royal bank

TRIMARK CANADIAN FUND $19.97 (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, Plum Creek Timber, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Thomson Corp., Yamana Gold, Toromont Industries and Molex Inc. The fund’s portfolio breaks down by sector as follows: Financials, 30.5%; Consumer discretionary, 19.1%; Information technology, 11.2%; Industrials, 9.5%; Materials, 8.2%; Consumer staples, 7.0%; Health care, 6.4%; Energy, 4.2%; and Telecommunication services, 2.6%....

UNITED CORPORATIONS $62.50 (Toronto symbol: UNC) (165 University Ave., 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5H 3B8. 416-947-2583. Buy or sell through a broker) invests in a wide variety of average-quality to above-average quality Canadian and foreign stocks. At last report, 34.6% of the fund’s $1.1 billion portfolio was invested in Canadian equities, 23.7% in the U.S., 20.7% in Europe, 6.2% in the UK, 13.1% in Asia and 1.0% in Mexico and Latin America. The fund’s largest holdings included Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada, Manulife, Talisman Energy, Algoma Central Corporation, Nexen, TransCanada Corporation, General Electric, TD Bank and Chevron....

AIC DIVERSIFIED CANADA FUND $44.27 (CWA Rating: Conservative) mainly holds shares of Canadian companies of average or above-average quality. It also holds stocks of some U.S. firms. The $1.4 billion fund’s 10 largest holdings are Power Financial, Canadian Oil Sands Trust, TD Bank, Shoppers Drug Mart, FedEx, Thomson Corporation, Brookfield Asset Management, Royal Bank of Canada, Manulife Financial and Royal Bank of Scotland. AIC Diversified Canada holds just 19 stocks. The fund holds 53.0% of its assets in Financial services stocks. The rest of the portfolio breaks down as follows: Consumer staples, 16.1%; Energy, 9.9%; Consumer discretionary, 7.4%; Health care, 7.0%; Industrials, 4.0%; and Conglomerates, 1.6%....

These two AIC funds hold much of their portfolios in financial services stocks. This sector has moved down lately, mostly on concerns over a general lack of liquidity for asset-backed securities. We prefer diversified funds. But if you must focus on something, then the finance sector still offers sound long-term prospects. If you do invest in these funds, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so they won’t overly concentrate your stock and mutual fund holdings in the financial sector. AIC AMERICAN ADVANTAGE FUND $6.20 (CWA Rating: Aggressive) (AIC Group of Funds, 1375 Kerns Road, Burlington, Ont., L7R 4X8, 1-800-263-2144; Web site: www.aicfunds.com. Buy or sell through brokers) invests mostly in U.S. stocks, with over 99% of assets in the financial services area....

FIDELITY TRUE NORTH FUND $31.61 (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, TD Bank, Suncor Energy, Rogers Communications, En- Cana Corporation, Bank of Montreal, Research in Motion, Canadian Natural Resources, Potash Corporation and Royal Bank. The fund now invests 8.6% of its assets outside of Canada. The fund’s breakdown by economic segment is: 28.8% in Financials, 25.5% in Energy, 13.7% in Materials, 8.8% in Information technologies, 7.4% in Telecommunication services, 5.1% in Industrials, 4.8% in Consumer discretionary and 1.2% in Consumer staples....

HARBOUR FUND $22.47 (CWA Rating: Conservative)(C.I. Mutual Funds, 151 Yonge St., 7th Floor, Toronto, ON M5C 2W7. 1-800-268-9374; Web site: www.cifunds.com. Load fund — available from brokers) invests in only 25 to 40 high-quality Canadian stocks, and it may hold stocks for four or five years to realize their value. The $5.3 billion Harbour Fund’s top holdings include Royal Bank, CN Railway, Suncor Energy, Petro-Canada, CIBC, General Electric, EnCana Corp., Rio Tinto, TD Bank and BHP Billiton. The Harbour Fund gained 17.2% over the last year. Its MER is 2.33%....

SCOTIA CANADIAN GROWTH FUND $74.27 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Scotia Securities, 40 King Street West, 6th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 1H1. 1-800-268-9 269; Website: www.scotiabank.com. No load — deal directly with the company.) uses fundamental analysis to identify what the managers see as investments that have the potential for above-average growth. The $619.8 million Scotia Canadian Growth Fund’s 10 largest holdings are Manulife Financial, Suncor Energy, Royal Bank, TD Bank, Research in Motion, Canadian Natural Resources, Sun Life Financial, CN Railway, Bank of Nova Scotia and EnCana. Scotia Canadian Growth currently holds 41.7% of its portfolio in the Resources sector. Its next-largest holding is Financial services at 29.3%. Over the last 10 years, Scotia Canadian Growth posted a 6.8% annual rate of return. That’s less than the S&P/TSX’s return of 9.8%. The fund gained 19.2% over the past year, compared to a gain of 21.4% for the S&P/TSX. Scotia Canadian Growth’s MER is 2.12%....

BMO EQUITY FUND $33.37 (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 mostly in ‘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 of Canada, TD Bank, EnCana Corporation, Canadian Natural Resources, Rogers Communications, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, CIBC and Bank of Nova Scotia. The $2.3 billion fund currently holds 41.9% of its portfolio in the Resources sector. Its next-largest holding is Financial services at 28.4%....

RBC CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $29.28 (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, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, Research in Motion, Potash Corp. and Bank of Montreal. The $5.3 billion fund holds 39.3% of its holdings in Resources stocks. It also holds 28.4% in Financial services stocks. Over the last ten years, RBC Canadian Equity posted a 10.3% annual rate of return. That’s about equal to the S&P/TSX’s gain of 9.8%. The fund made 21.4% over the last year, equal to the gain of 21.4% for the S&P/TSX. The fund’s MER is 1.99%....

TD CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $32.56 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (TD Asset Management, P.O. Box 7500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario. M5W 1P9. 1-800-386-3757; 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 Royal Bank, Suncor Energy, TD Bank, Rogers Communications, Canadian Natural Resources, Canadian Oil Sands Trust, Research in Motion, Schlumberger, Manulife Financial and Freeport McMoran. The $3.2 billion fund currently holds about 51.7% of its portfolio in Resources shares. It also has a bias towards Financial services stocks, with 18.8% of its holdings in that sector....