By Trista Vincent
(Thursday, November 23 – 14:30) – U.S. mutual fund company, Janus, is moving into Canada. It already has a distribution base in the five western provinces. It has an alliance with Scudder Maxxum and its owner, Manitoba-based Investors Group.
Back in October of 1997, Janus began sub-advising on the MAXXUM American Equity Fund and the MAXXUM Global Equity Fund. The MAXXUM American Equity Fund boasted a one-year rate of return of 69.2%. For the MAXXUM Global Equity Fund that rate was 32.0%. Over a three year period the rates dropped, though they remained above-average – 43.1% and 23.7% respectively.
In the U.S., Janus is ranked number one by Forbes for equity performance (20.4% return), and number one by Barron’s/Lipper 1998 survey. Janus’ top holdings include Nokia Oyj (ADR), AT&T Corp./Liberty Media Group, Amazon.com Inc., Timer Warner, and Enron Corp. Nokia is a long-time favourite. Janus employees use Nokia phones.
“We’re the wrong firm to come to if you want something that looks like the index. We look nothing like the indices,” says Richard Garland, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Janus International.