Morningstar flags the best and worst of 2004

(January 19, 2005) Despite finishing at the bottom of the mutual fund sales chart in 2004 — with $2.3 billion in net redemptions — there was some good news for AGF last year. Its Managed Futures fund was the top performer in 2004, according to data compiled by Morningstar Canada.

The fund, run by Zoran Vojvodic, produced an impressive 47.5% return. As Morningstar Canada Investment Funds editor Rudy Luukko points out, Vojvodic tends to either win big or lose big. In 2003, his Alternative Strategies fund lost nearly 42%, the second worst of any fund that year.

CIBC Energy finished second in 2004, with a 46.8% return. Acuity grabbed the third and fourth spots, with the Acuity Pooled Canadian Small Cap Fund returning 44.6% and the Acuity Pooled Income Trust Fund rising 42.9%.

At the other end of the scale, the fund with the worst performance of 2004 was the Canadian Science & Technology Growth Fund. The labour-sponsored fund was down 35.1%. However, Luukko notes that changes are in the works for the fund, currently managed by Fullarton Capital. Earlier this month, Vancouver’s Growthworks announced plans to purchase Fullarton.

Labour and precious metals funds made up the remainder of the bottom five in 2004. Dynamic’s Canadian Precious Metals Fund was down 24.4%, two VentureLink offerings — VentureLink Series 1 and the VentureLink Brighter Future Equity 1 — each lost about 23%, and another Dynamic product, the Global Precious Metals fund, posted a 22% loss.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, doug.watt@advisor.rogers.com