Eighty-six per cent of mutual funds made money for their investors in March according to performance numbers compiled by Morningstar Canada. Only 59% of the funds were in positive territory in February.

The median fund in Canada gained 2.8% in March as opposed to a gain of 0.2% the month before.

Precious metals funds started off the month on a losing note, but rallied in the latter half to capture top honours for the third consecutive month. The median fund in the category posted an 8% return, aided in part by March’s rising prices of gold and platinum.

“It seemed that everything that came out of the ground made money in March,” said Morningstar Canada analyst Rob Chang. “Precious metals funds did well, but Natural Resources weren’t far behind.”

The top categories’ median returns for March were: Precious Metals, 8%; Natural Resources, 6.8%; Japanese Equity, 6.5%; U.S. Small and Mid Cap Equity, 6.4%; and Science and Technology, 6.4%).

Fixed income categories fell to the bottom of the March performance list. The worst performer was the Canadian Bond category. With a median return for the month of March sitting at -1.9%, the category’s performance was the same as the Scotia Capital Universe bond index. The Foreign Bond and Canadian Short Term Bond categories didn’t fare much better and posted median losses of 1.5% and 1.3%.

Mackenzie Financial continues its claim to the most five-star funds, with 12 top-rated funds. Great-West Life Assurance Co. and C.I. Mutual Funds tied for second with nine top-rated funds each. Great-West Life made the jump from fifth by having three of its funds qualify for five-star status in March. AIM Funds Management and TD Mutual Funds round out the top five companies with eight and seven top-rated funds respectively.