(September 15, 2006) The securities commissions of Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia approved orders aimed at providing greater transparency regarding insider trading.
The order requires the TSX and TSX Venture Exchange to consolidate all insider trades and publicly disseminate the information in a summary form at the end of each trading day.
End-of-day insider trading summaries are expected to provide greater transparency in Canadian capital markets. The order comes from the 2002 Insider Trading Task Force, which was established to assess how best to address illegal insider trading in Canadian capital markets.
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The head of the CBA is retiring
(September 15, 2006) Raymond Protti retires after 10 years as president and CEO of the Canadian Bankers Association.
Although Protti will not step down until 2007, the earlier announcement is intended to give CBA time to select a successor.
In recent years, Protti’s term as head of the Central Anticorruption Bureau has been defined by his fight against restrictions prohibiting banks from sharing insurance information in branches. He has consistently argued that these restrictions are not in the best interests of consumers. Protti was also a strong supporter of a single regulatory regime for governments, investors and businesses seeking capital.
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IA Clarington changes the composition of funds
(September 15, 2006) IA Clarington Investments Inc. is simplifying the makeup of its funds and cutting fees on three funds as part of aggressive changes announced Friday.
IA plans to merge nine funds with other investment funds it manages. At the same time, the company intends to transfer the management of two funds, reduce management fees for three funds, close two small funds and standardize commission schedules for all funds.
Explaining the company’s decision, David Scandiffio, president of IA Clarington, said IA is “moving forward with a more focused offering that combines strong in-house investment management capabilities with products from leading third-party money managers in Canada and abroad.”
The funds affected are:
| Merger fund | Continuation of the fund | |
| Clarington Money Market Fund | >> | R Money market fund |
| Clarington Canadian Bond Fund | >> | |
| R Bond Fund | R High Yield Bond Fund | |
| >> | R Bond Fund | |
| IA Clarington Dividend Income Fund | >> | R Dividend income fund |
| IA Clarington Canadian conservative equity fund | >> | IA Canadian Conservative Capital Fund |
| R Global Growth Fund | ||
| >> | ||
| Clarington Global Equity Fund | ||
| R European Fund | ||
R Asian Fund
R Life and health fund
* Upon merger, R Money Market Fund and R Bond Fund will be renamed IA Money Market Fund and IA Bond Fund respectively.
In addition to the merger, IA will transfer portfolio management of the Clarington Diversified Income Fund and the Clarington Income Trust Fund to Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. However, the investment objectives and strategies of both funds will not change.
Rockwater Capital Corp subsidiary KBSH Capital Management Inc. also felt the impact of the IA fund shakeup. IA Clarington expires the external mandate for three investment funds to which KBSH acted as an advisor.
The impact on the subadvisor is expected to be minimal as fund fees are reduced. KBSH will continue to manage two IA Clarington closed-end funds with approximately $110 million in assets.
In the same announcement, IA said it plans to reduce management fees for Series A units of the Clarington Diversified Income Fund and Clarington Income Trust Fund to 2%. The cut is expected to reduce the MER by approximately 10 basis points.
The management fee for Series A shares of the Clarington Global Equity fund will also be reduced to 2%. Given the fund’s current cost structure, the reduction should reduce the fund’s MER by 27 basis points to 2.53%. All fee changes will enter into force on November 17, 2006.
As part of the integration of the Industrial Alliance Fund Management and ClarintonFunds product lines, IA is adjusting its commission schedules and deferred sales fee schedules to be consistent across all funds. To standardize DSC schedules, the company is adopting the DSC redemption fee schedule currently used for Clarington funds.
The Company will employ the low sales commission and redemption fee structure of the R and IA Funds. It will also increase the commission paid to dealers on the sale of low-bed units from 2.25% to 2.5%.
Finally, IA Clarington announced that it plans to close the IA Crystal Enhanced Index America Fund and Clarington Canadian Resources Class due to their small size and future asset growth potential. Each of the two funds has assets worth less than $3 million. The closures will take effect on November 17.
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Rockwater is changing its investment management mandate
(September 15, 2006) On the same day that the Rockwater subsidiary lost its sub-advisor contract, the parent company decided to rebrand its own mutual funds platform as Lakeview Asset Management.
Funds currently managed under the Disciplined Leadership Group name have been transferred to the Lakeview banner. At the same time, four new funds, advised by Rockwater subsidiary KBSH, were added to the Lakeview fund family.
Lakeview recently expanded its fund sales staff and plans to introduce additional products managed by a “top-rated money manager.”
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CI Investments plans to merge two Skylon trusts
(September 15, 2006) CI Investments plans to merge Skylon Capital Yield Trust with High Yield & Mortgage Plus Trust.
According to CI, the two trusts have similar mandates in that both provide exposure to high-yield debt securities, including corporate bonds and bank loans. Both high-yield portfolios are managed by Barry Allan of Toronto-based Marret Asset Management Inc. The only notable difference is that the High Yield & Mortgage Plus Trust also invests in commercial mortgage-backed securities.
Despite similarities in the two trusts’ mandates and historical investment returns, CI states in the release that Skylon Capital Yield Trust is required to pay larger monthly distributions than the High Yield & Mortgage Plus Trust, which has reduced its capital.
The proposed merger is scheduled to occur on April 30, 2007, coinciding with the maturity of the Skylon Capital Yield Trust, subject to unitholder approval.
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TD Bank Financial Group discloses security agreement
(September 15, 2006) TD Bank Financial Group has entered into an arrangement that could provide the bank with financial security for potential future purchases of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. common stock.
The terms of the TD Ameritrade Stockholders’ Agreement limit the U.S. discount broker’s ownership of TD Bank to 39.9% of the outstanding voting securities. This limit will increase to 45% in January 2009. The agreement will provide TD Bank with price protection when it increases its stake in 2009.
The agreement between the TD Bank subsidiary and Lillooet Ltd., a company sponsored by Royal Bank of Canada, will secure up to 27 million shares of TD Ameritrade common stock.
Under the agreement, Lillooet is obligated to make a payment to TD in early 2009 in the event of an increase in the price of TD Ameritrade shares. If the price of common stock declines, TD Bank will pay Lillooet a specified amount related to the decline.
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Pier 21 sets out with new strategies
(September 15, 2006) Pier 21 Asset Management, an independent institutional asset management firm, offers 10 strategies in the first phase of the launch of its product platform.
All management functions will be outsourced to sub-advisors with a long-term track record. Pier 21’s equity strategies will include global, EAFE, European, emerging markets and emerging technology, as well as core and high yield global fixed income strategies. In the absolute return category, the company offers global and emerging markets strategies and a global fixed income strategy.
In the announcement, David Star, founder, president and CEO of Pier 21, notes that less than 10% of investment management service providers in Canada manage more than 70% of institutional assets in global and international equity. “This concentration of control does not reflect the opportunities truly available outside Canada, nor does it support the growing demand for skilled investment management in international asset classes.”
The company’s goal is to expand the range of investment opportunities. Pier 21 is registered as an investment advisor in Quebec. Registration in other voivodeships is expected.
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SSQ expands its seg fund offering to include Saxon
(September 15, 2006) SSQ Financial has added one of Saxon Financial’s investment funds to its ASTRA line of segregated funds. The new fund will consist of units of the Saxon Stock Fund, an equity fund managed by the Howson Tattersall management team. • • •
