TORONTO, ON, Feb. 18, 2002 -- ClaringtonFunds Inc. today
announced the introduction of two new equity funds, providing
further opportunities for investment style diversification and
bringing the expertise of two renowned money management firms to
Clarington investors.
The funds are Clarington Canadian Growth Fund,
managed by KBSH Capital Management Inc. of Toronto, and
Clarington U.S. Large Cap Value Class, managed by
Salomon Brothers Asset Management of New York.
"Clarington's strategy is to seek out the most respected money
managers in the industry, and make their expertise available to
Canadians by appointing them as sub-advisers to our funds," says
Terry Stone, CEO and founder of Clarington. "We scoured the
investment industry and examined a lot of track records before
choosing KBSH and Salomon. Their expertise complements the solid
team of sub-advisers that has been carefully assembled to create
the diverse Clarington fund family of Canadian and international
funds."
Clarington U.S. Large Cap Value Class will
model the existing Salomon Brothers Investors Value
Fund, available only to U.S. investors. The fund has been
a top quartile performer for 10 years. Lead manager Jack Cunningham
likes to call his style "Value Light." He avoids the deep value
stocks such as highly cyclical companies, and concentrates on
attractive companies that are temporarily overlooked or out of
favour. This fund is part of Clarington Sector Fund Inc. that
allows individuals to switch among funds in the group without
triggering a taxable capital gain. Salomon Brothers Asset
Management has over US$70 billion of assets under
administration.
"We always look for a catalyst that we expect will get the
company's stock price moving again, and we avoid stocks that are
cheap for a good reason, and likely to stay cheap," Cunningham
says. "The ultimate value stock is one that turns into a growth
stock."
Clarington Canadian Growth Fund will invest in
companies with a compelling growth strategy, sustainable
competitive advantage, superior management, solid financial
position and attractive valuation. Sub-adviser KBSH has over $8
billion under management and takes a team approach to investment
management and research.
"We identify companies that display financial strength and
superior growth prospects, regardless of economic and market
cycles," says David Knight, executive chairman and co-founder of
KBSH.
Clarington is the sponsor of 34 mutual funds, including the
popular Clarington Canadian Income Fund, Clarington
Canadian Balanced Fund, Clarington Canadian Equity Fund
and Clarington Global Equity Fund. Clarington has
a well-diversified product line of bond, balanced and equity funds,
with a mix of managers and styles.
Clarington Funds, founded in 1996, has over $2.6 billion in
assets in 34 funds, with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and
Montreal.