Toronto-based Dynamic Funds, managed by Goodman & Co. Investment Counsel Ltd., has launched Dynamic Short Term Bond Fund, which seeks to provide a high level of interest income while preserving capital and maintaining liquidity. The fund will be co-managed by Domenic Bellissimo and Michael McHugh of Dynamic’s fixed-income team. The fund has the flexibility to invest in a broad geographical mix of both government and investment-grade corporate bonds, as well as the ability to hedge currency and interest rate risk actively, Goodman & Co. says. The fund targets a fixed monthly distribution of 1.88¢ a unit, with an initial yield of 2.26% based on a net asset value of $10, which is fixed but not guaranteed. Advisor commissions for front-end sales are 0%-5%; 5% for deferred sales; or 2% for the low-load option. Redemption fees begin at 6% in Year 1 and end at zero after Year 6 for the regular DSC schedule; or begin at 2% in Year 1 and end at zero after Year 3 for the low-load schedule. Trailing commissions are 0.5% for front-end and low-load sales; and 0.25% for deferred sales. Management fees are 1.15% for A-class units and 0.65% for F-class units. Minimum investment is $500.

BMO gives birth to more ETFs

Toronto-based Bank of Montreal has announced the addition of nine exchange-traded funds, bringing its ETF product lineup to 22. The new BMO ETFs complement the current lineup and include three fixed-income funds as well as country- and industry-specific funds that provide exposure to areas such as China, India, utilities, junior gold companies and global infrastructure. These ETFs include BMO Mid Corporate Bond Index ETF, BMO Long Corporate Bond Index ETF, BMO Aggregate Bond Index ETF, BMO Global Infrastructure Index ETF, BMO China Equity Hedged to CAD ETF, BMO India Equity Hedged to CAD ETF, BMO Equal Weight Utilities Index ETF, BMO Nasdaq 100 Equity Hedged to CAD Index ETF and BMO Junior Gold Index ETF. BMO ETFs are managed by Jones Heward Investment Counsel Inc., a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of BMO.

PowerShare adds new funds

Toronto-based Invesco Trimark Ltd. has expanded its family of PowerShares Funds with the launch of nine new funds, bringing its product suite to a total of 17. PowerShare funds combine the key features of ETFs traded on U.S. exchanges with those of mutual funds offered in Canada. The new funds include PowerShares 1-5 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Index Fund, PowerShares Real Return Bond Index Fund, PowerShares High Yield Corporate Bond Index Fund, PowerShares Diversified Yield Fund, PowerShares Canadian Preferred Share Index Class, PowerShares Global Dividend Achievers Fund, PowerShares FTSE RAFI U.S. Fundamental Fund, PowerShares FTSE RAFI Global+ Fundamental Fund and PowerShares India Class. Advisor commissions are 0%-5% for front-end sales. Trailing commissions are 0.5% for PowerShares Real Return Bond Index Fund, PowerShares High Yield Corporate Bond Index Fund and PowerShares 1-5 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Index Fund; and 1% for all other funds. Management fees are 0.75% for A-class units and 0.25% for F-class units of PowerShares 1-5 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Index Fund and PowerShares Real Return Bond Index Fund; 1% for A-class units and 0.5% for F-class units of PowerShares High Yield Corporate Bond Index Fund; 1.45% for A-class units and 0.45% for F-class units for PowerShares Canadian Preferred Share Index Class; 1.05% for A-class units and 0.05% for F-class units for PowerShares FTSE RAFI U.S. Fundamental Fund, PowerShares FTSE RAFI Global+ Fundamental Fund, PowerShares Global Dividend Achievers Fund and PowerShares India Class; and 1.4% for A-class units and 0.4% for F-class units for PowerShares Diversified Yield Fund. Minimum initial investment is $2,000, with $50 required for subsequent investments.

Management changes at Empire

Kingston, Ont.-based Empire Life Insurance Co. has realigned the portfolio-management responsibilities for a number of its funds. The company has also formally announced the arrival of Gaelen Morphet as senior vice president and chief investment officer; she joined the firm in November 2009. In terms of fund manager changes, Lieh Wang replaces Dean Wilkinson as lead manager for Empire Dividend Growth Fund; Morphet and Wang replace Wilkinson, Amber Sinha and Jane Halliday as co-managers for Empire Elite Equity Fund; Morphet and Nessim Mansoor replace Paul Pathak, Wilkinson and Halliday as co-managers for Empire Asset Allocation Fund; and Halliday becomes co-lead manager, along with Sinha, of Empire Global Dividend Growth Fund. The Empire Life investment team will manage Empire Balanced Fund, Empire Global Balanced Fund, Empire Income Fund and all Portfolio funds. The investment objectives of the funds remain unchanged.

@page_break@Compiled by Clare O’Hara (cohara@investmentexecutive.com)