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(June 6, 2006) The flight of the loonie in the last three years has cost Canadians a third or more of their gains held in foreign currencies, according to Criterion Currency Hedge Funds.

While some advisors dismiss currency risk, Criterion, an affiliate of VenGrowth Asset Management, claims the “do nothing” approach has “cost Canadians dearly in recent years.” Criterion’s president Ian McPherson says “Currency exposure adds a major component of all risk to all investments not denominated in Canadian dollars.”

His point is this: the risk associated with the fluctuations in the Canadian dollar has not been isolated to the past few years. Since 1974, changes between the loonie and the U.S. greenback have exceeded 10% more than half of the time.

To address this issue, Criterion has launched three funds — the Criterion Global Dividend Currency Hedged Fund, the Criterion International Equity Currency Hedged Fund and the Criterion Diversified Commodities Currency Hedge Fund — all designed to mitigate most currency risk.

The product launch comes after the trust completed its mutualization and its units were delisted from the TSX. According to the company’s website, Criterion intends to acquire a series of notes with a term of not more than three months providing substantially the same exposure to the Dow Jones AIG Commodity Index Total Return.

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CIBC and Manulife team up to offer new note

(June 6, 2006) CIBC and Manulife Investments have joined forces to create a new note that will blend the performance of two mutual funds — one that focuses on dividend-paying companies and the other on growth-oriented businesses.

The CIBC Manulife Investments Dividend Growth Deposit Notes, Series 1, have a five-and-a-half year term and will be based on the Elliott & Page Canadian Equity Fund and the Elliott & Page Dividend Fund, both of which are managed by Manulife.

The note will try to provide downside protection by increasing exposure to the funds when market performance is good and reducing exposure to the funds and moving assets to a bond account when market performance starts to slip.

According to Bob Tillmann, Manulife’s vice-president of marketing and business development, the new 100% principal protected notes are designed for risk averse conservative investors, fixed-income investors who do not want to lock in their investments at current rates, and Canadian equity investors who want some growth, but also want to protect their principal.

The notes are available for purchase until July 14, 2006.

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Laurentian Bank introduces new China note

(June 6, 2006) Laurentian Bank of Canada is offering a new risk-free principal protected note that aims to take advantage of China’s economic growth.

While Laurentian’s China Objective Note will not invest in China directly, it will focus on 30 companies based in 11 countries that have significant market capitalization and have a presence in the world’s most populous nation.

The notes will be offered with terms of five, seven and ten years. While the returns for the five and seven year terms will be capped at a maximum of 65% and 110% respectively, the 10-year term has unlimited potential.

The minimum investment is $1,000 and the notes are available until June 21, 2006.

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OpenSky Capital launches new note

(June 6, 2006) OpenSky Capital is launching a new principal protected note that will give investors access to global equities without being directly exposed to foreign currencies.

The Global Opportunity Deposit Notes, Series 1 will be fully guaranteed at maturity by JPMorgan Chase Bank and will pay a maximum return at maturity of 94.87% or the equivalent to an annual compounded rate of return of 10% over seven years, with no averaging or fee adjustment on the return calculation of the basket.

The return, if any, will be linked to the price performance of an equally weighted basket of the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index and the Nikkei 225 Index.

Global Opportunity Deposit Notes, Series 1, offer investors transparent and simple access to global equities, with no direct foreign currency exposure, OpenSky says.

The notes are available until July 14, 2006 with an up-front selling commission of 4%.

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Former Harris Bankcorp head to lead BMO’s retail business

(June 6, 2006) BMO Financial Group has appointed Frank Techar as president and CEO of personal and commercial banking in Canada.

Since 2002 Tacher has been serving in the same position for BMO in the United States as president and CEO of Harris Bankcorp, where he helped grow the bank’s network to 200 branches.

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IDA fines broker $15,000 for off book transactions

(June 6, 2006) The IDA has fined John Kevin Letun $15,000 plus $1,500 in costs for distributing securities of ThinWEB Technologies, a private company, to Alberta residents when the firm was not a reporting issuer and not registered for distribution in that province.

The IDA also says the transactions in ThinWEB, which took place between 1998 and 2001, were conducted off the books and records while Letun was a registered rep at the Calgary office of Merrill Lynch Canada.

As part of the penalty, Letun will also be subject to four months of close supervision and will be required to rewrite and pass the Conduct and Practices Handbook exam. Letun is currently employed with Canaccord Capital.

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CLHIA elects new chair

(June 6, 2006) The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association has elected Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services president and CEO Yvon Charest as its chair for 2006-07.

The association also elected new members to its board including Peter C. McCarthy, president and CEO of AIG Life Insurance, James A. Brierley, president of Munich Reinsurance and Canada Branch, Donald A. Stewart, CEO, Sun Life Financial, Richard Bell, CEO of SSQ Life CEO of Manulife Financial, Denis Devos, president and COO, Canada, The Great-West Life Assurance, Mario Georgiev, president of Optimum Reassurance, Dieter Kays, president and CEO, FaithLife Financial, Denis Losier, president and CEO of Assumption Mutual Life Insurance, Neil Skelding, president and CEO for RBC Insurance and Oscar Zimmerman, president and CEO of Scotia Life Insurance.

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Advisor.ca wins silver at business press awards

(June 6, 2006) Advisor.ca has won the silver award for best website at the Kenneth R. Wilson awards. The KRWs, presented annually by the Canadian Business Press, recognize the best trade and business publications in the country.

Editor Doug Watt, practice management editor Opal Patel, website production manager Andrew Gregory, investments editor Steven Lamb and senior reporter Kate McCaffery received the award on Monday night in Toronto.

Advisor.ca placed in the top five in the same category in both 2005 and 2004, when the online prize was first introduced.

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