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McLean Budden has launched Canada’s first UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) fund family to be based in Dublin, Ireland.

The UCITS structure is recognized and regulated in more than 100 countries worldwide — allowing investors in those countries to invest in McLean Budden’s mandates.

“We have actively managed assets on behalf of our non-Canadian clients for more than four decades,” says Roger Beauchemin, president and CEO, McLean Budden. “This international following has grown organically based on the strength of our balanced approach, which translates into a non-Canadian client base of over $2.5 billion in a dozen countries. The UCITS umbrella now makes us available to an array of global clients who until now have not had access to us.”

UCITS funds enable investment managers to distribute their products across borders within a transparent and highly regulated structure.

The McLean Budden UCITS structure is comprised of a family of five funds. Each fund has four classes. Two are institutional, denominated in U.S. dollars and Euros and two are private client. The funds mirror five of McLean Budden’s top performing funds, which have previously only been available to Canadians.

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Foreign investors continue to buy Canadian bonds

Investment in Canada continued to dominate cross-border transactions in securities in November, according to Statistic’s Canada.

Foreign investors acquired a further $10.5 billion of Canadian securities in the month, adding significant amounts of private sector and government bonds to their portfolios. Canadian residents acquired $2.4 billion of foreign securities; a sizable chunk of this was in U.S. government debt instruments.

Foreign investors added $12.9 billion of bonds and removed $1.9 billion from their holdings of short-term securities. Canadian private corporate bonds saw $7.2 billion in inflows, mainly reflecting purchases of new U.S. dollar-denominated bonds.

Foreign acquisitions of federal bonds slowed, but remained strong at $1.6 billion, while purchases of provincial government bonds increased to $3.1 billion.

Foreign investors did however divest themselves of Canadian equities. StatsCan pointed out non-resident investors were net sellers of Canadian equities for the first time in 10 months, selling $464 million of Canadian equities in November. Stats Can says the sell-off was led by energy and technology stocks.

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Do more than RRSP planning: FPSC

With the deadline for RRSP contributions fast approaching, Canada’s favorite retirement savings vehicle is top of mind. The Financial Planning Standards Council says clients should use their interest in RRSP contributions to explore other areas of financial planning.

The FPSC, which administers the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation, offers tips to enhance RRSP season.

The first tip FPSC offers is that clients should create or update a full financial plan.

The FPSC also recommends clients use an advisor.

“There is an enormous amount of time, education and expertise involved in making sound decisions. The more complex the economy and one’s financial circumstances, the more professional expertise may be required,” the FPSC says. “More than ever, this is the year to consider engaging the services of those who have proven competence, knowledge, experience and ethics.”

It is also important clients talk to an advisor about interest rates. Rising interest rates could drastically increase the cost of living for certain Canadians, particularly home buyers. The FPSC notes the Bank of Canada will likely raise interest rates rise within the next six to nine months. Clients need to understand how this will impact their debt and investments and put safeguards in their financial plan to account for this.

(01/18/10)