Briefly:

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Middlefield has added a new fund to its lineup of class funds: Global Agriculture Class.

As part of the family of class funds, investors can make switches between other class funds without triggering capital gains for tax purposes.

The company also announced that Series F shares will now be offered for the following funds: Canadian Growth Class, Resources Class and Precious Metals Class.

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Jovian, UM Financial create Shariah fund

Jovian and UM Financial have plans to offer a co-branded, Shariah-compliant investment product.

The product would be geared towards Canada’s Muslim population — approximately 1 million people — as well as foreign investors looking for a uniquely Canadian, Shariah-compliant investment.

“We are very excited to be partnering with Jovian on a product that would provide Muslims in Canada with a much-needed, Canadian-based and Shariah-compliant investment product which avoids such industries as gambling, alcohol and tobacco, and enables active review of financial ratios and leveraging,” said Omar Kalair, president and CEO of UM. “Canada is well regarded internationally and the introduction of a Canadian-based, Shariah-compliant product would provide a vehicle through which overseas investors can gain Shariah-compliant exposure to Canada’s markets.”

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Claymore Gold Bullion Trust IPO sold-out

Claymore Gold Bullion Trust has completed the IPO of 40 million units at $10 per unit, for gross proceeds of $400 million.

Each unit includes one transferable and redeemable trust unit and one warrant, which is exercisable to acquire an additional unit for $10 at any time before 4 p.m. (Toronto time) on November 28, 2009.

The fund’s mandate is to replicate the performance of the price of gold bullion by investing the net proceeds of the Offering into the holdings of physical gold bullion.

Given that gold bullion is priced in U.S. dollars, the fund will be substantially hedge to the Canadian currency.

The fund will automatically convert into an exchange-traded fund if the fund units trade at a discount to net asset value six months following the closing of the offering.

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Acorn eliminates performance fees for founding investors

Acorn Global Investments announced that it will get rid of the performance fees for initial founding investors in the Acorn Diversified Trust.

“We are providing a limited opportunity to obtain a truly alternative investment with traditional fees,” says Jason Russell, president and CIO of Acorn Global Investments. “Our transparency, liquidity, highly disciplined approach and most importantly, our results are the primary reasons people are investing. However, we see incredible opportunity ahead and want to scale our business quickly. We found that eliminating performance fees was the most effective way of providing a tangible incentive to those who invest before July 1.”

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Edward Jones to sell Pacific & Western Bank GICs

Edward Jones is the latest distributor that can sell the GICs of Pacific Western Bank of Canada (PWBank), a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific & Western Credit Corp.

PWBank, a Schedule I chartered bank, is a branchless financial institution with over $1.6 billion in assets. It specializes in providing innovative financing to large corporate and government entities including hospitals, school boards, universities and colleges, municipalities, and provincial and federal government agencies.

(05/28/09)