Most fund categories fall as markets tumble: Morningstar

Only four of the 42 Morningstar Canada Fund Indices increased during August, while 26 of the losing indices decreased by 3% or more.

Here are some additional highlights from Morningstar Research Inc.

• Funds that focus on precious metals equities were last month’s top performers. The Morningstar Precious Metals Equity Fund Index increased by 3.8% after posting a 16.2% decrease in July, which was the worst result among all fund indices that month.

• Funds in the Greater China Equity category were the worst performers of the month. The category dropped 10.8%, reflecting double-digit losses on both the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.

• Also among the worst performers in August were the fund indices that track the Asia Pacific Equity, Emerging Markets Equity, and Asia Pacific ex-Japan Equity categories, which decreased by 7.6%, 8.3%, and 8.8%, respectively. All three categories have significant exposure to Chinese equities.

• The losses posted by domestic equity funds were among the least severe. Of that group, the Canadian Dividend & Income Equity and Canadian Small/Mid Cap Equity categories were the strongest performers, each posting a 3.6% decrease, followed by the Canadian Equity category with a 3.9% decrease. The Canadian Focused Equity and Canadian Focused Small/Mid Cap Equity fund indices finished lower in the rankings with decreases of 4.2% and 4.6%, respectively.

• The Canadian dollar depreciated by 1.5% against its U.S. counterpart, alleviating the losses for funds in the U.S. Equity category, which collectively decreased by 5.4%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index lost 6% when measured in U.S. dollars. Also, the loonie’s 2.8% decline against the euro helped the Morningstar European Equity Fund Index limit its decline to 4.7%, as stock markets in Germany and Franceboth dropped by more than 8%.

• All seven fund indices that track fixed-income categories were in the red. Results ranged from a 0.3% decrease for the Morningstar Canadian Short Term Fixed Income Fund Index to a 4.2% decrease for the Morningstar Preferred Share Fixed Income Fund Index.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.