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(May 23, 2006) Sarbit Asset Management has introduced its second product offering — the Sarbit Total Performance Trust, described by the Winnipeg-based company as an “open mandate investment product.”

“The fund can invest in any country, in any market capitalization, and in any type of debt instrument,” Sarbit said in a statement. “The fund will also have the ability to hedge currency. Most importantly the fund can do what successful business investors do — concentrate investment into a few great businesses.”

In addition, the fund is structured so that the investor must be making returns before Sarbit can receive any fees. “This product has been created to give the investor ultimate peace of mind. Sarbit is putting its interests along side its investors. If the investor doesn’t make money — Sarbit doesn’t make money,” says company president Larry Sarbit.

Sarbit Total Performance Trust is available via offering memorandum, with a fixed expense ratio of 0.6%, in both Class A and F units. Sarbit Asset Management is seeking a select number of IDA licensed investment advisors to distribute the new product.

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RBC-DS creates charitable gift giving fund

(May 23, 2006) RBC Dominion Securities is taking advantage of Ottawa’s recent move to eliminate the capital gains tax on donations of securities, launching a new charitable gift giving fund.

The program provides a tax efficient way for individuals to create a lasting legacy through contributions to a personal charitable gift fund, without the complicated administration and costs associated with establishing a private foundation, the brokerage firm said in a release.

The plan allows RBC-DS clients to make ongoing contributions to a fund administered by the Charitable Gift Funds Canada Foundation. Donors receive an official charitable donation receipt for the full market value of their contributions. Gifts of qualifying securities may also be eligible for a capital gains tax exemption.

“This is a winning solution, both for charities and for investors,” says RBC-DS vice president Anthony Maiorino. “Canadians have always been generous, and this program is a response to our clients’ wishes to include charitable gifts in their long-term financial plans.”

Clients can contribute cash or qualifying securities to the CGFCF fund, then recommend grants to the charitable organizations of their choice based on the amount of accumulated investment earnings in their account.

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Integrated Asset Management makes offer for BluMont

(May 23, 2006) Toronto-based Integrated Asset Management has announced plans to take over BluMont Capital. IAM currently owns about 46% of the outstanding common shares of the hedge fund firm.

Under the terms of the deal, BluMont shareholders would receive one-third of one common share of IAM for each share of BluMont. Based on the closing prices of the BluMont and IAM common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange at the end of last week, the offer represents a premium to the BluMont share price of approximately 39%, IAM said in a release. BluMont was trading at $0.48 per share last week, but rose Tuesday afternoon to $0.61. IAM was at $2 per share.

“The board of directors believes that this transaction will benefit both companies,” says IAM chair Victor Koloshuk. “The shareholders of BluMont will receive a dividend paying stock with enhanced liquidity in a more diversified business upon the successful closing of the transaction.”

IAM says although the current proposal is in the form of a take-over bid, in certain circumstances, the company may take a different route, such as an amalgamation or similar transaction, based on the same terms.

BluMont chair Thomas Simpson says the board will establish a committee to review the offer.

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Greg Sorbara returns as Ontario finance minister

(May 23, 2006) Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has re-appointed Greg Sorbara to his cabinet, just days after his name was removed from search warrants tied to an RCMP investigation.

According to reports, the premier announced a mini-cabinet shuffle at a news conference today. Aside from reappointing of one of his closest allies as finance minister, McGuinty returns Dwight Duncan, the current finance minister, to his former job as energy minister. Donna Cansfield moves to transportation and Harinder Takhar, the current transportation minister, will become minister of the newly-created post of small business.

Sorbara has been sitting as a backbencher since stepping down from the finance portfolio last fall to clear his name in a criminal probe into Royal Group Technologies, where Sorbara was once a director. Last Thursday, an Ontario Superior Court judge ordered Sorbara’s name to be stripped from search warrants involving the case, clearing the way for his return to cabinet.

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C.A. Bancorp inks five-year deal with Sentry Select

(May 23, 2006) C.A. Bancorp, a small firm on the TSX Venture Exchange that invests in under performing small- and medium-sized Canadian public and private companies, has hired Sentry Select Capital to manage the company’s merchant banking business.

Sentry Select will search and screen investment opportunities and will also conduct due diligence for all potential investments.

C.A. Bancorp will pay Sentry Select a quarterly fee of 1/4 of 1.50% of the net asset value (the total net asset value less the company’s liabilities) calculated as at the close of business on the last business day of each calendar quarter. In addition, Sentry Select will be entitled to a performance bonus equal to 20% of the amount by which the annual net pre-tax profits of the C.A. Bancorp in each year exceeds a threshold of an 8% per year return earned on its NAV.

The agreement, which is subject to approval, will run from July 1, 2006 to December 31, 2011. Under the terms, B.A. Bancorp will pay stiff penalties if it ends the agreement before 2011.

In the same release, B.A. Bancorp amended an earlier agreement with Sentry Select. Under the amendment, Sentry Select will provide office space, equipment and all management and investment staff, and all accounting, clerical, secretarial, corporate and administrative services for the monthly fee of $40,000, $5,000 more than stated in the original agreement.

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