.S. equity markets while maintaining control over their exposure to the U.S. dollar.”

Within each of these Capital Class funds, Canadians will have the option of investing in two “classes” of shares – the new hedged and original unhedged versions. Each class will be identifiable by its name; e.g. Mackenzie Universal American Growth Capital Class will be comprised of Mackenzie Universal American Growth Capital Class (Hedged Class) and Mackenzie Universal American Growth Capital Class (Unhedged Class).

The funds’ investment portfolios will continue to be managed in the same manner and by the same portfolio managers at Bluewater Investment Management and Waddell & Reed. The one exception is that returns generated from the hedged classes of shares will represent the performance of the fund’s portfolio holdings plus the performance of a currency hedge.

Mackenzie manages the hedging program for these funds and makes adjustments to the hedges based on cash flows into and out of the funds and movements in the funds’ portfolio holdings. While each of these funds will use derivatives to hedge the foreign currency exposure of the Hedged Class, there will be circumstances, from time to time, where the level of hedging does not fully cover the Hedged Class foreign exposure.

Investors may choose to hedge any or all of their investment, from 100% to a 50/50 split, or any percentage split of their choice. In addition, investors may switch between the two classes without triggering a taxable event.

“Canadians’ decisions to hedge or not depends on their risk tolerance and time horizon,” adds Feather. “If you are investing for the long term or your portfolio is well diversified, currency hedging may not be necessary. If it’s the opposite scenario, you may want to hedge.”