Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: Could you give me your thoughts on these two mutual funds: AGF Elements Yield Portfolio and the Brandes Sionna Canadian Equity Fund?

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AGF Elements Yield Portfolio Fund uses a number of different managers. The fund aims to give investors “diversification” by combining different investment-management styles. We think this approach is inferior to management by an experienced and proven individual. As well, the fund is a balanced fund, and holds 70.5% of its portfolio in bonds. We don’t generally recommend balanced funds. That’s because bonds are unlikely to perform as well in the next few years as they have in the last few, if only because interest rates are likely to rise. That means the fund would only earn interest income on its bonds; instead of capital gains, its bond holdings could produce capital losses. We don’t recommend the AGF Elements Yield Portfolio. A: The Brandes Sionna Canadian Equity Fund holds mostly high-quality stocks. However, the fund holds a high 37.4% of its portfolio in resource stocks: seven of its top-ten holdings are from the resource sector. We see serious drawbacks in employing a “top-down”, sector-rotation…