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The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) on Dec. 20 announced investment fund net sales and net assets for November 2024.
Mutual fund assets totalled $2.268 trillion at the end of November, up by $78.8 billion, or 3.6%, since October. Mutual fund net sales were $4.6 billion in November.
ETF assets totalled $515.5 billion at the end of November, up by $28.4 billion, or 5.8%, since October. ETF net sales were $9.0 billion in November.
November insights
View the full report on IFIC’s website.
Desjardins Investments Inc. on Dec. 3 announced amendments to its line of Wise ETF Portfolios. On or about March 10, 2025, the Portfolio Manager will invest almost all of the Wise ETF Portfolios’ assets in securities of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that use passive management strategies. However, both the fundamental investment objective and the risk rating of the Wise ETF Portfolios remain unchanged.
As part of these changes, Desjardins also plans to rename the Wise ETF Portfolios as follows:
Middlefield Limited on Nov. 28 announced its intention to de-emphasize the environmental, sustainability, and governance (ESG) factors associated with two of its ETFs by revising the names, investment objectives, and strategies of the funds.
There will be no change to the ticker symbols of the funds. While the funds will continue to consider ESG criteria when selecting issuers for their portfolios, they will no longer prioritize these factors over others such as valuation, growth projections, and the quality and track record of the management team. The manager believes these changes will broaden the investment universe of the funds, potentially leading to better returns for investors.
In a release, Middlefield notes that similar efforts to de-emphasize ESG factors have been undertaken by many asset management companies, including BlackRock, State Street, JPMorgan, and Pimco. It goes on to say, “recent research from Morningstar has shown that more funds are removing rather than adding ESG mandates from their investment practices.”
Last March, the Canadian Securities Administrators introduced three categories of ESG-Related Funds: ESG Objective Funds; ESG Strategy Funds; and ESG Limited Consideration Funds. Each category has distinct expectations regarding the emphasis on ESG factors in investment decisions. Middlefield managers believe that the proposed changes to their funds will result in the funds moving from the ESG Objective Funds category to the ESG Limited Consideration category.
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