DYNAMIC FUNDS

[jim28]

THIS IS MY FIRST TIME HOPE I DON'T SCREW UP.MY FINANCIAL ADVISER ASK ME TO INVEST IN DYNAMIC RETIREMENT EDGE INCOME PORTFOLIO? I AM 65 YEARS OLD.AND I AM JUST LEARNING HOW MUCH THESE MERS CAN AFECT YOUR PORTFOLIO .I THINK THIS PRODUCT IS CALLED A WRAP PROGRAM?IS ANYBODY FAMILIAR WITH IT?
THANKS JIM

[George$]

Jim:

Welcome to this site.

My advice - "Don't do anything until you have a better grasp of the fundamentals"

There have been discussions of WRAP stuff before and here is one thread that mentions it http://www.financialwebring.org/forum/v ... light=wrap

Many years ago (like 25+?) I used to own some Dynamic - but their MER fees have more than doubled since then and I would not touch them now for that reason.

I'm sure others will chime in.

Best wishes.

[randomwalker]

DYNAMIC RETIREMENT EDGE INCOME PORTFOLIO would seem to fall into the category of PPNs or Principal Protected Notes in this case set up with an asset allocation that becomes more conservative over time, shifting form equities to bonds. Usually amongst DIY types the disusssion on PPNs centres on fees, the price paid for either partial or complete protection of the principal. That and creating such a structure yourself.

Dynamic "Linked Notes" the basics
http://www.dynamic.ca/en/00home/linkednotes/home.asp

Current / Next Offering Series 7
http://www.dynamic.ca/en/00home/linkednotes/home.asp

Worth looking at the "Support Materials" for Series 6
http://www.dynamic.ca/en/04FundProfile/ ... D=383&snv=

There is also a thread on this and similar products here,
http://www.financialwebring.org/forum/v ... sc&start=0

[randomwalker]

Rob Carrick at the Globe and Mail has written on the subject of Principal Protected Notes. You'll have to look elsewhere if you want to find some balance on the subject I'm afraid.

PPN offerings are sorely lacking on the disclosure front
https://secure.globeadvisor.com/servlet ... RCARRICK14

The PPN craze
http://www.globefund.com/servlet/story/ ... GFWIStory/

A do-it-yourself principal protection plan
http://www.globefund.com/servlet/story/ ... /GFWIStory

[72offsuit]

My advice - "Don't do anything until you have a better grasp of the fundamentals"

This bears repeating. Put another way, waiting 3 or 6 months with your money in a high-interest savings account while you investigate all of the options and educate yourself is likely to be at worst a very small "mistake" (in that you might not make quite as much over that small time period than if you were in the best investments). Getting tied up in a 15-year PPN could be a very big mistake.

The fees for this type of product are quite high (2% annually, plus some of these funds have front-end commissions). This directly cuts into the amount of money you would receive each month. It appears that with these notes there are some differences in terms of tax implications. I don't know if the tax advantages could make up for the fees (and if they could, there may be another product that has lower fees but the same tax advantages), but this should be fully investigated before you buy.

Here are a couple of other links you could look at

http://discuss.50plus.com/ipb/index.php?showtopic=16164 There is some worrying mention of "extraordinary events" under which the principal might not be guaranteed. I don't have a good grasp of how likely these are though.

http://www.bmosp.com/ppn/search/default.aspx It's not clear exactly which offering you are referring to but I would definitely find and read through the entire information statement.

[Small Investor Activist]

Dynamic is CRAP!

[AltaRed]

Dynamic is CRAP!

Certainly a helpful post. Any more like that?

[adrian2]

Dynamic is CRAP!

Certainly a helpful post. Any more like that?

Just wait until your personal mailbox gets a message from Happy Days with completely unprovoked derogatory words.

