manulife financial

At one time, mutual funds within a particular ‘fund family’ often shared some key investment characteristic, such as a conservative or aggressive investment approach, or a stress on value as opposed to growth. However, due to trends in the mutual-funds industry such as corporate mergers and takeovers, and more aggressive marketing, a fund’s membership in a fund family now has little bearing on its investment approach or appeal as an investment. Below, for instance, we analyse five funds from the Ivy Group. (Note that Ivy is now part of Mackenzie Financial, which in turn is part of IGM Financial. The contact information listed for Ivy Growth and Income also applies to the other four.)...

RBC DIVIDEND FUND $44.90 (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 43.3% of its portfolio in Financial services stocks. It has a further 17.4% in Energy stocks. The $7.3 billion Royal Dividend Fund’s top stock holdings are Royal Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, TD Bank, Manulife Financial, CIBC, TransCanada Corp., Bank of Montreal, Petro-Canada and Power Corp. Over the last five years, Royal Dividend Fund has posted a 13.2% annual rate of return. That’s better than the S&P/TSX 60’s gain of 11.2% over the same period. The fund gained 24.9% over the last year, compared to the S&P/TSX 60’s gain of 30.2%. Royal Dividend’s MER is 1.74%....

BMO DIVIDEND FUND $45.82 (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 53.1% of its portfolio in the Financial services industry. Its next-largest holding is Energy at 13.3%. 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, Power Financial, Shell Canada and Sun Life Financial. Over the last five years, the $5 billion BMO Dividend Fund has posted a 13.3% annual rate of return. That’s much better than the S&P/TSX 60’s gain of 11.2%. The fund gained 24.1% over the last year, compared to a gain of 30.2% for the S&P/TSX 60. BMO Dividend’s MER is 1.75%....

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. BMO Dividend and Royal Dividend have both outperformed AIC Diversified Canada over the last year, even though it also has a financial focus. That’s because they hold lots of our favourite high-quality stocks. If you’re looking for income and growth, we prefer these two funds for new buying....

FIDELITY CANADIAN LARGE CAP FUND $26.81 (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 this $396.2 million fund are Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Natural Resources, EnCana Corporation, Cameco Corporation, Suncor Energy, Manulife Financial, Royal Bank of Canada, ING Canada, Bank of Montreal and TD Bank. The fund is diversified by industry sector as follows: 39.5% in Financials, 21.2% in Energy, 11.1% in Materials, 6.4% in Industrials, 4.7% in Consumer discretionary, 3.7% in Health care, and 3.6% in Information technology....

MANULIFE FINANCIAL $73 (Toronto symbol MFC; SI Rating: Above-average) sells life and other forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment management services. It operates in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Manulife has assets under administration of $372.3 billion. Manulife acquired New York-listed John Hancock Financial Services in 2003 for $15 billion in shares. The merger was one of the largest ever in the life insurance industry, but the integration has gone smoothly. John Hancock continues to add to Manulife’s sales and profits in the U.S. In the three months ended December 31, 2005, Manulife’s earnings rose 18.3%, to $900 million or $1.14 a share, from $761 million or $0.93 a share a year earlier. Revenue rose 3.6%, to $8.20 billion from $7.92 billion. The shares yield 1.9%....

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. GREAT-WEST LIFECO $29 (Toronto symbol GWO; SI Rating: Above-average) is a leading Canadian insurance company, with $177.3 billion in assets under administration. The company also provides wealth management and other financial services. It also operates in the U.S. and Europe. Power Corp. of Canada controls about 75% of the company’s common stock. Great-West’s earnings in the three months ended December 31, 2005 rose 10.3%, to $469 million or $0.53 a share from $423 million or $0.48. Revenues rose 13.6%, to $6.52 billion from $5.74 billion....

FIDELITY TRUE NORTH FUND $26.61 (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, TD Bank, Sun Life, CN Railway, Canadian Natural Resources, Bank of Nova Scotia, Telus Corp. and Talisman Energy. The fund’s breakdown by economic sector is: 31.2% in Financials, 21.5% in Energy, 14.7% in Materials, 8.2% in Industrials, 7.2% in Telecom, 6.5% in Information technology and 4.3% in Consumer discretionary....

UNIVERSAL CANADIAN GROWTH FUND $20.66 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Mackenzie Financial Corp., 150 Bloor St. West, Toronto, Ont. M5S 3B5. Web site: www.mackenziefinancial.com. 1-800-387-0780; Load fund — available from brokers) holds companies with strong management and sound business prospects. The fund holds fewer than 40 stocks at all times. Top holdings include Bank of Montreal, Manulife Financial, Finning International, Avid Technology, Shoppers Drug Mart, Corus Entertainment, Industrial- Alliance Life Insurance, Edwards Lifesciences, Biosite Inc. and BCE Inc. The fund’s breakdown by economic sector is as follows: 19.3% in Financials, 17.9% in Information technology, 16.1% in Consumer discretionary, 9.2% in Health Care, 9.4% in Industrials, 5.7% in Energy, 6.0% in Consumer staples, 3.7% in Telecommunications and 2.1% in Materials....

Here are two funds offered by Mackenzie Financial. We rate one as Conservative and the other as Aggressive. But both cut risk by investing in high-quality stocks. UNIVERSAL CANADIAN GROWTH FUND $20.66 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Mackenzie Financial Corp., 150 Bloor St. West, Toronto, Ont. M5S 3B5. Web site: www.mackenziefinancial.com. 1-800-387-0780; Load fund — available from brokers) holds companies with strong management and sound business prospects. The fund holds fewer than 40 stocks at all times. Top holdings include Bank of Montreal, Manulife Financial, Finning International, Avid Technology, Shoppers Drug Mart, Corus Entertainment, Industrial- Alliance Life Insurance, Edwards Lifesciences, Biosite Inc. and BCE Inc....