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Mutual Funds

Choose from over 3,500 commission-free mutual funds.¹

 

 

 

 

Follow this simple, step-by-step process to help build a diversified mutual funds portfolio for your long-term investments.

Research has shown that how you spread your money among stocks, bonds, and cash can be more important than the individual securities you choose. Use our asset allocation tool (sign in required) to get a model portfolio based on your financial goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon.

To narrow your mutual fund choices you can use the fund screener (sign in required) to tailor your search using criteria that you care most about. The screener allows you to filter by many criteria including fund style and performance.

Once you have a list of contenders, you can look at detailed information for each of the funds we offer, including a Fund Profile, Holding Details, Ratings & Risk, and Performance. Be sure to carefully read the prospectus for each fund you are considering.

Just enter the fund symbol and the amount you wish to invest to place your trade. You can also sign up for our free automatic investment plan to regularly add to your holdings over time.

Series D funds have lower management fees and are designed specifically for direct investing clients. With Scotia iTRADE, choose from over 700 Series D funds, which you can purchase commission-free online.

Funds are available from a variety of fund companies, including:

• ScotiaFunds
• AGF
• Beutel Goodman
• Blackrock
• BMG Funds
• BMO Mutual Funds
• Brandes Investment Partners
• Capital Group
• Excel Funds
• Fiera Capital Funds
• Harvest Portfolios
• Invesco / Trimark funds
• Mackenzie Funds
• PenderFund Capital
• Purpose Investments
• Royal Bank of Canada (including Phillips, Hager and North)
• TD Mutual Funds

Alpha
A measure of selection risk (also known as residual risk) of a mutual fund or other security in relation to the market. A positive alpha is the extra return awarded to the investor for taking a risk, instead of accepting the market return. For example, an alpha of 0.4 means the fund outperformed the market-based return estimate by 0.4 %. – A negative alpha such as -0.6 means a fund's monthly return was 0.6 % less than would have been predicted from the change in the market alone.

Analyst
Employee of a brokerage or fund management house who studies companies and makes buy and sell recommendations on their stocks. Most specialize in a specific industry

Beta
The measure of a fund's risk in relation to the market. 0.7 means the fund's total return is likely to move up or down 70 % of the market change; 1.3 means total return is likely to move up or down 30 % more than the market.

Early redemption fee
A fee which may be charged by a broker or Mutual Fund company, for selling a mutual fund which has not been held for a required minimum period.

Fund family
The management company that runs and/or sells units of the fund. Fund families often offer several funds with different investment objectives.

Minimum purchases
For mutual funds, the amount required to open a new account (Minimum Initial Purchase) or to deposit into an existing account (Minimum Additional Purchase). These minima may be lowered for buyers participating in an automatic purchase plan. Brokers selling mutual funds may require higher minimums than the Fund Company.

Money market fund
A mutual fund that invests only in short term securities, such as bankers' acceptances, commercial paper, repurchase agreements and government bills. The net asset value per share is usually maintained at a specific price such as $1.00 or $10.00. Such funds are not federally insured, although the portfolio may consist of guaranteed securities and/or the fund may have private insurance protection.

Mutual fund
An open-end investment company that pools investors' money to invest in a variety of stocks, bonds, or other securities. A mutual fund issues and redeems shares to meet demand, and the redemption value per share is the net asset value per share, less in some cases a redemption fee which represents a rear-end load.

Net asset value (NAV)
The value of a fund's investments. For a mutual fund, the net asset value per share usually represents the fund's market price, subject to a possible sales or redemption charge. For a closed end fund, the market price may vary significantly from the net asset value.

No load mutual fund
An open-end investment company, shares of which are sold without a sales charge. There can be other distribution charges, however. A true "no load" fund will have neither a sales charge nor a distribution fee.

Objective (MUTUAL FUNDS)
The fund's investment strategy category as stated in the prospectus. There are more than 40 standardized categories.

Prospectus
Formal written document to sell securities, describing the plan for a proposed business enterprise, or the facts concerning an existing one, that an investor needs to make an informed decision. Prospectuses are used by Mutual Funds to describe the fund objectives, risks and other essential information.

Redemption charge
The commission charged by a mutual fund when redeeming shares. For example, a 2 % redemption charge (also called a "back end load") on the sale of shares valued at $1000 will result in payment of $980 (or 98 % of the value) to the investor. This charge may decrease or be eliminated as shares are held for longer time periods.

Turnover
A measure of trading activity during the previous year, expressed as a percentage of the average total assets of the fund. A turnover ratio of 25 % means that the value of trades represented one-fourth of the assets of the fund

Whenever you log on to your account, you'll enjoy complete access to all the resources available to Scotia iTRADE clients.

• Fund Charts
  Customize fund comparison graphs and historical charts.
• Mutual Fund Screener 
  Identify funds that meet your specific investment needs.
• Asset Allocation Models
  Compare a hypothetical asset allocation model with your current portfolio mix.
• Automatic Investing
  Add to your portfolio over time through the power of dollar-cost averaging.