By Mike Keerma
Upbeat fourth-quarter earnings reports from U.S. companies and positive
corporate forecasts for 2019 helped buoy stocks on Friday. While a deal
between President Trump and Congressional Democrats to end the U.S.
government shutdown didn’t really affect markets, it contributed to more
optimistic investor sentiment. In addition, news that the People’s Bank of
China is poised to inject an additional US$37 billion to support the
country’s banks in an effort to stave off an economic slowdown also helped
keep markets in the black on Friday. For the week, however, the big stock
indices hovered just around breakeven, as the S&P 500 Composite posted
a hairline loss of 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index eked out a
minuscule 0.1% gain. Toronto’s S&P/TSX Composite Index likewise posted
a near-breakeven week, with a modest 0.4% Advance, held back by a 0.3%
decline in the price of crude oil.
FUND NEWS
* Arrow merges two funds.
Arrow Capital Management
proposes a merger of its
Exemplar Tactical Corporate Bond Fund
with $3.2 million in assets into its
Exemplar Investment Grade Fund
with $33.9 million in assets, effective March 27. “We continually review
our product line-up and make changes that we believe are in the best
interests of our investors. This proposed change simplifies our mutual fund
offering and provides our clients with a more streamlined platform of
high-quality funds,” said Managing Director & CIO Mark Purdy in a
release.
* Desjardins debuts alternative ETF.
Desjardins Global Asset Management
launched its new alternative exchange traded fund, the
Desjardins Alt Long/Short Equity Market Neutral ETF (TSX: DANC), which began trading on the TSX today. The fund seeks to achieve positive
returns in both positive or negative equity market conditions. The fund is
diversified in a number of pairs of correlated issuers generally within the
same industry sector with the aim of neutralizing the net market value of
long and short positions, and reducing sector biases and market exposure.
It invests in long and short positions of stocks in Canada and
internationally, Treasury bills, money market instruments or other
equivalent short-term debt securities.
* Fidelity expands ETF and mutual fund lineup.
Fidelity Investments Canada
expanded its suite of ETFs and mutual funds with the launch of eight new
factor-based Low Volatility and High Quality Factor ETFs and mutual funds,
as shown in the accompanying table.
* Horizons expands total return ETF suite.
Horizons ETFs Management
debuted two new ETFs, expanding its Total Return Index suite to 14 ETFs.
Horizons Equal Weight Canada REIT Index ETF (TSX: HCRE)
tracks the Solactive Equal Weight Canada REIT Index (Total Return) of
Canadian-listed real estate investment trusts.
Horizons Equal Weight Canada Banks Index ETF (TSX: HEWB)
tracks the Solactive Equal Weight Canada Banks Index (Total Return) of
diversified Canadian bank stocks and will initially provide exposure to
Canada's six largest banks.
* CIBC enters ETF market.
CIBC Asset Management
joined the competitive ETF market with the launch of two strategic beta
equity ETFs.
CIBC Multifactor Canadian Equity ETF (TSX: CMCE)
and
CIBC Multifactor U.S. Equity ETF (TSX: CMUE)
invest in an equally weighted portfolio of equity securities in Canada or
the U.S. that exhibit low volatility, quality value and high price momentum
characteristics.
Check Fund Library’s
Market Activity page
regularly for active updates on key market indexes and commodities.
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Disclaimer
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The foregoing is for general information purposes only and is the opinion
of the writer. No guarantee of investment performance is made or implied.
It is not intended to provide specific personalized advice including,
without limitation, investment, financial, legal, accounting or tax advice.
