These 5 Large-cap Bank-run Funds Are Buys

The performance of these five large funds — one from each of Canada’s big-five banks — has suffered over the last year. That’s because they held high weightings in Financial services and Resources stocks. Financial services have dropped due to turmoil in credit markets. Resources… Read More

RBC mutual funds: RBC Canadian Equity Fund

RBC CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $19.69 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (RBC Mutual 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… Read More

Ivy European Fund $12.72

IVY EUROPEAN FUND $12.72 (CWA Rating: Aggressive) holds mostly good quality stocks, although it has underperformed the longer-term benchmark Morgan Stanley indexes.

We don’t see any reason to hold a mutual fund that concentrates in Europe. If you want European exposure, consider Ivy Foreign Equity Fund… Read More

Ivy Foreign Equity Fund $26.81

IVY FOREIGN EQUITY FUND $26.81 (CWA Rating: Conservative) outperformed the Morgan Stanley benchmark international index over the last 10 years. The fund gained 5.0%, and that was better than the Morgan Stanley benchmark’s gain of 1.7%. Ivy Foreign Equity Fund lost 2.2% over the last… Read More

Ivy Funds: 2 Buys, 2 Sells & One Hold

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 corporate mergers and takeovers in the mutual-funds industry, and more… Read More

Two International Closed-end Fund Buys

CHILE FUND $17.05 (New York symbol CH) (CWA Rating: Aggressive) invests primarily in Chilean stocks. It’s managed by Credit Suisse Asset Management, a division of Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank.

Prices for copper, a key commodity for Chile, are down from the all-time highs they reached… Read More

Japan Equity Fund $4.51 – New York symbol JEQ

JAPAN EQUITY FUND $4.51 (New York symbol JEQ; CWA Rating: Aggressive) invests mostly in large capitalization stocks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The fund’s top holdings include: Toyota Motor, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, East Japan Railway Co., Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.

Japan Equity… Read More

CIBC Canadian Equity Fund $27.83

CIBC CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $27.83 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (CIBC Securities, 5140 Yonge Street, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario M2N 6X7. 1-800-631-7008; Website: www.cibc.com. No load — deal directly with the company.) uses a “bottom-up” approach (using fundamentals such as earnings, cash flow and low debt) to… Read More

BMO Equity Fund $33.80

BMO EQUITY FUND $33.80 (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… Read More

RBC Canadian Equity Fund $29.08

RBC CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $29.08 (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… Read More