Investing October 15, 2001

Canadian Mutual Funds Dive in September

October 15, 2001(PLANSPONSOR.com) - Canadian mutual fund values fell in line with the equity market last month, ratcheting up a double-digit loss.
Reported by

For the fourth consecutive month, funds losing ground outnumbered those with positive returns, according to Morningstar Canada. Of the 4,000 funds tracked by the group nearly 3,300 lost money in September.

Only 660 funds managed gains, and nearly a third of these were money market funds, with modest returns tied to Treasury bill rates. The median fund lost 6% in September.

Virtually every equity-fund category lost money, with Science and Technology funds hardest hit, the category’s median return a loss of 19.3%.

The median fund returns for

  • Canadian Equity funds was minus 7%,
  • US Equity was a 6.8% fall, and
  • International Equity was a loss of 10.3%.

On the other hand, precious metals funds, traditionally a safe haven, increased by 4.9%, and bond funds, managed to preserve investors’ capital, stayed in the black during September.

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