WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
Biggest losers during the May-June market tumble.
THE SEARCH
We screened for funds that have lost the most, in percentage terms, during the two months. U.S. dollar, segregated, pooled, alternative strategy and duplicate versions of funds were excluded.
WHAT DID WE FIND?
An eclectic mix of hard-hit funds.
Investor jitters ranged from concerns over the euro zone debt crisis to weaker global growth. Some losers were natural resources funds. The BMO S&P/TSX Equal Weight Global Base Metals exchange-traded fund lost 18.3 per cent.
Axis Investments Fund, a technology-oriented retail venture capital [labour-sponsored] fund, took the biggest hit with a 34.6-per-cent loss as it took writedowns in the valuation of its investments. Redemptions in the fund were suspended last November, and "we are reviewing strategic options available," said John Richardson, president of BEST Investment Counsel Ltd.
RBC O'Shaughnessy U.S. Growthshed 21.6 per cent. He uses quantitative analysis to look for stocks with strong price momentum. During the recent correction, consumer discretionary stocks in the fund such as La-Z-Boy Inc. "hurt the portfolio pretty hard," said Chris Meredith, director of research and portfolio management at O'Shaughnessy Asset Management.
Invesco Trimark's PowerShares Global Clean Energy Class, which invests in a U.S.-listed ETF that tracks the performance of the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index, lost 19.3 per cent. With the price of oil still sharply off its peak of around $150 (U.S.) a barrel, the clean energy sector continues to be out of favour, Invesco Trimark's spokeswoman Aysha Mawani said in an e-mail.
******
| Biggest losers in May and June, 2010 | ||||||||||
| Assets asof June 30 (millions) | ||||||||||
| Name | Category | As of June 30 (%) | ||||||||
| Latest MER | 2-mo | YTD | 1-yr | 3-yr | 5-yr | 10-yr | Incpt | |||
| Axis Investment Fund Inc. Ser. I | Retail Venture Capital | 1.1 | 6.78 | -34.6 | -38.0 | -64.1 | -54.9 | -40.5 | -25.3 | |
| RBC O'Shaughnessy U.S. Grwth | U.S. Sml/Mid Cap Eqty | 178.2 | 1.47 | -21.6 | -8.9 | 2.6 | -27.0 | -12.0 | -3.5 | -0.1 |
| PwrSh Global Clean Energy Cl A | Global Equity | 1.1 | 1.23 | -19.3 | -29.9 | -30.0 | ||||
| Floyd Growth-Net | Cdn. Sml/Md Cap Eqty | 0.9 | 2.89 | -18.8 | -12.8 | 6.6 | -14.2 | -6.0 | -5.2 | -5.3 |
| BMO S&P/TSX EW Glbl Bs Mtls ETF | Nat. Res. Equity | 27.0 | -18.3 | -17.1 | -12.4 | |||||
| AIC American Advantage | Fin. Srvcs Equity | 25.9 | 2.89 | -18.3 | -15.2 | 5.0 | -21.1 | -10.8 | -7.0 | -2.2 |
| Mavrix Strategic Small Cap | Cdn. Sml/Md Cap Eqty | 11.6 | 3.28 | -18.2 | -13.6 | 6.7 | -18.6 | 4.7 | -3.6 | 6.8 |
| Investors Cdn. Nat. Res.-C | Nat. Res. Equity | 714.0 | 2.87 | -18.1 | -12.4 | 22.2 | -0.1 | 7.7 | 10.2 | 8.8 |
| RBC Global Resources | Nat. Res. Equity | 242.5 | 2.16 | -17.8 | -8.1 | 17.9 | -9.8 | 11.3 | 11.7 | |
| Claymore Jap. Indx ETF C$ Hdgd | Jpnese Equity | 11.2 | 0.68 | -16.9 | -9.7 | -13.4 | -25.1 | -22.4 | ||
| Investors Global Nat. Res. Cl-A | Nat. Res. Equity | 265.9 | 2.84 | -16.6 | -18.1 | 3.9 | -6.8 | 9.1 | 13.0 | |
| Middlefield Uranium Fcsd Mtls | Nat. Res. Equity | 1.3 | 2.71 | -16.5 | -23.6 | -17.1 | -21.5 | -21.6 | ||
| PwrSh Global Agriculture Cl A | Global Equity | 2.1 | 1.23 | -16.5 | -21.1 | -18.3 | ||||
| DFA U.S. Vector Equity A(H) | U.S. Equity | 1.77 | -16.3 | 0.0 | ||||||
| Front Street Small Cap-B | Cdn. Sml/Md Cap Eqty | 17.0 | 2.50 | -16.3 | -6.0 | 38.1 | 36.6 | |||
| MSCI World ($ Cdn) | -8.3 | -8.3 | 1.1 | -11.0 | -2.3 | -3.8 | ||||
| S&P/TSX Total Return | -7.1 | -2.5 | 12.0 | -3.9 | 5.5 | 3.3 | ||||
| Source: Globe Investor |
© 2007 The Globe and Mail. All rights reserved.