Funds focused on natural resources were February’s top performing group, according to final data on Canadian investment fund performance released today by Morningstar.
The Morningstar Canada Natural Resources Fund Index gained 5.6% for the month, fuelled by higher oil and gas prices. Overall, 96% of all funds tracked by Morningstar Canada made gains in February.
The fund research firm notes that Latin America funds continued to build on last year’s 30% gain, as measured by the Morningstar Canada Latin American Equity Fund Index. The index rose 5.5% in February — second-best among the 32 indices — and was up 11% during the first two months of the year.
“While regions such as China and India have grabbed headlines in recent months, Latin American funds have quietly provided their investors with a return of more than 40% since the beginning of last year,” said David O’Leary, senior analyst with Morningstar Canada, in a news release.
“Latin America’s strong performance comes, ironically, at a time when the category is steadily crumbling,” O’Leary said. “The category now contains only five funds following a two year period of consolidation where six funds have either been terminated or merged into fund offerings with a broader geographic mandate.”
Among the largest indices in terms of total assets, the final figures for February included the following gains:
- Canadian equity, 3.1%;
- Canadian dividend, 2.1%;
- Canadian Balanced, 2.1%;
- Global Equity, 2.6%; and
- International Equity, 3.0%.
Mackenzie Financial Corp. continued to top the overall list of fund companies with the most funds rated five stars by Morningstar in February. Mackenzie had 11 funds with the top rating, one more than in January. The total excludes clone funds.
CI Mutual Funds had the second highest total of five-star funds with 10, followed by Acuity Funds Ltd. with eight. Four companies were tied for fourth place, with six five-star funds each: AIM Trimark Investments, BMO Investments Ltd., London Life Insurance Co. and Great-West Life Assurance Co.