BMO opens two socially responsible mutual funds

By Staff | April 28, 2016 | Last updated on April 28, 2016
3 min read

BMO Investments has opened two socially minded mutual funds.

Read: BMO CEO Downe makes more than $10 million in 2015

BMO Women in Leadership Fund: The Women in Leadership Fund seeks to invest in North American companies that have a female CEO, or a board of directors with at least 25% female representation, referencing the Barclays Women in Leadership North America Index.

“Research has shown that diverse leadership in companies translates into better results,” says Kevin Gopaul, Chief Investment Officer and Senior Vice-President, BMO Global Asset Management. “Companies with gender-diverse boards tend to outperform those with no women on their boards, and indices of companies with mixed-gender boards have outperformed benchmark indices.”

Read: Nominate a woman to appear on the next Canadian bill

BMO Fossil Fuel Free Fund: The bank has also introduced the BMO Fossil Fuel Free Fund, a socially responsible investment (SRI) strategy. The fund aims to provide long-term growth of capital by investing in a globally diversified portfolio of equity securities that excludes companies primarily involved in the development of fossil fuels and their infrastructure.

BMO Tactical Global Asset Allocation ETF Fund: The fund invests in a global diversified portfolio of equity and fixed income securities and ETFs.

BMO Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund: The fund invests in a diversified portfolio of global equity ETFs that emphasizes a growth orientation.

BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF Fund, BMO Covered Call U.S. High Dividend ETF Fund, BMO Covered Call Europe High Dividend ETF Fund: The funds provide exposure to dividend yielding companies in Canada, U.S. and Europe, respectively, with covered call overlays to mitigate downside risk.

Read: Canada could be corporate diversity leader, says study

New Cash Flow Options and Discount Series Offerings

BMOII is expanding its cash flow series with new Series F4, Series F6 and Series T4 being added to BMO Retirement Portfolios and additional Series F6 being added to five of the BMO SelectTrust Portfolios. BMOII’s existing Discount Series will be expanded with new Series D being added to all of the BMO SelectTrust and BMO Retirement Portfolios.

Distribution Policy Changes

Effective immediately, the distribution policy of BMO World Bond Fund (Series A, F, I, and Advisor Series), BMO Global Infrastructure Fund (Series A, F, D, I and Advisor Series), and BMO Global Growth & Income Fund (Series F and Advisor Series) has changed to a fixed monthly distribution.

Series Terminations

H Series of each of the following funds will be terminated effective July 22, 2016:

BMO Asian Growth & Income Class BMO Canadian Equity Class BMO Dividend Class BMO Global Dividend Class BMO Short-Term Income Class BMO SelectClass Income Portfolio BMO SelectClass Balanced Portfolio BMO SelectClass Growth Portfolio BMO SelectClass Equity Growth Portfolio

Investors holding H Series securities have several options. Investors may continue to hold H Series until the termination date. If so, those securities will be redeemed entirely on the Termination Date and, if they hold their investments in a non-registered account, they will be paid the proceeds. Investments held in a registered account will be transferred automatically into the BMO Money Market Fund.

Investors may also switch their H Series securities – if they are qualified – for securities of another BMO Mutual Fund, or redeem their securities entirely and receive the redemption proceeds in the normal course.

Advisor.ca staff

Staff

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