Fund mergers announced at NEI

Northwest & Ethical Investments (NEI) has announced plans for its corporate-class funds to be merged into their corresponding trust funds.

According to NEI, the decision was due to changes declared last spring by the federal government, which eliminated certain benefits of Canadian Corporate Class funds. Starting next year, switches between corporate-class mutual funds will result in a capital gain or loss for the individual at the time of the switch, and such transactions will no longer benefit from tax-deferred treatment.

The terminating corporate-class funds and the corresponding continuing trust funds are:
 

Terminating Fund	Continuing Fund
NEI Northwest Short Term Corporate Class	NEI Money Market Fund
NEI Northwest Tactical Yield Corporate Class	NEI Northwest Tactical Yield Fund
NEI Northwest Growth and Income Corporate Class	NEI Northwest Growth and Income Fund
NEI Northwest Canadian Dividend Corporate Class	NEI Northwest Canadian Dividend Fund
NEI Northwest Canadian Equity Corporate Class	NEI Northwest Canadian Equity Fund
NEI Northwest U.S. Dividend Corporate Class	NEI Northwest U.S. Dividend Fund
NEI Northwest Emerging Markets Corporate Class	NEI Northwest Emerging Markets Fund
NEI Northwest Global Equity Corporate Class	NEI Northwest Global Equity Fund
NEI Northwest Speciality Equity Corporate Class	NEI Northwest Specialty Equity Fund
NEI Select Conservative Corporate Class Portfolio	NEI Select Conservative Portfolio
NEI Select Balanced Corporate Class Portfolio	NEI Select Balanced Portfolio
NEI Select Growth Corporate Class Portfolio	NEI Select Growth Portfolio
NEI Select Global Maximum Growth Corporate Class Portfolio	NEI Select Global Maximum Growth Portfolio

The mergers are set to occur on or about the end of the year.

In addition, NEI has announced that six NEI funds will undergo risk rating changes in line with an updated risk classification methodology from the Canadian Securities Advisors. Below are the funds and the associated risk rating changes:
 

Fund	Current Rating	New Rating
NEI Global Total Return Bond Fund	Low to Medium	Low
NEI Ethical Select Conservative Portfolio	Low to Medium	Low
NEI Ethical Canadian Equity Fund	Medium	Low to Medium
NEI Northwest Canadian Dividend Fund	Medium	Low to Medium
NEI Select Global Maximum Growth Portfolio	Medium	Low to Medium
NEI Northwest Emerging Markets Fund	High	Medium to High

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