These Two Bank-run Funds Stand Out

Article Excerpt

Many bank-run funds share common faults: they are run by committees and anonymous bank employees who produce mediocre results, yet they charge high fees. Here, however, are two big funds run by individual managers that hold the kind of conservative, well-balanced portfolios of high quality stocks we like. Each has its quirks, but overall they are well positioned for low-risk returns. TD CANADIAN EQUITY FUND $29.13 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (TD Asset Management, P.O. Box 7500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario. M5W 1P9. 1-800-463-3863; 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 Manulife Financial, Suncor Energy, Royal Bank, EnCana, TD Bank, Petro-Canada, Rogers Communications, Bank of Nova Scotia, Falconbridge and Valero Energy. The $2.4 billion fund currently holds about 31.8% of its portfolio in Financial services shares. It also has a bias…