Briefly:

(June 13, 2003) While there has been little change in the number of women working in the investment dealer industry, there does appear to be a shift in where women are working in the sector, according to a research report commissioned by Women in Capital Markets (WCM).

There was a slight increase in the number of women in corporate and investment banking, up 4% to 29% of professionals and representation in the advisor role increased by 1% to 16%. But there was a drop in representation in more senior positions.

Women made up only 8% of the managing directors of retail private client business, down from 11%. Senior-level females in the investment dealer business also dropped, from 11% to 10%.

“For Canadian investment dealers to compete on the global stage, they need access to the best and the brightest, and women are an important part of this talent pool,” said Susan Black, vice-president of Catalyst Canada, the firm that performed the survey for WCM.

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Franklin Templeton announces new addition

(June 13, 2003) Franklin Templeton has unveiled the latest addition to its Quotential program. The company says its Global Growth Portfolio combines value, deep value, growth and “growth at a reasonable price” investment strategies.

“The Global Growth Portfolio is a blend of some of our leading funds designed to provide a highly diversified global investment solution,” said Don Reed, president and CEO of Franklin Templeton Investments.

Reed says the Quotential Program has grown over a quarter of a billion dollars in assets in seven months. There are six “ready-made” portfolios available to investors with a minimum of $25,000 to invest.

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Manulife kills E&P European Equity Fund

(June 12, 2003) Manulife Mutual Funds has announced the closure of the Elliott & Page European Fund due to low assets under management. The value of the fund’s assets had dropped to $4 million by April 30.

“This latest change is part of our ongoing efforts to manage costs and streamline our product offering, while strengthening our position in the marketplace,” said Eric Grove, vice-president of investment funds of Manulife Financial.

Investors holding this fund have the option of redeeming their holdings or transferring to another fund at no cost. Any cash remaining in the fund as of December 15, 2003, will be transferred automatically into the Elliott & Page Money Fund.

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National Life policy to include Best Doctors

(June 12, 2003) National Life is offering Best Doctors Services to e-Critical Illness policyholders, at no additional cost. Best Doctors matches a critical-care patient to physicians who are considered to be experts in their particular field.

“Using its renowned database of over 50,000 doctors recognized as the best by top specialists, Best Doctors provides rapid access to the finest medical knowledge and peace-of-mind to people facing a serious illness,” said National Life’s Brian Wrixon, vice-president of individual sales.

Once an expert is chosen from the Best Doctors database of over 50,000 physicians, they receive the patient’s data and recommend a course of treatment to the patient’s primary doctor.

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Altamira shifts fund management focus

(June 12, 2003) Altamira has announced the appointment of Natcan Investment Management Ltd. as sub-advisor on several of its fixed income and international funds.

Each of these funds will be assigned an Altamira lead manager who will be ultimately responsible for the fund. Altamira will continue to focus on its Canadian, American and specialty equity growth funds.

Natcan currently has $18 billion in assets under management, with over $10 billion of that sum in fixed income and international investments.

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CI streamlining fund lineup

(June 11, 2003) CI Funds today announced a fund merger which will see the elimination of about two dozen Clarica branded funds and CI’s Insight Program pools. The affected funds are largely overlapped with others in the CI stable.

Insight pool unitholders will be issued Class “W” units of the post-merger funds, which will maintain their current Insight fee structure.

The mergers still require unitholder and regulatory approval. A special meeting will be held August 27, 2003, with the mergers to take effect on or about August 29, 2003 if approved.

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Insurance applications slip and fall

(June 11, 2003) Applications for life insurance dropped in May across North America, the tenth monthly decline in the past year, according to MIB Group, a risk management data services firm. The lion’s share of this drop came from the U.S. market, which was off 12.2% from May 2002. Canadian activity declined only 0.3% over the same period.

The drop was felt across all demographics, with applicants under 44 leading the decline. The oldest age group — people over 60 — dropped as well, marking two consecutive monthly drops in the usually strong market segment.

“June’s application activity has consistently lagged the prior June’s activity levels for the last four years running,” said Stacy J. Gill, vice president and chief knowledge officer at the MIB Group’s e-Services Corporation. “If historical norms are observed, it’s reasonable to expect a 4 to 5% year-over-year decline next month.”

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AIC exits seg fund business

(June 9, 2003) AIC Limited has announced it will no longer offer new segregated fund policies, although the company says current contract holders will be allowed to continue purchasing additional units of the funds.

“Over the past five years, turmoil in the equity markets coupled with changing consumer preferences have resulted in relatively flat sales of AIC segregated funds,” says Jonathan Wellum, AIC’s chief investment officer. “We have seen AIC investors continue to choose our core equity funds as well as our new high net worth products.”

AIC currently has about $200 million under management in its seg funds, which it first offered in 1998.

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Dynamic trims fund lineup

(June 9, 2003) Dynamic Mutual Funds announced late last Friday its intention to merge 31 funds to eliminate overlapping fund objectives. The mergers will require approval from security holders at a special meeting on July 21, as well as regulators.

If approved, the mergers will take effect on a date to be announced, believed to be in the first two weeks of August.

The company announced the creation of a new fund, the Dynamic Greater China Fund, which will result from the merger of several of the smaller funds. The new fund will be managed by Dynamic’s Chuk Wong, with strategist Dr. Marc Faber acting as an advisor.

A complete list of the affected funds can be found on Dynamic’s press release.

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(06/09/03)