GGOF Launches Small Cap Income Trust Fund Offering Investors Diversification and Long-term Growth
Guardian Group of Funds Ltd. (GGOF) has launched GGOF Small Cap Growth and Income Fund, a fund designed to provide diversification for income-oriented investors, as well as long-term capital growth.
Small cap income trusts can represent an excellent source of income diversification for an existing income portfolio. Because of their size and relative illiquidity, small cap trusts generally do not have broad research coverage. As a result, small cap income trusts are less efficiently priced, which can create opportunities for investors who have the access, resources, knowledge and experience to understand and to properly value them. As growing companies that have chosen an income trust structure to access lower-cost capital rather than traditional mature cash generators, small cap income trusts offer the potential for long-term capital growth as they grow and increase their distributions.
“As an overlooked asset class, small cap income trusts can provide valuable diversification for an existing income portfolio and minimize single issue risk for investors with individual small cap income trust holdings,” said Gavin Graham, Chief Investment Officer, Guardian Group of Funds. “We developed GGOF Small Cap Growth and Income Fund based on our well-recognized expertise in structuring and offering both traditional and non-traditional income products, as well as our ability to create products that control risk.”
GGOF Small Cap Growth and Income Fund will make variable income distributions on a quarterly basis, which will typically include dividend income, capital gains, and tax-deferred capital gains in the form of return of capital. Small cap income trusts (those with a market capitalization less than $500 million) will represent at least 50 per cent of the fund, with a target weighting of 60 per cent to 70 per cent.
The Fund will be managed by the equity team from Barrantagh Investment Management – Wally Kusters, Bruce Jackson and Peter Comber. This team also co-manages GGOF Resource Fund and GGOF Global Diversified Fund. Barrantagh Investment Management, with $500 million under management, is known for its ability to provide above-average returns with below-average levels of risk. Its experienced management team controls risk through a rigorous security selection process that stresses their belief that well-managed companies share certain common characteristics based on high quality management with proven track records, focused corporate strategies and an ability to generate free cash flow.
GGOF provides investors with a full product line of 31 mutual funds, diversified by asset class, geographic region and investment style. GGOF, with $5.8 billion of mutual fund assets under management at February 28, 2006, offers its funds exclusively through financial intermediaries.
GGOF is a member of BMO Financial Group and part of the organization's Private Client Group. The Private Client Group provides integrated wealth management services in Canada and the United States and had total assets under management and administration and term investments of $271.1billion as at January 31, 2006.
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