[jim28]

Thanks for all your help fellows
jim28

[squash500]

One Dynamic fund that always seems too be a top performer is the Dynamic Power Canadian Growth Fund. Even with its 3.56% mer it is still up 8.50% ytd as of June 5/08. The fund manager Rohit Sehgal has 63% of the fund in energy and materials. Only 62% of the fund is in canadian stocks. Thus, the name of the fund is a bit deceiving. He invest 10% of the portfolio in stocks from India. If the fund didn't have such a high mer it would be a real winner.

[DanH]

One Dynamic fund that always seems too be a top performer is the Dynamic Power Canadian Growth Fund. Even with its 3.56% mer it is still up 8.50% ytd as of June 5/08. The fund manager Rohit Sehgal has 63% of the fund in energy and materials. Only 62% of the fund is in canadian stocks. Thus, the name of the fund is a bit deceiving. He invest 10% of the portfolio in stocks from India. If the fund didn't have such a high mer it would be a real winner.

squash, the only reason the MER is that high is because it has done so well. It's called a performance bonus.

[Small Investor Activist]

Dynamic funds crash and burn at the end of every bubble.

[DanH]

Dynamic funds crash and burn at the end of every bubble.

$1,000 invested in the S&P 500 Total Return in Canadian dollars on July 31, 1998 would have been worth $967 by the end of April 2008.

That same $1,000 would have almost doubled (to $1,911) if it had been invested in the Dynamic Power American Growth fund using the same time period. The fund suffered steeper losses from Mar 2000 through Mar 2003 but its highs have been much higher and investors have fared well.

And that's one of their most volatile funds. Care to add actual fact to your sweeping statement?

[AltaRed]

$1,000 invested in the S&P 500 Total Return in Canadian dollars on July 31, 1998 would have been worth $967 by the end of April 2008.

That same $1,000 would have almost doubled (to $1,911) if it had been invested in the Dynamic Power American Growth fund using the same time period. The fund suffered steeper losses from Mar 2000 through Mar 2003 but its highs have been much higher and investors have fared well.

And $1000 in the Dynamic Power Canadian Growth fund in May 1998 would be worth $4078 in May 2008. Much as I dislike the performance bonus aspect of this fund (and voted against it at the time), I have no regrets being in this fund over the past 14 years. It may not be the best of the small cap aggressive growth funds, but it is a core holding for me in an area I will not attempt to invest in on an individual stock basis on my own.

[Small Investor Activist]

Dynamic's growth is built on junior stock speculation, littered throughout its funds no matter what mandate. After the last crash they merged all their poor performers out of existence.

[DanH]

Dynamic's growth is built on junior stock speculation, littered throughout its funds no matter what mandate. After the last crash they merged all their poor performers out of existence.

Without specifics, I don't know what you're referring to exactly. But you must have a pretty good idea since you appear very sure of Dynamic's crash and burn style.

Dynamic bought at least one fund company (Strategic Nova...itslef a combo of Mark Bonham's Strategic Value and Nova Bancorp funds) that brought with it lots of crappy product. But then I don't know if you're talking about those because you seem reluctant to provide any details to back up your statement.

Some of those inherited funds were indeed merged and others, like the High Yield Bond fund - were saved and had new life breated into them. You've had two examples of two of Dynamic's more volatile funds, one of them in the crappy U.S. market and it still did well without hedging. Everybody has funds that crash once in a while but I'm curious your firm-wide "crash and burn" comment. Do tell.

[Small Investor Activist]

one of them in the crappy U.S. market and it still did well without hedging.

It did ok because it was loaded with aggressive equity in the resource and other speculative industries like biotech, many stocks in Canada$ when its mandate is foreign. When you buy anything Dynamic you're buying a resource fund where the industry is notoriously boom and bust. Its the same story with Dynamic in every resource cycle, they outperform miraculously then fall to earth.

[DanH]

one of them in the crappy U.S. market and it still did well without hedging.

It did ok because it was loaded with aggressive equity in the resource and other speculative industries...

