dividend growth

RBC CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $24.09 (CWA Rating: Conservative)(RBC Funds, P.O. Box 7500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario. M5W 1P9. 1-800-463-3863; Web site: www.royalbank.com. No load — deal directly with the bank) invests mostly in larger-capitalization stocks, but also looks for opportunities in small and mid-cap stocks. The fund’s 10 largest holdings are TD Bank, Manulife Financial, Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank, EnCana Corporation, Petro- Canada, CN Railway, Suncor Energy and Manulife Financial. The $4.1 billion fund is reasonably well-balanced by industry sector. But it does hold a relatively high 31.7% of its holdings in Financial stocks. These stocks will benefit as the economy continues to recover, and it’s hard to match the big-five banks’ record of consistent earnings and dividend growth. But if you hold this fund, remember to adjust your overall portfolio to reflect the addition of a large Financial services component....

Many bank-run funds share common faults: they are run by committees and anonymous bank employees who produce mediocre results, yet they charge high fees. Here, however, are two big funds run by individual managers that hold the kind of conservative, well-balanced portfolios of high quality stocks we like. Each has its quirks, but overall they are well positioned for low-risk returns. TD CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $29.13 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (TD Asset Management, P.O. Box 7500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario. M5W 1P9. 1-800-463-3863; Web site: www.tdcanadatrust.ca. No load — deal directly with the bank) uses a “bottom-up” approach (using fundamentals such as earnings, cash flow and low debt) to identify undervalued companies with strong growth potential. TD Canadian Equity Fund’s 10 largest holdings are Manulife Financial, Suncor Energy, Royal Bank, EnCana, TD Bank, Petro-Canada, Rogers Communications, Bank of Nova Scotia, Falconbridge and Valero Energy....