Briefly:

(August 8, 2003) CIBC has appointed an independent committee to monitor the trade of CIBC equities within mutual funds the company controls. The committee was a sticking point for regulators, which wanted to ensure there was no interference from the parent company.

The committee is made up of John W. Crow, William Thornhill and Frank Santangeli. These members will be paid an annual retainer as well as a fee plus expenses for each meeting they attend.

CIBC is the manager of the CIBC Mutual Funds, Imperial Pools, CIBC Managed Portfolios and the CIBC U.S. Dollar Managed Portfolios. The bank also controls Renaissance Mutual Funds, Frontiers Pools and Talvest Funds through its subsidiary, CIBC Asset Management.

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July jobs numbers miss the mark

(August 8, 2003) StatsCan reported that the economy shed 13,000 jobs in July, boosting unemployment to 7.8%. The report pointed out that these job losses were virtually all part-time positions and that adult employment stood relatively unchanged.

“While the negative impact of SARS on the job market is now behind us, the impact of the Canadian dollar’s appreciation is not,” said Marc Lévesque, senior economist at TD Economics. “The bulk of the drag on Canada’s export-oriented industries will be felt in the second half of the year — with manufacturing and the resource-based sectors feeling most of the pain. As a result, the pace of job creation is likely to be modest at best.”

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Advocis launches job board

(August 6, 2003) Advocis has launched a career portal for financial advisors on its Web site, www.advocis.ca, available for all of the professional association’s members.

“The Jobs for Advisors site will be particularly helpful to our student members — a promising group of up-and-coming advisors who have the education and the commitment to professionalism that will serve them well in this industry,” said Steve Howard, president and CEO of Advocis.

Advisors seeking employment can browse the positions employers are seeking to fill, or post their resumé to the site for employers to browse. During August and September, the fee to post a job will be waived to encourage firms to advertise.

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Transamerica offers 20 new GIFs

(August 6, 2003) Transamerica Life Canada is introducing a new line of guaranteed investment funds (GIFs) under the name of imaxxGIF. The lineup includes optimized guaranteed investment funds, asset allocation GIFs and guaranteed investment portfolios (GIPs).

“While investment sensitivity will likely persist in the mid-term, investors and their advisors continue to turn to alternative investments like GIFs, that combine insurance security with exceptional money management talent,” said Mark Jackson, CIO at Aegon Capital Management, the portfolio manager for several imaxxGIFs.

The new segregated funds are available through Transamerica’s imaxx TOP guaranteed investment portfolios.

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Altamira shifted into National Bank Discount Brokerage

(August 6, 2003) National Bank has moved Altamira Securities into its National Bank Discount Brokerage (NBDB) division, making the services offered by NBDB available to all Altamira clients, effective September 8, 2003.

“By leveraging the strengths of NBDB, we’ve taken a great offering and made it much better for the benefit of Altamira Securities’ clients,” says Mr. Yves Breton, president of NBDB.

Altamira Securities’ clients will have access to online trading, margin accounts, options trading, a wider range of mutual funds, as well as NBDB’s client support.

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Mackenzie shuffles fund management

(August 6, 2003) Mackenzie Financial has announced changes to the management of three of its funds.

The Mackenzie Universal U.S. Growth Leaders Fund, is now co-managed by Phil Sanders and Dan Becker, senior vice-presidents at Waddell & Reed Investment Management. The Mackenzie Universal Global Future Fund will now be managed by Ian Ainsworth, Mackenzie senior vice-president, and Peter Cundill has assumed full management of Mackenzie Cundill Canadian Security Fund.

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National Bank shifts some funds’ management

(August 5, 2003) National Bank has announced the transfer of management for three of its funds to Altamira Management Ltd. from Natcan Investment Management Inc.

The affected funds are National Bank Natural Resources Fund, National Bank Future Economy Fund and National Bank Global Technologies Fund. National Bank said the move was made to capitalize on Altamira’s superior expertise in managing growth funds, sectorial funds or specialized funds. Natcan will continue to manage the bond and income funds and in the core funds

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Counsel Group cancels meeting

(August 5, 2003) Counsel Group of Funds has cancelled a unitholder meeting which was scheduled for August 28. The company was seeking unitholder approval for a proposed change to the investment objective of Counsel Select Sector. No new date has been announced for the meeting.

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(08/05/03)