Um, the manager is very growth oriented and leans toward technology - always has. See, his fund lost a fair bit between 2000 and 2003 but he made more (than the index) before the drop and made much more after the drop. And it had almost nothing to do with commodities. Do you actually check any facts or do you let your selective memory do the talking?

...like biotech, many stocks in Canada$ when its mandate is foreign.

I'm dying to know which Canadian stocks Noah Blackstein suffed into his Power American Growth fund to post such strong outperformance. Really, if he actually did that, I want to know. Please tell us.

And with my emphasis...

When you buy anything Dynamic you're buying a resource fund where the industry is notoriously boom and bust. Its the same story with Dynamic in every resource cycle, they outperform miraculously then fall to earth.

I give up...I wasn't even trying to convince you but I continued for the benefit of those who might actually believe a word you typed. It's hopeless. You obviously have an axe to grind against Dynamic. Go for it. Grind away. I just hope nobody takes you too seriously.

Have you ever met beaverlodge?

[squash500]

I'm dying to know which Canadian stocks Noah Blackstein suffed into his Power American Growth fund to post such strong outperformance.

Dan, the only Canadian stock of significance that Blackstein holds in his Dynamic Power American Growth is RIM with a 9.83% weighting as of March 31/2008. That is the most current data that I have been able to find.

[Small Investor Activist]

Dynamic Power American Growth Fund

Victhom Human Bionics Inc. (Pink Sheets)
Impact Mobile Inc. (Unknown)
Tropic Networks Inc. (Unknown)
Adherex Technologies Inc. (Penny Stock)
Radialpoint Inc. (Remember Hammie Hill's previous dotcom cash burn that blew-up)
Research In Motion (Overvalued)
SMTC Manufacturing Corporation of Canada (Penny Stock)
Apple Computer (Look out for competition)
Atheros Communications (55 p/e)
CBOT Holdings (Commodities)
Celgene Corporation (Wildly Overvalued)
Ciena Corporation (Nortel peer)
CommScope, Inc. (Seems Reasonable)
Crocs, Inc. (52wk low)
Equinix, Inc. (P/E 700)
F5 Networks, Inc. (P/E 37)
First Solar, Inc. (Mining Promotion Wildly Overvalued P/E 100)
Foundry Networks, Inc. (Pricey)
Gilead Sciences (Wildly Overvalued Insiders Dumping Stock)
Google Inc. (Reached its peak)
Intuitive Surgical (Wildly Overvalued Insiders Dumping Stock)
J. Crew Group (Don't like their clothes)
MEMC Electronic Materials (Overvalued)
Monsanto Company (Overvalued)
NETGEAR (Seems Reasonable)
NVIDIA (Overvalued)
priceline.com (Great Site)
Riverbed Technology (Whatever they do it must be good)
Schering-Plough (Brandes bought some)
SunPower Corporation (Solar Power promotion P/E 300 Insiders dumping stock on fund unitholders)

[parvus]

Yer looking for an analyst's job? Or would you prefer to run the money yerself?

[Small Investor Activist]

You don't have to be an analyst to know a company with 1billion in revenue, 50million in profit that has a market cap of 20billion is a rip off.

[Small Investor Activist]

Dynamic Power American Growth portfolio additions as at Mar. 31/08

Illumina - P/E 134
Urban Outfitters - P/E 30
Activision - P/E 31
Qualcomm - Revenue 10bill MarketCap 76bill CDMA technology
Salesforce.com - P/E 322
Genentech - Revenue 12bill Market Cap 77bill
Cree P/E 68
MasterCard - P/E 30
Pharmaceutical Product Development P/E 33
BlackRock - Overvalued, Merril Lynch controlling shareholder conflict for unitholders
WMS Industries - P/E 34

http://www.dynamic.ca/en/Downloads/958.pdf

[parvus]

Are you, by any chance, a value investor, Happy Days?

[Small Investor Activist]

Are you, by any chance, a value investor, Happy Days?

I'm Value and Growth at a reasonable price. Most growth fund managers seem to overpay.