The 2004 Canadian Investment Awards were handed out at a gala held Friday night at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto. Francis Chou was named Morningstar Fund Manager of the Decade, a special award established to commemorate the awards 10th anniversary.

The investment awards were realigned this year for longer term focus, and a nation-wide panel of professional investment analysts to identify excellence in a number of investment categories.

Chou, the manager of several top-performing mutual funds received major recognition at the Awards for the second straight year. Chou RRSP Fund had a 10-year compound annual return of 17.3% at Oct. 31, compared with 7.8% for the Morningstar Canadian Equity Mutual Fund Index.

“The major factor that contributed to the higher-than-average returns and lower-than-average volatility is the principle we follow — and that principle is called the margin of safety,” Chou told gala attendees after accepting the award. “Simply put, we buy a company for 50¢ when it is worth a dollar.”

Among notable 2004 award winners was Mackenzie Financial Corp.’s Fred Sturm as Analyst’s Choice Fund Manager of the Year. Sturm’s Mackenzie Universal Canadian Resources gained 30% during the year ended Oct. 31.

The 2004 Career Achievement Award went to Alexander Christ, the founder of Mackenzie, who oversaw the Industrial Growth Fund for more than a quarter century.

Kim Shannon’s CI Canadian Investment was named Canadian Equity Fund of the Year, while Satish Rai’s TD Canadian Bond was the top Canadian Income Fund.

The winner in the hot Canadian Income Trust category was CI Signature High Income, while Mackenzie Cundill Value was recognized as the top Global Equity fund.

Advisors’ Choice Favourite Investment Fund Company of the Year was AIM Trimark Investments and the Analysts’ Choice Fund Company of the Year was TD Mutual Funds.

Visit www.investmentawards.com for complete list of award winners.