manulife financial

FIDELITY TRUE NORTH FUND $27.95 (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, Nexen, TD Bank, Sun Life Financial, Canadian Natural Resources, Bank of Nova Scotia, Telus Corporation, Rogers and Talisman Energy. The $6.2-billion Fidelity True North Fund’s one-year gain is 20.2%, compared to a gain of 20.6% for the S&P/TSX over the same period. The fund’s MER is 2.55%....

We’ve said for some time that insurers are riskier than they look. Insurance has a stable image, but it has always been highly competitive and volatile. For safety-conscious investors, right now we recommend just three Canadian insurance companies as buys: Manulife Financial, Great-West Lifeco and Sun Life Financial. SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $45 (Toronto symbol SLF; SI Rating: Above-average) offers savings, retirement, pension and life and health insurance products and services to individuals and corporations. The company operates mainly in Canada, the U.S. and the UK, and also in Asia and India. It has assets under administration of $387.2 billion. In the three months ended June 30, 2006, Sun Life’s earnings rose 7.3%, to $512 million, or $0.88 a share, from $477 million or $0.81 a share a year earlier. Revenue rose 4.1%, to $6.2 billion from $6 billion a year earlier. The company recently raised its quarterly dividend by 9.1%, to $0.30 from $0.275. The shares now yield 2.7%....

CIBC CORE CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $23.21 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (CIBC Securities, 5140 Yonge Street, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario M2N 6X7. 1-800-631-7008; Website: www.cibc.com. No load — deal directly with the company.) uses a “bottom-up” approach (using fundamentals such as earnings, cash flow and low debt) to identify companies that trade at reasonable valuations and yet have growth potential. The $627.6 million fund’s top holdings are Petro-Canada, EnCana, Manulife Financial, Falconbridge, Bank of Nova Scotia, TD Bank, Canadian National Railway, Bank of Montreal, Canadian Natural Resources and Suncor Energy. CIBC Core Canadian Equity holds 33.4% of its portfolio in Financial services stocks and 26.4% in Energy stocks....

BMO EQUITY FUND $31.50 (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) generally invests in the shares of 20 to 40 “blue-chip” Canadian companies. These stocks are selected based on the manager’s outlook for the industry they operate in, the earnings record of each company, the strength of management, and the potential for growth. BMO Equity Fund’s 10 largest holdings are Manulife Financial, Suncor Energy, Royal Bank, TD Bank, Sun Life Financial, Petro-Canada, Canadian National Railway, CIBC, Bank of Nova Scotia and EnCana. The $2 billion BMO Equity currently holds 37.6% of its portfolio in the Financial services industry. Its next-largest holding is Energy at 23.2%....

RBC CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $25.15 (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 Nova Scotia, Royal Bank, EnCana Corporation, Petro-Canada, CN Railway, Talisman Energy, Suncor Energy and Canadian Natural Resources. The $4.4 billion fund holds a relatively high 28.8% of its holdings in Financial stocks. It also holds 25.3% in Energy stocks....

TD CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $30.99 (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, TD Bank, Western Oil Sands, Canadian Oil Sands Trust, CN Railway, Inco, Falconbridge and Teck Cominco. The $2.6 billion fund currently holds about 28.6% of its portfolio in Financial services shares. It also has a bias towards Energy stocks, with 28.9% of its holdings in that sector....

Here are five large funds run by each of Canada’s big-five banks. Each holds the kind of conservative, well-balanced portfolios of high quality stocks we like. All five have a high weighting in Financial services and Energy stocks. However, they stick with high-quality issues with sound fundamentals, so these concentrations don’t add a lot of risk. Each has its quirks, but overall they are well positioned for low-risk returns. TD CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $30.99 (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, TD Bank, Western Oil Sands, Canadian Oil Sands Trust, CN Railway, Inco, Falconbridge and Teck Cominco....

FIDELITY TRUE NORTH FUND $26.33 (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, EnCana Corporation, TD Bank, Sun Life Financial, Canadian National Railway, Canadian Natural Resources, Bank of Nova Scotia, Research in Motion and Talisman Energy. The fund’s breakdown by economic sector is: 31% in Financials, 20.6% in Energy, 14% in Materials, 8.4% in Information technology, 7.4% in Industrials, 6.6% in Consumer discretionary, and 2.2% in Consumer staples....

IVY CANADIAN FUND $29.46 (CWA Rating: Conservative) invests in high-quality, largecapitalization stocks. The $4.8 billion fund’s top holdings include Shoppers Drug Mart, Yellow Pages Income Fund, Manulife Financial, Danaher Corp., Reckitt Benckister plc, Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian National Railway, Loblaw, Imperial Oil and Omnicom Group. Ivy Canadian’s breakdown by industry is: Consumer staples, 26.9%; Financials, 21.6%; Consumer discretionary, 12.8%; Industrials, 12.7%; and Energy, 6.6%. Ivy Canadian made 8.4% annually over the last 10 years, compared to the S&P/TSX’s gain of 10.9%. The fund’s MER is 2.44%. It holds a high cash level of 9%....

IVY GROWTH AND INCOME FUND $23.18 (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 performed well, returning 8.3% annually for the 10 years. It made 4.4% over the last year. The fund’s MER is 2.17%. 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), Yellow Pages Income Fund, Manulife Financial and CN Railway. This $3.7 billion fund holds 19% 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....