Ashley Redmond: Thanks for joining us. We are here to discuss Mawer Canadian Equity, to which our fund analyst team have given their highest rating of Gold. With me is Salman who covers the fund. Salman thanks so much for being here.
Salman Ahmed: Thanks for having me.
Redmond: So, I know in the past analysts were concerned about the lead manager, Jim Hall, wearing too many hats. So, why don't you tell me about that?
Ahmed: Yeah. In the past we have been concerned. He was chairman, chief investment officer, director of research, mentor to all the analysts, and lead manager for the Canadian equity fund. Now, since we've voiced our concerns, things have changed though. We went to Calgary to meet with Mawer and Jim Hall and the entire team over there, and Jim Hall has now delegated some of his responsibilities. So, Vijay Viswanathan is now director of research, so Jim Hall no longer has those responsibilities, and Paul Moroz has become deputy chief investment officer. So he is going to be taking over some of Jim Hall's CIO responsibilities, so that Jim can concentrate more on managing the money and his overall chairman responsibilities at the firm.
Redmond: And one thing you frequently talk about is the process at Mawer. So, why don't you tell me what distinguishes their process from others?
Ahmed: So there are a couple of unique aspects to Moroz process, specifically for the Canadian equity fund. They don't screen the universe, like most managers do, using equity databases. They actually rank and look at the quality of each of the firms in the universe and then use that as a screen. So, one of their primary screens is quality, which fits in really nicely with Mawer process, which emphasizes that aspect of each security that they own and each firm that they own. A second differentiating factor is the portfolio construction. They actually put a lot of thought into it. So, rather than having some neutral weights that are pre-assigned, they have a grid with quality on one axis and potential return on another axis. And based on where a stock lands on that grid, they would have pre-assigned portfolio weights. And that really serves the purpose of encouraging debate among analysts and portfolio managers and the entire team really to see where… how much the stock and potential return and what potential quality the firm has. So, there is a lot of thought that goes into that and lot of discussion that goes into that, and it's something that we hold in high regard.
Redmond: Great. So for investors watching, how can they access this fund?
Ahmed: So the Mawer Canadian Equity fund primarily serves do-it-yourself investors. So you can access it through your direct brokerage channel. It does have -- among the do-it-yourself investor options -- it has middle-of-the-pack fees. It's not very cheap among those options, but on an absolute basis it is quite cheap. Investors investing through an advisor can access the strategy through the Manulife Canadian Investment fund, and that comes with a trailer and would compensate advisors for distributing the fund.
Redmond: Great. Thanks so much, Salman. To see Salman's fund report, go to Morningstar.ca.
