Canadian mutual fund performance was overwhelmingly positive in November. All but one fund category gained ground and 95% of all funds were in the black for the month, according to Morningstar.

“The red-hot technology sector has staged a remarkable about-face, rising 13.8% in November,” says Morningstar analyst Iain Giles. “Its two-month winning streak is welcome news for investors in a category that is still down over 34% for 2002.” The Science and Technology Fund Index led all 32 Morningstar Fund Indices with a gain of 13.8% during November and 28.9% over the last two months.

The Morningstar Fund Indices track the performance of the Canadian mutual fund market on a daily basis. The Fund Indices measure the dollar-weighted return of assets in Canadian mutual funds for each of 32 industry fund categories, as established by the Investment Funds Standards Committee. In October, one-month returns were positive for 22 of 32 Indices, the first time most were out of the red since March.

The Financial Services Fund Index took the number two spot for November with a gain of 6.8% for the month, while the index for the Emerging Markets Equity category was third at 6.5%. The Canadian Income Trust Index was the only one in the red for November, slipping 2.7%. It is up 6.7% for the first 11 months of the year, making it the fourth-best category over that time period. The Global Equity Fund Index was up 6.1% in November, while the U.S. Equity Fund Index was up 5.2% and the Canadian Equity Fund Index gained 4.1%.

Mackenzie Financial Corp. widened its lead as the fund company with the most five-star rated funds by adding one more to up its total to 28. CI Mutual Funds Inc. held second place with 23 five star offerings following its integration of Spectrum, Clarica and Sun Life funds in October. AIM Funds Management Inc. gained a five-star fund
and maintained its hold on third with 12 top-rated funds. Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. and TD Mutual Funds rounded out the top five with eight
and seven five-star funds respectively.

For companies with at least three top-rated funds, I.A. Michael Investment Counsel once again leads as the fund company with the most five-star rated funds as a percentage of its total rated offerings. It has maintained a five-star rating on all three of its rated funds. Mawer Investment Management takes the second spot with four of nine rated funds (44%) attaining the highest rating while McLean Budden Ltd. ranked third with three of seven rated funds receiving five stars (43%). Mackenzie Financial Corp. and Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. round out the top five with 25% and 24% of each company’s respective rated funds attaining the top rating.