Briefly:

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(August 8, 2006) Hedge fund performance was pretty much flat in July, with the Barclay Hedge Fund Index slipping 0.07%. Most of the loss was attributed to getting overall market direction wrong.

“Once again, we’re seeing equity-based directional strategies spilling most of the red ink,” said Sol Waksman, founder and president of The Barclay Group. “Share prices dropped during the first half of July, but by the end of the month rallied back to where they had started.”

Half of the 18 indices Barclay tracks fell, with technology funds dropping 1.39%, the global macro index falling 1.36%, and long-bias equity hedge funds losing 1.2%. The short-bias index posted the best performance, gaining 2.84%.

Despite losing 2.29% during the past three months, the Barclay Hedge Fund Index is still up 5.57% for 2006.

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PH&N names new CIO

(August 8, 2006) Phillips, Hager & North Investment Management has appointed Hanif Mamdani as chief investment officer, retroactive to June 13, 2006.

“Hanif has built an outstanding reputation within the Canadian investment management community as the individual responsible for the trading execution and portfolio strategy of corporate bonds at PH&N,” said John Montalbano, president of PH&N. “He has been responsible not only for outstanding performance results in PH&N’s corporate bond mandates and pooled funds, but also for driving the development of a variety of new fixed-income products and strategies to benefit our clients.”

Mamdani will continue in his role within the fixed-income department, where he manages the PH&N High Yield Bond Fund and the PH&N Absolute Return Fund. Prior to joining PH&N in 1998, he worked at Salomon Brothers and Credit Suisse First Boston.

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AGF announces changes to Elements program

(August 8, 2006) AGF has announced changes to its AGF Elements program, which require amendments to the prospectus. Most of the changes revolve around the benchmarks against which the funds are measured.

AGF is replacing the S&P Barra Growth Total Return Index as the benchmark for the AGF U.S. Risk Managed Class, and will now use the S&P/Citigroup Growth Total Return Index. The AGF Global Resources Class will now use the FTSE World Resources Total Return Index as its benchmark, replacing the blended benchmark composed of 60% MSCI World Energy Total Return Index and 40% MSCI World Materials Total Return Index.

AGF is also replacing the benchmark for AGF Canadian Small Cap Fund, switching from the NB Small Cap Total Return Index to the S&P/TSX Small Cap Total Return Index. The AGF Canadian Resources Fund Limited will now track a blended benchmark composed of 60% S&P/TSX Capped Energy Total Return Index and 40% S&P/TSX Capped Materials Total Return Index, which replaces the Morningstar/TSX Resources Total Return Index.

AGF also announced it would switch its quarterly rebalancing date from the end of the month to mid-month.

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Canaccord names new president, COO

(August 8, 2006) Canaccord Capital has announced the appointment of Paul Reynolds as president of the firm. Reynolds remains the president and COO of Canaccord Adams, the company’s UK subsidiary.

Canaccord also named Mark Maybank as COO of Canaccord Capital. Maybank and Reynolds fill the roles of Michael Greenwood, who has also resigned his position as director. Greenwood will remain as a consultant for the next 12 months, to ensure a smooth transition.

“We are fortunate to have a deep, diverse, global pool of talent that has allowed us to develop the next generation of leadership internally,” said Peter Brown, chairman of the board and CEO. “I am confident in Paul’s and Mark’s abilities to take on the reigns of these key leadership roles, and to carry forward Canaccord’s entrepreneurial, consensus-driven culture.”

(08/08/06)