How Canadian funds are holding up

In the past month, the worst performing categories are all equity focused while most of the top performing categories are fixed income focused

Ian Tam, CFA 12 March, 2020 | 1:58AM
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Lighthouse and ocean in a storm

On a trailing one-month basis ending March 10, the S&P/TSX Composite Total Return has dropped 15.4 per cent in value in a market rife with volatility. It’s been a jam-packed couple of weeks of action with scores of updated headlines on COVID-19 counts, 50 bps rate cuts by both the U.S. Fed and the Bank of Canada coupled with fiscal stimulus packages announcements, all topped off with a large plunge in oil prices. In a word – yikes. Here’s how funds have been holding up in in Canada according to Morningstar’s database. Across the 40+ categories of funds reporting, here are the stand outs using a one-month trailing period ending March 10th, 2020:

Chart 1

Source: Morningstar Direct | Data as of Market Close March 5th, 2020

Not surprisingly, the worst performing categories are all equity focused and most of the top performing categories are fixed income focused except for one: funds exposed to Chinese equities seemed to have fared better than North American counterparts.

Across all categories, here are the top and bottom 10 funds inclusive of their longer-term total returns, and ratings. Note that what Morningstar classifies as trading tools (for example inverse leveraged ETFs), funds with an inception date less than three years, and funds with less than $1M of assets under management were excluded in the screening process.

 

Chart 2

Source: Morningstar Direct | Data as of Market Close March 10th, 2020

Again, results here are likely not surprising, with a reasonable sampling of funds from both top and bottom performing categories. Amongst the ten largest categories by assets in Canada, here are to the top ten and bottom ten performers based on the same time period and return figures:

Chart 3

Source: Morningstar Direct | Data as of Market Close March 10th, 2020

All this said, a one-month timeframe is certainly not the basis to judge an investment of any sort. For those looking for sound ideas, here are the top-rated funds amongst Canada’s most popular categories, coupled with their performance in the trailing month:

List of mutual funds

 

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About Author

Ian Tam, CFA  is Investment Specialist at Morningstar Canada. 

 

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