Brandes beating AGF, says fund researcher

(April 4, 2003) It’s too soon to declare a winner, but one year after fund manager Charles Brandes left AGF to start his own company, the new Brandes funds are outperforming their AGF rivals, according to data compiled by research firm FundMonitor.com.

Based on nine-month returns ending March 31, the AGF International Value Fund has declined 25.7%, while the Brandes Global Equity Fund is off 21%. Similarly, Brandes’ International Equity and Emerging Markets funds are performing better than their AGF counterparts, although all are deep in negative territory.

“We compared the performance of the funds Brandes abandoned to that of the new funds it launched July 1, 2002, and found that while all the performance is negative, Brandes is indeed ahead of Harris,” says FundMonitor.com researcher Anthony Corona.

But the performance numbers don’t necessarily mean investors should move to Brandes from AGF, Corona says. “If you hold AGF International Value on a deferred sales charge, the cost of switching could outweigh the benefits.”

Corona adds a nine-month study “simply can’t be taken as statistical proof at this point.”

“Both managers are very talented, so if you still have AGF International Value, sit tight. If you don’t hold either and you want a global value fund, either one is a good choice.”

Corona offers the same advice for the two firms’ international and emerging markets funds.

Chicago-based Harris Associates took over management of the AGF International Value Fund last June. Dublin-based AGF International Advisors, run by John Arnold and Rory Flynn, handles the AGF International Stock Fund while Patricia Perez-Coutts manages the AGF Emerging Markets Value Fund.

The Brandes Global Equity fund has attracted $330 million in new money since its inception last July. AGF International Value, established in 1989, is AGF’s largest fund, with assets of $4.2 billion as of February 28, 2003.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, dwatt@advisor.ca