manulife financial

FIDELITY TRUE NORTH FUND $31.32 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Fidelity Investments Canada, 483 Bay St., Suite 200, Toronto, Ont. M5G 2N7. 1-800-263-4077; Web site: www.fidelity.ca. Load fund — available from brokers) uses a “bottom-up” approach (using fundamentals such as earnings, cash flow and low debt) to identify undervalued companies. Fidelity True North Fund’s top holdings include high-quality stocks such as Manulife Financial, TD Bank, Suncor Energy, Rogers Communications, En- Cana, Bank of Montreal, Nexen, Telus Corporation and Royal Bank. The fund now invests 9.8% of its assets outside of Canada. The fund’s breakdown by economic segment is: 29.1% in Financials, 27.3% in Energy, 11.0% in Materials, 8.8% in Telecommunication services, 6.8% in Information technologies, 5.2% in Industrials, 4.7% in Consumer discretionary and 1.6% in Consumer staples....

TRIMARK CANADIAN FUND $25.19 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (AIM Funds Management, 5140 Yonge Street, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario M2N 6X7. 1-800-631-7008; Website: www.aimfunds.ca. Buy or sell through brokers.) uses a bottom-up stock-picking style, focusing on fundamentals like earnings, cash flow and low debt. The $1.2 billion fund’s 10 largest holdings are TD Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Power Corp., Royal Bank, Alimentation Couche-Tarde, Toromont Industries, Loblaw, Molex Inc., Willis Group Holdings and Manulife Financial. Trimark Canadian made 8.2% annually over the last 10 years. It made 14.3% in the past year, compared to the S&P/TSX’s gain of 12.7%. The fund’s MER is 1.64%. Trimark Canadian Fund is still a buy.

Here are two funds offered by Trimark. We rate both as conservative. Both cut risk by investing in high-quality, large-capitalization stocks. Note that the two funds emphasize different areas of the economy: Trimark Canadian has 26.8% of its holdings in financial services; its next largest holding is in consumer discretionary (consumer companies sensitive to economic cycles such as autos, leisure, hotels, consumer retailing) at 16.5%. Trimark U.S. Companies’ largest allocation is in financial services at 19.5%, followed by health care at 17.6%. TRIMARK CANADIAN FUND $25.19 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (AIM Funds Management, 5140 Yonge Street, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario M2N 6X7. 1-800-631-7008; Website: www.aimfunds.ca. Buy or sell through brokers.) uses a bottom-up stock-picking style, focusing on fundamentals like earnings, cash flow and low debt....

TRIMARK CANADIAN FUND $25.14 (CWA Rating: Aggressive) (AIM Funds Management Inc., 5140 Yonge Street, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario M2N 6X7. 1-800-631-7008; Website: www.aimfunds.ca. Buy or sell through brokers.) uses a bottom-up stock-picking style (using fundamentals such as earnings, cash flow and low debt) that looks at valuation measures and then tries to pick stocks selling at a discount to long-term value. The fund’s 10 largest holdings are TD Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Manulife Financial, Power Corporation, Royal Bank, Alimentation Couche- Tard, Time Warner, Loblaw, Toromont Industries and Molex Inc. The fund’s portfolio breaks down by sector as follows: Financials, 26.6%; Consumer discretionary, 17.1%; Information technology, 14.6%; Industrials, 9.1%; Consumer staples, 8.3%; Materials, 6.7%; Energy, 5.7%; Health care, 5.7%; and Telecom, 3.2%....

RBC CANADIAN DIVIDEND FUND $48.90 (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) has 41.4% of its portfolio in Financial services stocks. It has a further 15.9% in Energy stocks. The $8.5 billion RBC Canadian Dividend Fund’s top stock holdings are Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia, TD Bank, Manulife Financial, CIBC, TransCanada Corporation, Bank of Montreal, Canadian National Railway and Power Corporation. Over the last five years, RBC Canadian Dividend Fund has posted a 13.5% annual rate of return. That’s just over the S&P/TSX 60’s gain of 13.4% over the same period. The fund gained 10.6% over the last year, compared to the S&P/TSX 60’s gain of 15.0%. RBC Canadian Dividend’s MER is 1.72%....

