(October 11 – 10:20 ET) – National Bank Securities Inc. is launching two new international growth funds. These two new funds are: the National Bank Emerging Markets Fund; and the National Bank European Small Capitalization Fund.
The Emerging Markets Fund invests in developing countrie. The fund will be managed by Pictet (Canada), which is already responsible for managing the National Bank Future Economy Fund and the National Bank Global Technologies Fund. The bank says it chose Pictet (Canada) because of its vast experience in managing this type of fund and because of its excellent record for past returns.
The European Small Capitalization Fund invests in small and mid-capitalization securities of European issuers. As Jean Blouin, Senior Manager at National Bank Investment Solutions explained, “The European small-cap segment is certainly an attractive investment opportunity at this time, given the sustained growth of the main European economies, the corporate rationalization process and the creation of specialized exchanges. Moreover, the European market represents 26% of the world’s market capitalization, making it the second largest market in the world after the United States”.
The fund will be managed by Kempen Capital Management, a Dutch portfolio management firm which specializes in European markets and especially in small and mid-cap stocks. The management team consists of seven professionals whose responsibilities are divided up geographically.
The bank says it selected Kempen because of its experience and successful track record in managing funds similar to the National Bank European Small Capitalization Fund, which are offered to European investors exclusively under the Orange Funds banner.
With these addtions, the National Bank family of mutual funds now offers a total of 43 funds.
-IE Staff