TORONTO, Feb. 16, 2018 /CNW/ - Sentry Investments ("Sentry") announced today a proposal to change the way operating expenses are charged to its funds, by paying certain operating expenses and in return charging a fixed administration fee on Series A, T, B, BT, F, FT, O and X (the "Participating Series") of certain funds, thereby providing investors with increased predictability and transparency in the costs of investing.
Currently, each fund pays its own operating expenses. If the proposal is approved by securityholders, Sentry will begin, on or before December 31, 2018, paying certain operating expenses of each fund, in return for a fixed administration fee paid by the fund in respect of each Participating Series. Under this arrangement, the projected management expense ratio (MER) of each Participating Series of each fund, calculated using the proposed fixed administration fee, will be the same or lower than its most recently published MER.
"Under the current practice, investors do not know the operating expenses of a fund until it releases its financial statements," said Philip Yuzpe, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sentry Investments. "With fixed administration fees, Sentry investors will have the certainty of knowing what they are paying to invest in our funds, along with protection against increased costs, given that the management and administration fees cannot be increased without their approval."
The fixed administration fee proposal requires the approval of investors in the Participating Series of the funds, other than Sentry Money Market Class and Sentry Money Market Fund, and special meetings of securityholders have been tentatively scheduled for May 3, 2018. If approved, the change will take effect on or before December 31, 2018.
No fixed administration fee is proposed in respect of Series I, S or Z securities, as separate fee and expense arrangements are established between Sentry and each securityholder of these series. For Sentry Money Market Class and Sentry Money Market Fund, the fixed administration fee is zero. For a list of the proposed fixed administration fees, please visit Sentry's website.
Sentry believes that fixed administration fees offer significant benefits to investors, including:
- Projected MERs that are the same or lower than current levels;
- Increased certainty and transparency of the cost of investment;
- Protection against increases in MERs, as the two key components of the MER, the management fee and the administration fee, cannot be increased without the approval of securityholders; and
- The transfer of certain risks of future changes in operating expenses to Sentry, which will have to absorb additional costs should future operating expenses exceed the fixed administration fee.
Sentry referred the proposal to introduce fixed administration fees to the Independent Review Committee ("IRC") of the funds. The IRC considered the proposal and determined that the proposal would achieve a fair and reasonable result for the funds.
In addition, at the special meeting of securityholders of Sentry Canadian Resource Class, Sentry will be seeking further approval to change the fund's investment objective, effective on or about May 3, 2018, to allow the fund to invest in companies involved in the energy and natural resources sector located anywhere in the world. On or about May 3, 2018, the fund will be renamed Sentry Resource Opportunities Class.
Sentry also announced that the risk ratings of the following funds have changed as follows:
Fund | Current Risk Rating | New Risk Rating |
Sentry Conservative Income Portfolio | Low - Medium | Low |
Sentry Energy Fund | Medium - High | High |
Sentry Energy Private Trust | Medium - High | High |
The changes result from the application of an updated risk classification methodology introduced by the Canadian Securities Administrators to determine the risk level of mutual funds, and are not the results of any changes to the investment objectives, strategies or management of the funds. The risk rating changes will be effective immediately.
Securityholders of the funds will receive meeting materials early April detailing the fixed administration fee and investment objective change proposals. More information, including in relation to the risk rating changes, will also be available in the amendment to the simplified prospectuses for the Funds to be filed in connection with these changes. These documents will be available at www.sedar.com and www.sentry.ca.
SENTRY INVESTMENTS INC.
Sentry Investments was founded in 1997 and, through financial advisors in Canada, offers a diverse range of investment products, including domestic and global mutual funds, managed solutions and separately managed accounts. Sentry is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX), an independent, Canadian-owned wealth management firm with assets under management and advisement totalling $185.9 billion as of January 31, 2018.
Sentry Investments Inc.
Commerce Court West
199 Bay Street, Suite 2700
P.O. Box 108
Toronto, ON M5L 1E2
SOURCE Sentry Investments Corp.
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Sentry Investments, Investor Relations (broker/investor inquiries), 1-800-268-9374, info@sentry.ca, www.sentry.ca