New data from a global research firm suggests positive but weak aggregate growth
According to preliminary data from Morningstar, August was a month of positive but weak increases for Canadian mutual funds.
Based on preliminary performance data for 44 Morningstar Canada Fund Indices, which measure the aggregate returns of funds in various standard categories, 35 showed increases in August; however, only five of those indices rose by more than 2%. Eight of the nine indices that dropped went down by 1% or less.
After a four-month streak of negative performance, the precious metals equity index became the best performer for August, rising by 7.7%. Strong gains on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges and a 2.5% appreciation of the Chinese currency against the Canadian dollar put the greater China equity index in second place.
With aggregate increases in the Chinese equity index reaching 26% year-to-date, funds under this category have been the top performers in Canada so far this year. Advances in Chinese equities have also led to increases in the emerging-markets equity (2.1%), Asia-Pacific equity (1.2%), and Asia-Pacific ex-Japan equity (1.1%) categories.
The Canadian energy sector resulted in overall flat results in domestic equity fund categories, with the Canadian equity fund index going down 0.4% and the Canadian focused equity and the Canadian dividend and income equity fund indices both rising 0.1%. This reflects the tepid 0.7% total return of the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index in August; while the materials and financial-services sub-sectors posted gains of 5.5% and 0.3% respectively, these were largely nullified by a 3.9% drop in the energy sub-index.
The US equity-fund index rose 0.2%, underperforming the S&P 500 index’s 0.6% in August. The energy equity index lost the most for the month, decreasing by 4.5%. Losses were also seen in the financial-services equity (-1%), natural-resources equity (-0.8%), and Canadian small- and mid-cap equity fund indices (-0.4%).
Most fixed-income fund categories were in the black for the month. Among the fixed-income indices, the best performers were Canadian long-term fixed-income (2.9%) and Canadian inflation-protected fixed-income (2.1%). The largest category, Canadian fixed income, went up by 1.2%. The preferred-share fixed-income and floating-rate loans indices fell for the month, going down 1% and 0.04%, respectively.
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Based on preliminary performance data for 44 Morningstar Canada Fund Indices, which measure the aggregate returns of funds in various standard categories, 35 showed increases in August; however, only five of those indices rose by more than 2%. Eight of the nine indices that dropped went down by 1% or less.
After a four-month streak of negative performance, the precious metals equity index became the best performer for August, rising by 7.7%. Strong gains on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges and a 2.5% appreciation of the Chinese currency against the Canadian dollar put the greater China equity index in second place.
With aggregate increases in the Chinese equity index reaching 26% year-to-date, funds under this category have been the top performers in Canada so far this year. Advances in Chinese equities have also led to increases in the emerging-markets equity (2.1%), Asia-Pacific equity (1.2%), and Asia-Pacific ex-Japan equity (1.1%) categories.
The Canadian energy sector resulted in overall flat results in domestic equity fund categories, with the Canadian equity fund index going down 0.4% and the Canadian focused equity and the Canadian dividend and income equity fund indices both rising 0.1%. This reflects the tepid 0.7% total return of the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index in August; while the materials and financial-services sub-sectors posted gains of 5.5% and 0.3% respectively, these were largely nullified by a 3.9% drop in the energy sub-index.
The US equity-fund index rose 0.2%, underperforming the S&P 500 index’s 0.6% in August. The energy equity index lost the most for the month, decreasing by 4.5%. Losses were also seen in the financial-services equity (-1%), natural-resources equity (-0.8%), and Canadian small- and mid-cap equity fund indices (-0.4%).
Most fixed-income fund categories were in the black for the month. Among the fixed-income indices, the best performers were Canadian long-term fixed-income (2.9%) and Canadian inflation-protected fixed-income (2.1%). The largest category, Canadian fixed income, went up by 1.2%. The preferred-share fixed-income and floating-rate loans indices fell for the month, going down 1% and 0.04%, respectively.
For more of Wealth Professional's latest industry news, click here.
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