Desjardins Investments to merge funds

Desjardins Investments has announced several fund mergers.

The proposed mergers will be completed without tax consequences for investors, says a release, and investors will receive 60 days’ notice before the mergers go ahead.

Once the mergers are complete, all optional plans that are in effect, including preauthorized payment plans, automatic transfer plans, and automatic and periodic withdrawal plans, will continue under the same terms and conditions for the continuing funds.

The funds in the table below will merge on or about Nov. 23, 2018.

Holders of the terminating funds have experienced lower tax efficiency as a result of federal budget measures over the past few years, says the release. As a result, “The manager believes that merging corporate funds into trust funds without tax consequences, as allowed under recent budgetary provisions, is the best solution for fundholders,” it says.

Holders of the terminating funds will have lower management fees, as shown in the table.

Terminating funds			Continuing funds
Chorus II corporate class portfolio	Share class	Management fee before taxes	Chorus II trust fund portfolio	Class units	Management fee before taxes
Conservative Low Volatility	A, T4, T6, C, R4, R6	1.39%	Conservative Low Volatility	A-, T4-, T6-, C-, R4-, R6-	1.36%
Moderate Low Volatility	A, T4, T6, C, R4, R6	1.46%	Moderate Low Volatility	A-, T4-, T6-, C-, R4-, R6-	1.43%
Balanced Low Volatility	A, T5, T7, C, R5, R7	1.52%	Balanced Low Volatility	A-, T5-, T7-, C-, R5-, R7-	1.49%
Growth	A, T5, T7, C, R5, R7	1.65%	Growth	A-, T5-, T7-, C-, R5-, R7-	1.60%
Aggressive Growth (formerly Dynamic Growth)	A, T6, T8, C, R6, R8	1.81%	Aggressive Growth (formerly Dynamic Growth)	A-, T6-, T-8, C-, R6-, R8-	1.78%
Maximum Growth	A, T6, T8, C, R6, R8	1.85%	Maximum Growth	A-, T6-, T8-, C-, R6-, R8-	1.83%

On or about Nov. 30, the merger in the table below will occur.

The merging funds have similar investment objectives and strategies, says the release. After the merger, holders of the terminating fund will have lower management fees, and the manager will have a simpler fund lineup.

Terminating fund			Continuing fund
Desjardins Global Equity Value Fund	Class units	Management fee before taxes	Desjardins Global Equity Fund	Class units	Management fee before taxes as of Oct. 1, 2018
	A-, T-, C- and R-	2.19%		A-, T-, C- and R-	1.90%
	F- and S-	0.94%		F- and S-	0.85%
	D-	1.44%		D-	1.15%