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With faint promises of an economic recovery, CIBC has rolled out a new tradable commodities index for investors hoping to cash in on resurgent resource prices.

The CIBC Composite Commodities Index tracks the price of futures contracts in agriculture, energy, base metals and precious metals. All futures contracts in the index are listed and traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the London Metal Exchange (LME) and IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) [spell out].

“With strong signals that the economies in East Asia are starting to emerge from the global economic recession, investors are paying close attention to commodities once again,” says Rob Forgrave, head of commodities trading with CIBC World Markets Inc. “Our index allows Canadian investors the ability to customize their exposures across 16 different commodities.”

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Invesco promotes MacDonald to lead

Invesco Trimark has named Norman MacDonald as lead portfolio manager for Trimark Canadian Resources Fund. He has been co-managing the fund with Rory Ronan since late 2008.

Ronan who has been lead portfolio manager on the fund since 2001, will focus on his lead manager role for Trimark Diversified Income Class, Trimark Monthly Income Private Pool and Trimark Canadian Plus Dividend Class. He also remains co-portfolio manager on Trimark Income Growth Fund.

“I’m extremely confident in Norm’s ability to continue to deliver the strong long-term results the fund has achieved under Rory’s leadership,” said Graham Anderson, Invesco Trimark’s chief investment officer. “Norm firmly adheres to the investment fundamentals that are the foundation of the proven Trimark investment discipline.”

MacDonald has 13 years of investment experience in the resource sector, having previously worked for the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, Beutel Goodman & Company Ltd. and Salida Capital Corp.

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CIBC Mellon named best sub-custodian in Canada

For the third consecutive year, CIBC Mellon has been chosen as the best sub-custodian in Canada, according to a Global Finance magazine survey.

“CIBC Mellon once again proves its leadership in the Canadian marketplace for stability and quality of sub-custodial services,” says Joseph Giarraputo, publisher and editorial director at Global Finance. “This recognition reflects the expertise and dedication of CIBC Mellon in safekeeping clients’ assets and delivering superior service quality.”

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FTSE introduces Italian market index series

Global index provider FTSE Group and Borsa Italiana, part of the London Stock Exchange Group, announced today, June 1, the launch of new Italian equity indices.

The new Italian equity indices are designed to represent the performance of shares listed on the markets of Borsa Italiana, providing investors a set of indices with which to measure, analyze and invest in Italy’s equity market.

FTSE has also opened a new office in Milan to work closely with Italian market participants and to further attract investor attention to the Italian market.

(06/01/09)