Topic: How To Invest

Q: Hello Pat and team. I heard some people recommending these funds: Trimark Europlus Fund, Capital Group Global Equity Fund, Brandes Emerging Markets Value Fund and the Invesco Global Real Estate Fund. I know you don’t necessarily recommend mutual funds over stocks. But, please, may I have the benefit of your thinking on these ones, in particular? Thanks!

Article Excerpt

A: We think that mutual funds are okay to hold if you own them, but we have moved away from recommending mutual funds in favour of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). They charge much lower fees. We feel that most fund investors should shift into ETFs wherever possible. (For that reason, we shifted the focus of our Canadian Wealth Advisor newsletter to ETFs.) Trimark Europlus Fund holds mostly high-quality shares of major European companies. The fund has an emphasis on the U.K. at 40.6% of its assets. That’s followed by France at 11.7%, Germany 6.2%, and the Netherlands, 5.7%. Trimark Europlus Fund holds a high 20.2% of its assets in cash. We don’t like the market-timing aspect of such a large holding, although the fund may be able to pick up some bargains if European markets decline. Like many mutual funds, its MER—2.72%—is high. If you want to hold a European mutual fund and can tolerate the high MER, then the Trimark Europlus Fund is okay…