Briefly:

TD Asset Management has announced a portfolio adviser change for the TD International Equity Growth Fund, following the proposed takeover of its current advisor.

On July 13, 2010, Old Mutual (US) Holdings announced its intention to acquire the international equity portfolio management team for the fund from Invesco Advisers, Inc.

Under the proposed deal, that team will form a new affiliate called Echo Point Investment Management, LLC, which will become the portfolio adviser of the fund, effective on or about September 30, 2010.

TD expects the portfolio management team led by Hans van den Berg and David Sugimoto will remain the same. There will be no change to the fund’s investment objectives or strategies.

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AlphaPro launches active corporate debt ETF

AlphaPro Management has launched Canada’s first actively managed corporate bond ETF, the Horizons AlphaPro Corporate Bond ETF, which began trading on July 15 on the TSX, under the symbol HAB.

The sub-advisor of the ETF is Natcan Investment Management, and the initial portfolio is expected to be comprised of between 100 and 150 corporate bond issuers.

“Corporate bonds are an often overlooked asset class by many income oriented investors,” said Ken McCord, president of AlphaPro. “It’s an asset class that has low correlation to equities and other types of bonds, offering greater diversification for an investor’s portfolio and higher yield than government bonds, GICs and high interest savings accounts.”

The investment objective of the ETF is to seek long-term moderate capital growth and generate high income. It will invest primarily in the debt securities of Canadian and U.S. companies, directly or through investments in securities of other investment funds, including exchange trade funds.

“It’s extremely difficult for a passively managed corporate bond ETF to replicate the returns of a corporate bond index, given the size and liquidity constraints of the corporate bond universe,” McCord said. “Having a management team of the calibre of Natcan in the low-cost and flexible ETF platform creates a compelling alternative for both investors in high-fee fixed-income mutual funds as well as investors in corporate bond index ETFs, especially if those funds have historically failed to deliver benchmark returns.”

(07/15/10)

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.