BMO DIVIDEND FUND $50.87 (BMO Mutual Funds, 77 King Street West, Suite 4200, Royal Trust Tower, Toronto, Ont., M5K 1J5, 1-800-665-7700; Web site: www.bmo.com. No load — deal directly with the bank) (CWA Rating: Conservative) currently holds about 58.3% of its portfolio in the Financial services industry. Its largest holding is Energy at 16.1%. BMO Dividend Fund’s largest holdings are Manulife Financial, Bank of Nova Scotia, CIBC, Royal Bank of Canada, Enbridge, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canadian National Railway, TransCanada Corporation, Imperial Oil, Brookfield Asset Management, Thomson Corporation, BCE Inc. and Sun Life Financial. Over the last five years, the $5.7 billion BMO Dividend Fund has posted a 13.2% annual rate of return. That’s just under the S&P/TSX 60’s gain of 13.4%. The fund gained 9.9% over the last year, compared to a gain of 15.0% for the S&P/TSX 60. BMO Dividend’s MER is 1.73%....

BMO Dividend and Royal Dividend hold mostly high-quality stocks. These stocks sometimes run into deep trouble and go through lengthy struggles, just like lesser investments. Eventually, though, most solve their problems and go on to thrive anew. Both funds hold a high proportion of their assets in financial services stocks. However, if you must focus on something, finance is a relatively stable sector. If you do invest in these funds, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so these funds won’t overly concentrate your holdings in the financial sector....

FIDELITY CANADIAN LARGE CAP FUND $26.55 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Fidelity Investments Canada, 483 Bay St., Suite 200, Toronto, Ont. M5G 2N7. 1-800-263-4077; Web site: www.fidelity.ca. Load fund — available from brokers) invests mostly in large-sized firms like those on the S&P/TSE Index, although it may also invest in small and mid-cap stocks. The top holdings of the $416.3 million Fidelity Canadian Large Cap Fund are Royal Bank of Canada, Suncor Energy, Manulife Financial, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, Research in Motion, Western Oil Sands, CIBC, Rogers Communications and Toronto-Dominion Bank. The fund is diversified by industry sector as follows: 38.3% in Financials, 21.7% in Energy, 17.1% in Materials, 6.2% in Information technology, 5.9% in Consumer discretionary, 4.2% in Telecommunication services, 3.8% in Industrials, and 2.3% in Consumer staples....

IVY CANADIAN FUND $30.79 (CWA Rating: Conservative) invests in high-quality, large capitalization stocks. The $4.4 billion fund’s top holdings include Shoppers Drug Mart, United Parcel Service, Manulife Financial, Danaher Corporation, Reckitt Benckister plc, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, Thomson Corporation, Diageo plc and PepsiCo. Ivy Canadian’s breakdown by industry is: Consumer staples, 26.5%; Financials, 17.8%; Industrials, 14.8%; Consumer discretionary, 9.6%; Energy, 3.1%; Utilities, 3.1%; Information technology, 1.4%; and Health care, 1.1%....

IVY GROWTH AND INCOME FUND $23.87 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Mackenzie Financial Corp., 150 Bloor St. West, Toronto, Ont. M5S 3B5. 1-800-387-0780; Web site: www.mackenziefinancial.com. Load fund — available from brokers) is a balanced fund, holding a mixture of stocks, bonds and cash. The fund has returned 7.5% annually for the 10 years. It made 10.2% over the last year. The fund’s MER is 2.14%. The fund’s top stock holdings are Shoppers Drug Mart, PepsiCo, Omnicom Group (U.S. media services), Bank of Nova Scotia, Danaher Corp. (U.S. control products and tools), Reckitt Benckiser plc (UK household & healthcare products), Thomson Corp., Manulife Financial and United Parcel Service. This $3.5 billion fund holds 21% of its assets in bonds. Interest rates on bonds are now under 5% annually in Canada. That’s the total return that a bond can provide, from today until it matures. However, bonds leave investors at the mercy of inflation, which shrinks the purchasing power of all fixed-return investments. In fact, an upsurge in inflation could wipe out all returns on bonds, and some of their principal besides....