PH&N Canadian Equity Value Segregated Fund – Portfolio Management Team Update

Plan sponsors may wish to consider whether this investment news has any implications for the investment options available within their plans. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada purchases units of the fund listed below, which is established as a segregated fund under the Insurance Companies Act (Canada).

The following update is relevant for the PH&N Canadian Equity Value (the Fund) on our core investment platform.

Phillips, Hager & North (PH&N) announced that co-Portfolio Managers (PMs) Stu Kedwell and Doug Raymond would be stepping away from the PH&N Canadian Equity Value Fund in July 2023. Kedwell and Raymond have led the Fund since its inception in 2009. They will remain as co-Heads of the Canadian Equity Value team. PH&N has indicated that Kedwell and Raymond would be exploring the creation of a global equity value mandate to broaden the firm’s product offerings. They will remain as PMs on other strategies they manage.

Sarah Neilson and Irene Fernando, Senior PMs, will lead the PH&N Canadian Equity Value fund going forward. They have both supported the Canadian Equity Value strategy since its inception in 2009 and they subsequently joined the PM team in 2021. Nielson and Fernando both joined RBC as members of the RBC Wealth Management Generalist program in 2004 and 2007, respectively. Since joining the PM team, Neilson has taken responsibility for security selection in Consumer Staples, Utilities, and Midstream/Pipelines. Fernando has covered Real Estate, Industrials, and Consumer Discretionary. They will now assume the remaining sector coverage from Kedwell and Raymond.

GRS Investment Solutions View: 

Stu Kedwell and Doug Raymond are both seasoned value investors, and their departure from the fund is significant. They created the strategy and have always managed it.  We are comforted by Sarah Neilson and Irene Fernando’s long association with the strategy, first as analysts and later as PMs.  Kedwell and Raymond will support Neilson and Fernando, as the original PMs continue in their roles as co-Heads of Canadian Equity Value. 

We plan to meet with Neilson and Fernando later in 2023 to get an update on the transition and get a deeper understanding of their approach. We don’t expect any changes to the process or style of the strategy. 

We do not currently have any concerns with this change; however, we have placed the PH&N Canadian Equity Value Fund on our Watch List (Additional Monitoring – the least severe category). We’ll continue to provide updates as necessary. 

Do you have to take any action? 

You and your members don’t have to take any action as a result of these changes. 

Questions?

Please contact your Sun Life Group Retirement Services representative.