Topic: How To Invest

Stone & Co. Dividend Growth Class Canada Fund. Would like your thoughts on this type of tax-efficient investment.

Article Excerpt

Stone & Co. Dividend Growth Class Canada Fund holds mostly high-quality Canadian large-cap stocks, well balanced across the five main economic sectors. All of the stocks that the fund holds pay a dividend. The fund is a “class” fund, which means that it’s “tax-advantaged.” These funds let you switch within a family of tax-advantaged funds without realizing capital gains. However, tax-advantaged funds generally have higher costs and lower returns. One reason for this is that these funds must hold larger cash balances in order to fund more frequent redemptions. (Stone & Co. Dividend Growth Class Canada Fund holds 13.4% of its assets in cash). In addition, these funds may need to buy and sell more often, to accommodate holders who want a tax-deferred switch. This extra trading increases brokerage commissions and other costs. The fund has a somewhat high 2.86% MER. We think investors should stay out of tax-advantaged mutual funds. When choosing mutual funds, the main criteria should be the quality…