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(September 28, 2006) Despite all the talk of a U.S. economic slowdown and the effect it will have on our own markets, Canadian money managers have become increasingly bullish over the past three months, according to the Russell Investment Manager Outlook report.

Almost two-thirds of investment managers say a recession is unlikely in the U.S., expressing confidence in the U.S. Federal Reserve’s ability to guide the economy through the hazards it faces.

“Behind the gain in bullishness lies confidence that interest rates might have peaked, at least in Canada and the United States,” says Tim Hicks, CIO, Russell Investments. “Last quarter, managers were fearful that rising rates around the world would dampen investor enthusiasm, but now they believe that the worst might be over for equities in both Canada and the U.S.”

The number of managers who express bullishness on the broad market nearly doubled to 28%, from 15% in the last quarter.

The managers were even more optimistic toward U.S. equities, with 49% saying they were bullish, up from 38%. The enthusiasm can hardly be described as “unbridled,” however, as only 6% said U.S. markets were undervalued.

However, about a third of respondents believe that a U.S. recession is still in the cards; that is reflected in the proportion of investors who hold relatively strong cash positions.

As such, Hicks cautions that “the belief in a U.S. soft landing and bullishness for stocks is far from universal, and the results reflect a growing polarity between those whose outlook is optimistic and those who lean toward pessimism.”

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Altamira launches wrap program

(September 28, 2006) Altamira has announced the launch of Meritage Portfolios, the latest entry in the increasingly popular wrap marketplace. The program consists of 12 portfolios holding 17 funds.

“[Because the wraps are] competitively-priced, we strongly believe that this is exactly the investment solution that advisors and investors have been waiting for,” says Charles Guay, president and CEO of Altamira Investment Services.

Investors can choose between five investment portfolios, five income-oriented portfolios with a fixed distribution, and two pure equity portfolios.

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CIBC alters some fund names

(September 28, 2006) CIBC Asset Management has changed the names of several of its funds and U.S. Dollar Managed Portfolios. The name changes actually took effect at the end of August, but the bank wanted to avoid confusion as documents are released with the new fund names.

The changes affect only two English-named funds, with the CIBC Core Canadian Equity Fund dropping the word “Core” and the Canadian Imperial Equity Fund becoming the CIBC Canadian Equity Value Fund.

Among the French-named funds and U.S. dollar portfolios, one common alteration is to change “US” to “américains” — for example, the Fonds petites sociétés US CIBC has been renamed Fonds petites sociétés américaines CIBC. Funds with an broader geographic mandate have had “international” removed in favour of “mondial” — for example, Fonds international d’actions CIBC has become Fonds d’actions mondiales CIBC.

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TD announces new fee structure, fund objectives

(September 28, 2006) TD Assets Management has announced proposals that would, if approved, raise fees on several funds by making TDAM responsible for more fixed and identifiable costs. The firm is also proposing changes to the investment objectives of selected funds.

The investment objective changes focus largely on catching up to the removal of the foreign property rule, thereby expanding the universe of investments the funds may hold.

With respect to the fee structure, TDAM proposes to pay certain identified operating expenses of some funds, which will result in an administration fee for the Investor Series, Advisor Series, H-Series and T-Series of funds. TDAM says the move is aimed at reducing the volatility of costs paid by the funds.

“There is an increasing focus on the variability of MERs. Our proposal addresses this concern by providing investors with greater certainty with respect to certain components of the MER, which would become fixed and predictable,” says Timothy Pinnington, president of TD Mutual Funds. “In doing so, we also expect a decrease in the MERs for the series of certain funds for the immediate benefit of a large number of investors. This approach is the same as the well-received approach recently taken for ten new funds.”

The new administration fee would vary from fund to fund, with funds like the TD Balanced Fund at the low end at 0.08%, all the way to a fee of 0.35% for the TD Asian Growth Fund.

There will be no administration fee for the Money Market Funds, TD Short Term Bond Fund, TD Canadian Bond Fund and the Index Funds. There will be no change with respect to the ten funds which currently have an administration fee.

Unitholders will be asked to vote on the fee proposals at special meetings to be held on December 7 in Toronto.

(09/28/06)