HSBC closes fund
Vancouver-based HSBC Investments Funds Inc. is terminating HSBC LifeMap MM Conservative Portfolio, effective Dec. 15, 2006. Unitholders may redeem their investments or switch to HSBC LifeMap Conservative Portfolio, made up of underlying HSBC funds. The closure has no impact on HSBC mutual fund or pooled fund families. With less than $1.4 million in assets and fewer than 200 shareholders, HSBC LifeMap MM Conservative Portfolio represents less than 1% of assets with LifeMap Portfolios and less than 0.045% of all HSBC mutual fund assets in Canada, the company says

RBC Insurance launches 12 seg funds
Mississauga, Ont.-based RBC Life Insurance Co. has launched 12 guaranteed investment funds, which aim to “fill the gap” in RBC Life’s segregated fund lineup, says president and CEO John Young. The funds are RBC Canadian Money Market GIF; RBC Canadian Short-Term Income GIF; RBC Bond GIF; RBC Balanced GIF; RBC Canadian Dividend GIF; RBC Canadian Equity GIF; RBC North American Growth GIF; RBC U.S. Equity GIF; RBC O’Shaughnessy U.S. Value GIF; RBC U.S. Mid-Cap Equity GIF; RBC Global Titans GIF; and RBC O’Shaughnessy International Equity GIF. The firm has also launched four guaranteed investment portfolios made up of the aforementioned 12 funds: RBC Conservative GIP, RBC Balanced GIP, RBC Growth GIP and RBC Aggressive Growth GIP. “We want to capitalize on the demographic opportunity with the aging baby boomers, and the growth in the seg fund market is quite significant,” Young says. The funds have a 75% maturity guarantee, and the death benefit is 100% before age 70 or 80% after age 70. Advisor commissions and redemption schedules vary according to fund and purchase option. (The funds are available with front-end, low-load or deferred sales charges.) Minimum investment is $5,000 for all account types — except for RIFs, LIFs and LRIFs, for which there is a $10,000 minimum investment.

CI Investments merges funds
Toronto-based CI Investments Inc. has proposed to merge Skylon Capital Yield Trust into Skylon High Yield & Mortgage Plus Trust. The two trusts both provide exposure to high-yield debt securities, but the High Yield trust also invests in commercial mortgage-backed securities. CI says the merger will benefit unitholders because the High Yield trust is larger and, therefore, “will be in a stronger position to maintain its mandate while funding any redemption requests.” Management and operating expenses will remain largely the same, and Toronto-based Marret Asset Management Inc., which manages both trusts, will continue to manage the merged trust. If approved, the trusts will merge on or around April 30, 2007. At that time, unitholders who do not wish to hold units of High Yield & Mortgage Plus Trust may redeem their units at net asset value.

Saxon rolls out principal-protected notes
Toronto-based Saxon Financial Inc. will launch Bank of Montreal Saxon Balanced Protected Deposit Notes. The notes are linked to a basket of assets that reflect the performance of Saxon Balanced Fund, and mature on or about April 26, 2012. If redeemed before the 5.5-year maturity date, early trading charges will occur as follows: 5.7% within the first three months of purchase, declining to zero after Year 2. Advisor commission is 4.25%. The maximum annual fee is 2.45%. Minimum initial investment is $2,000.

New mandate for Rockwater
Toronto-based Rockwater Capital Corp. has announced that its subsidiary KBSH Capital Management Inc. will no longer serve as advisor to IA Clarington Canadian Resources Class, IA Clarington Diversified Income Fund and IA Clarington Income Trust Fund, effective Nov. 17, 2006. The announcement follows a series of changes IA Clarington Investments Inc. is making to its fund lineup (see page 39). KBSH will continue to manage Clarington’s closed-end funds, Clarington Diversified Income + Growth Fund and Clarington Focused 40 Income Fund. Rockwater is now turning its attention to its asset-management business. It has rebranded its mutual fund platform as Lakeview Asset Management Inc. and launched four new funds that will be managed by KBSH: Lakeview KBSH Premium Bond Explorer Fund, Lakeview KBSH Equity Income Fund, Lakeview KBSH Large Cap Explorer Fund and Lakeview Small Cap Explorer Fund. Commissions are 5% for front-end sales, 1% for low-load sales and 4% for deferred sales. Trailing commissions are 1% for front-end or low-load sales and 0.5% for DSC — except for Premium Bond, for which trailers are 0.75% for front-end or low-load sales and 0.375% for DSC. Fees for redemptions on the low-load schedule are 2% within the first two years of purchase, and 4.5% in Year 1 through zero after Year 4 for the DSC schedule. Management fees are 1.5% for A-class shares and 0.75% for F-class shares of Premium Bond; 1.75% for A-class and 0.75% for F-class shares of Equity Income, and 1.95% for A-class shares and 0.95% for F-class shares of the large- and small-cap funds. Minimum investment is $5,000.

@page_break@Compiled by Lara Hertel (lhertel@investmentexecutivecom).