Sun Life Global Investments launched two new segregated funds with Picton Mahoney Asset Management: the Sun Picton Income Fund and the Sun Picton Balanced Fund.
This is the first time Picton’s funds are available as an underlying asset in a segregated fund.
In the same week, Canada Life launched five new Index ETF segregated funds: Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF, Canadian Large Cap Equity Index ETF, U.S. Large Cap Equity Index ETF, International Equity Index ETF and Nasdaq 100 Index ETF.
The Canada Life index ETF funds are available through a segregated funds policy offering 75/75, 75/100 and 100/100 guarantee levels.
RP Investment Advisors launches corporate bond fund
RP Investment Advisors (RPIA) launched the RP Long Term Corporate Bond Fund, an actively managed, investment grade, fixed-income fund.
It is designed for plan sponsors looking for assets with long-term liabilities to enhance credit diversification. Traditionally, plan sponsors looking for long-duration exposure have been limited to government, provincial and corporate bonds.
The fund aims to outperform the FTSE Canada Long Term Corporate Bond Index through active management.
Manulife provides mortgage insurance in B.C.
Manulife’s mortgage creditor life and disability insurance is now available in B.C. through five brands in M3 Financial Group’s broker network.
This launch is the first phase of a broader partnership between Manulife and Montreal-based M3.
Mortgage brokers using M3’s mortgage system can generate and submit Manulife mortgage insurance plans and connect clients with Manulife insurance agents to complete the policy application process.
Manulife can provide interim life coverage from the moment an application is submitted for up to 30 days.
Global X’s four new ETFs
Toronto-based Global X Investments has launched four new ETFs: the Global X China Hang Seng TECH Index ETF, Global X Silver Covered Call ETF, Global X 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury Bond Index ETF and Global X 20+ Year U.S. Treasury Bond Index ETF.
The Global X China Hang Seng TECH Index ETF includes exposure to companies involved in financial technology, cloud computing, autonomous vehicle development and e-commerce in China. It represents the 30 largest technology companies listed in Hong Kong.
The Global X Silver Covered Call ETF is the silver equivalent of the Global X Gold Yield ETF, a gold bullion covered call ETF launched in 2010.
The U.S. Treasury bond ETF provide access to short- and long-duration U.S. government bonds. It is offered in CAD, CAD-hedged and USD units.
CIBC changes a handful of ETFs
CIBC Asset Management changed the underlying index of eight CIBC ETFs from a Morningstar index to a MSCI or FTSE index. The changes to the underlying indices are consistent with the current investment objectives and strategies of each CIBC ETF. Investors will continue to receive substantially the same exposure to the asset classes, sectors or geographic regions and there will be no changes to the distribution policy or risk rating.
In addition, CIBC Asset Management changed the name of six equity ETFs. It also lowered the management fee on two bond ETFs.
AQR and Oak Hill launch new equity fund
Greenwich, Conn.-based AQR Capital Management and Toronto-based Oak Hill Asset Management launched the Oak Hill AQR Delphi Long-Short Equity Fund in Canada.
The fund is managed by Oak Hill and sub-advised by AQR. It aims to provide investors access to AQR’s Delphi long-short equities strategy, which seeks to invest long in high-quality, low-risk stocks and invest short in relatively low-quality, high-risk stocks, while maintaining moderate exposure to the overall equity market.
Mackenzie launches equity fund
Mackenzie Investments launched the Mackenzie GQE International Equity Fund. It offers investors access to international sectors and industries that are underrepresented in North America.
The fund is managed by the Mackenzie Global Quantitative Equity Team. It is now offered in a mutual fund structure, complementing the existing Mackenzie GQE International Equity ETF.