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Newsletter Archive
Q1/6 Focus on ETFs
Q4/5 LW Canadian Equity
Q4/5 Saxon High Income
Q3/5 Saxon Small Cap
Q3/5 BG Income
Q2/5 Trimark Canadian
Q2/5 MB Fixed Income
Q1/5 BG Canadian Intrinsic
Q1/5 MB American Equity
Q1/5 Mawer N.C. Closure
Q4/4 Mawer Cdn Equity
Q4/4 Mawer Balanced RSP
Q3/4 Sceptre Equity Growth
Q3/4 Saxon World Growth
Q2/4 BG Small Cap
Q2/4 Mawer U.S. Equity
Q1/4 PH&N Cdn Growth
Q1/4 Leith Wheeler US Eq
Q4/3 iShares S&P500
Q4/3 BG Canadian Equity
Q3/3 North Growth US Eq
Q3/3 HSBC Mortgage
Q2/3 MB Cdn Eq Growth
Q2/3 Batterymarch US Eq
Q1/3 Saxon Stock
Q1/3 BG Balanced
Q4/2 Mawer New Canada
Q4/2 Perigee T-Plus
Q3/2 PH&N Dividend Inc
Q3/2 PH&N Bond
Q2/2 Leith Wheeler Cdn Eq
Q2/2 Perigee Diversifund
Q1/2 PH&N Cdn Equity
Q1/2 Mawer U.S. Equity
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Profile: Mawer U.S. Equity
The Mawer U.S. Equity fund has been a top quartile performer for the last two years, having recovered smartly from a disastrous performance in 1999. Last year it gained 3.6% and significantly outperformed the S&P500 which lost 13% during that same time period. The fund was not sucked in by the high-tech expansion and subsequent retreat seen in the S&P500 over the last few years. During the first quarter of this year, the fund remained flat with a small gain of 0.09% which was a tiny bit better than the 0.06% lost by the S&P500. Heading into May the fund is now down 6.1% since the beginning of the year which is still better than the 8.6% loss experienced by the S&P 500. Nonetheless, as they say, a loss is still a loss. Long time portfolio manager Darrell Anderson employs fundamental bottom-up, financial analysis to pick low-risk growth stocks. Sticking to his disciplined approach allowed the fund to avoid the Enron fiasco. Darrell Anderson noted of Enron that "It did not meet our fundamental criteria, so we did not pursue it." At the end of April the fund was fairly concentrated holding 33 stocks. The fund has an average dividend yield of 1.2% and an average earnings yield of 3.9%. With the earnings yield of the S&P500 index currently around 2.5% (or a P/E of about 40), and its dividend yield at 1.48% the fund represents a reasonable (but by no means outstanding) relative value. The fund's price-to-book ratio is also on the high side at 3.8 but it's price-to-sales ratio is much more moderate at 1.7. Darrell Anderson has been dumping Information Technology and Industrial stocks in favour of Health Care. At the end of March the fund sold drug maker Schering-Plough and troubled conglomerate Tyco International. Additions included Wellpoint Health Networks and a tripling up of the fund's DENTSPLY International holdings. The Mawer U.S. Equity Fund is a good choice for the frugal investor who wants exposure to the U.S. market. Its 8.1% average annual return over the last five-years places it near the top of all no-load U.S. Equity funds. Indeed, it is one of the few U.S. equity funds that have beaten the S&P 500 over the last five years. The fund's low MER and modest minimum investment of $5,000 makes it an excellent choice for smaller accounts. Carl Wolfe
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