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(July 11, 2007) Manulife Investments has decided to use the Manulife name for the majority of its fund offerings, and will retire the names of the Elliot & Page and MIX families of funds.

Elliott & Page Funds will change to Manulife Funds, and MIX Funds will become Manulife Corporate Class. Manulife says the new brand strategy simplifies its mutual fund brands and builds on Manulife’s strong brand in Canada.

“The Elliott & Page brand enjoys a long history within Canada’s mutual fund marketplace. While the decision to retire this brand has been a difficult one, we believe that bringing the Manulife name to the forefront will serve to improve awareness and recognition of our high-quality suite of mutual fund products,” says Doug Conick, vice-president of investment funds for Manulife Investments.

Conick says retiring the MIX name was a little simpler since its was a much more recent entrant to the market.

Manulife expects the transition to take place on or about August 24, 2007. The changes will in no way affect the mandates of the underlying investment funds or existing policies or relationships with Manulife Mutual Funds’ sub-advisors.

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Tax problems force Fidelity to close fund to outsiders

(July 11, 2007) Fidelity Investments Canada announced Wednesday that the board of directors of Fidelity Capital Structure Corporation has approved an immediate closure of Fidelity Canadian Short Term Income Class to new purchases and transfers from outside Fidelity Capital Structure.

Fidelity says it’s taking this step to avoid potential adverse tax consequences for the shareholders of Fidelity Capital Structure. As assets in the Fidelity Canadian Short Term Income Class rise and make up a greater proportion of the capital structures overall assets, there is an increased likelihood that the firm would need to pay taxable dividends or causing income taxes to be paid by the corporation.

The Canadian Short Term Income Class fund will continue to be available within Fidelity Capital Structure as a short-term investment option.

Fidelity stresses that the closure will not apply to transfers from other classes of Fidelity Capital Structure or to any pre-existing pre-authorized chequing plans that currently buy units of Fidelity Canadian Short Term Income Class. The company is also not ruling out reopening the fund at a future date.

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Dynamic proposes India-focused fund

(July 11, 2007) Dynamic Mutual Funds has filed and received a receipt for a preliminary prospectus for the initial public offering of a fund that invests in India.

The DPF India Opportunities Fund will be an actively managed, diversified investment portfolio that invests in predominantly public issuers that operate primarily in India. The fund reserves the right to invest up to 20% of the portfolio in private issuers operating primarily in India that the fund manager identifies as potential takeover targets or that are likely to become publicly listed.

The fund’s investment team will be led by industry veteran Rohit Sehgal.

Dynamic intends to have an initial offering price of $10.00 per unit with a minimum purchase of 100 units. Each unit will consist of one trust unit of the fund and one trust unit purchase warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one trust unit at a subscription price of $12.50 on or before the third anniversary of the closing date of the offering.

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GGOF launches real estate fund

(July 11, 2007) Guardian Group of Funds has launched the GGOF Global Real Estate Fund, which will provide Canadian investors with access to investment opportunities in the world’s real estate markets, including North American, European and Asian real estate securities.

The fund will attempt to provide investors with a portfolio of approximately 40 to 50 holdings of North American, European and Asian real estate–related securities, and will make regular distributions, which will typically include income, capital gains and tax-deferred capital gains in the form of return of capital.

The fund will be managed by two of GGOF’s investment advisory teams: Guardian Capital will manage the Canadian component, and GGOF Investment Management will manage both the U.S. and EAFE (Europe, Australasia and Far East) components in consultation with Towerhouse Capital Management, a San Francisco-based REIT consulting firm.

“Direct ownership of property is not the only way to reap the benefits associated with real estate investing,” says Gavin Graham, chief investment officer at GGOF. “Publicly traded real estate securities also provide investors with a way to increase their real estate exposure, as does a real estate mutual fund, which is typically less volatile than individual real estate investments.”

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(07/11/07)