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(November 14, 2006) AGF Management has reached an agreement to acquire 80% of Highstreet Partners Limited, the London (Ontario)-based parent of Highstreet Asset Management.

The firm will become part of AGF’s private investment management group, with its CEO, Rob Badun, taking on the role of president, AGF Private Investment Management Limited.

“Highstreet is an outstanding acquisition for AGF,” said Blake Goldring, AGF’s chairman and CEO. “The hallmark of our recent acquisitions has been growth, through strategic synergies with our operations. We expect Highstreet will extend our record of success.”

AGF has announced there will be no changes to Highstreet’s team. Highstreet currently has $4.8 billion in assets under management. The deal, when completed, will bring AGF’s total AUM to $46 billion. The transaction is expected to close December 1, 2006.

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HNW firm offers lower minimum fund

(November 14, 2006) Northern Rivers Capital Management has launched its first mainstream retail mutual fund, the Northern Rivers Monthly Income and Capital Appreciation Fund.

The fund provides investors with a tax-efficient monthly income stream, derived from a portfolio of global large-cap dividend-yielding equity securities, royalty trusts and fixed-income securities. The distributions are structured as return of capital and capital gains, reducing the tax exposure when held in non-registered accounts.

“This is a very effective structure for a monthly income mutual fund, and we think it will be very well received,” says Rob Cassels, president and CIO of Cassels Investment Management Inc., which will manage the portfolio for Northern Rivers. “It’s a medium-risk investment, managed by a highly respectable firm and will truly make your money work for you.”

Up to now, Northern Rivers has provided fund offerings exclusively to high-net-worth investors. The fund has been available to its own clients since September but is now available to the wider market through major brokerages. The new fund is the fifth offering from Northern Rivers, which was founded in 2001.

The fund requires a minimum initial investment of $25,000, which, although high, is significantly lower than that of Northern Rivers’ other funds, which require $100,000 to get in, with a $25,000 minimum for any subsequent investments.

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ROI fund changes name

(November 14, 2006) Return on Innovation (ROI) Capital Ltd. has changed the name of its ROI Sceptre Monthly Income Fund to the ROI Sceptre Canadian Pension Fund, saying the new name better reflects the mandate and objective of the fund.

The fund mirrors the asset mix and objectives of a typical pension fund portfolio, as it holds underlying funds managed by Sceptre Investment Counsel, best known as a pension plan manager. The fund also includes an element of mezzanine financing, which is generally unavailable to retail investors.

This stage of private equity investment lends capital to already established companies, making it less risky than start-up financing. These loans are not correlated to the overall market, adding diversification to the overall portfolio.

The ROI Sceptre Canadian Pension Fund is now available in A, F and O class units, which will not pay a monthly distribution but will make an annual distribution in December.

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CARP calls for more time on trusts

(November 14, 2006) Canada’s Association for the Fifty-Plus is urging the federal government to change course on income trusts, recommending that existing trusts be exempted from plans to tax distributions, which will start in 2011.

Failing that, the group is asking that the four-year tax holiday be extended to 10 years, pushing back implementation until 2017. The group says such an extension would allow seniors to adjust their retirement income accounts.

CARP points to the U.S. experience with publicly traded partnerships, which were given a 10-year adjustment period back in 1987, when Washington announced it would impose a new tax regime on these investments.

(11/14/06)