As a result of the decision by Ontario and British Columbia to introduce the Harmonized Sales Tax, EdgePoint Wealth Management Inc. is launching a new series of its portfolios for investors in non-HST participating provinces, the company said Monday.

“We believe this approach is the appropriate course of action for an investment-led company that puts the interests of its unitholders first in all decisions,” Toronto-based EdgePoint said in a release.

“The thought of having investors in non-HST participating provinces subsidize investors in HST-participating provinces is just wrong in our opinion,” it added.

EdgePoint plans to launch non-HST equivalents of series A, series B, and series F for each of its portfolios in early August, pending regulatory approval.

Investors won’t be able buy units of the portfolio series until the relevant securities commissions issue receipts for the simplified prospectus.

“Notwithstanding the additional cost that HST adds to all products, we expect our year-end MERs for most series will be lower at the end of 2010 than they were at the end of 2009,” Edgepoint said.

IE