| RBC Asset Management introduces fixed administration fee for funds
RBC Asset Management Inc. today announced that it will change the way it calculates operating expenses for each of the RBC Funds, resulting in lower costs, compared to 2006, for the vast majority of RBC Funds, and greater transparency for investors.
Beginning July 1, RBC will pay certain operating expenses of each of the RBC Funds, in return for a new fixed administration fee, which will be paid by the funds to RBC. Expenses that will continue to be paid by the funds include those related to the board of governors of the RBC Funds, the cost of any new government or regulatory requirements and any borrowing costs.
Investors will benefit, as more than 80% of the RBC Funds will see lower management expense ratios this year, as a direct result of this change. This is part of our ongoing commitment to unitholders and we will continue to actively benchmark the MERs of each of the RBC Funds versus the industry, said Brenda Vince, president, RBC Asset Management Inc., in a news release.
Private sector requires more support
A group of Ghanaian private sector experts has ca1led for the prevention of a situation where all the country's major investments will be taken over by foreign investors.
The group said the government should support local investors to move ahead, as was being done in other countries such as China.
This came up at a stakeholders meeting organised by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in Accra on Thursday to collate views for the drafting of a bill on a proposed Ghana Investment Corporation (GIC).
The meeting was attended by economic and financial experts from the private sector, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the Bank of Ghana (BOG) and an official from the Attorney-General's Department.
In his remarks, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, said the decision to establish the GIC was announced as a policy initiative in the 2007 budget.
U of T dumps $10M tobacco investment
TORONTO -- A student activist who successfully campaigned to have the University of Toronto sell off millions in tobacco investments says other Canadian schools should follow suit and end the "unethical practice." The decision by the country's largest university to divest its tobacco holdings is a first for a post-secondary institution in Canada, said Tyler Ward, president of Education Bringing Youth Tobacco Truths (E-BUTT). "We hope that other institutions will get a clear message that investing in tobacco companies is an unethical practice and it's something that should not be done," Ward said yesterday. "Hopefully, other universities will follow the example of (the University of Toronto) and begin divesting their stocks." E-BUTT collected more than 400 signatures on a petition that was sent to University of Toronto president David Naylor last year.
Triple Your Money
John Buckingham, co-manager of the Al Frank fund, believes that you can more than triple your money in Bank of America (BAC) over the next decade. Earnings are growing 10% a year, and the stock, at $51, trades at just ten times estimated 2007 earnings and yields 4.4%. Plus, the company has raised its dividend 29 straight years. Buckingham thinks the stock can return 14% per year. Finally, consider Aflac (AFL), which generates 70% of its insurance revenues in Japan. Richard Helm, manager of Cohen & Steers Dividend Value, notes that Aflac has boosted its dividend by nearly 30% annually over the past five years, a sure sign of management confidence in the business. In Japan, Aflac benefits from high renewal rates for its supplemental health-insurance policies, creating a recurring stream of revenues that he reckons could help Aflac return 14% a year to its shareholders.
UK small caps open higher with Garner strong following bumper FY ...
LONDON (AFX) - UK small caps were sharply higher in early trade, bucking the easier trend in wider markets, with Garner standing out in the wake of bumper full-year numbers, dealers said. The FTSE Small Cap index was 18.0 points higher at 4,019.3 by 9.20 am. The Footsie, however, was 9.8 lower at 6,314.4. Shares in Garner moved up 0.88 to 3.50 pence in response to bumper full-year results and an upbeat statement, while Provexis also added 0.63 to 3.75 after the developer of scientifically-proven functional and medical foods revealed it has entered into a long-term collaboration agreement with Unilever to develop a new format of its patented Fruitflow heart-health technology for application in Unilever's Food product portfolio. Coolabi, which specialises in the ownership and creative management of children's and family intellectual property assets and their global exploitation, hardened 0.25 to 1.62 in the wake of reduced losses at the half-way mark, and Latitude Resources put on 0.25 to 3.75 following a swing to profits at the interim stage.
IMF Approves First Funding For Lebanon At $77 Million
“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday it had approved the first IMF finance for Lebanon, backing a $77 million emergency loan to help rebuild the country after last year's conflict with Israel. Mohsin Khan, director of the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia Department, told a news conference that the loan, issued as emergency post-conflict assistance (EPCA), would be available to Lebanon within the next few days. ‘The EPCA is part of a concerted international effort to provide assistance to Lebanon,' Khan said, referring to $7.6 billion in aid and loan pledges won by the country at a January Paris donors conference after the 34-day war last July. None of the money pledged in Paris has yet been paid to Lebanon and some of the donors, including the European Commission and World Bank, actually require the involvement of the IMF before they can hand over any funds.
|
