Shareholders have approved a series of fund mergers of funds sponsored by Toronto-based Mackenzie Financial. Investors Group, the largest Canadian fund firm, purchased fifth-ranked Mackenzie Financial at the start of the year.

The mergers will fold seven Scudder and two Maxxum funds into the Mackenzie family. Two additional funds will see their investment objectives change. The changes are set to be completed on August 9 and are still subject to regulatory approval.

The tweaks to its fund lineup come amid published reports that Mackenzie is seeking a buyer for its US fund arm, Mackenzie Investment Management. The reports first appeared last week in the Canadian paper the National Post. The paper added that if the unit is not sold Mackenzie may decide to close it.

The possible sale arises from accounting problems in the fund unit that caused Mackenzie to restate its financials for the past three years. At issue were sales commissions that the U.S. unit had booked as amortized rather than counting as an expense. The action caused the firm to report lower expenses (and about $1 million of higher earnings) than it should have.

Those problems prompted a strategic review of the firm's business.

Fund Mergers

Scudder Canadian Bond Fund into Mackenzie Bond Fund;

MAXXUM Precious Metals Fund into Mackenzie Universal Precious Metals Fund;

MAXXUM Natural Resource Fund into Mackenzie Universal Canadian Resource Fund;

Scudder Pacific Fund and Mackenzie Universal Far East Fund into Mackenzie Universal Select Managers Far East Capital Class;

Scudder Emerging Markets Fund and Mackenzie Universal World Emerging Growth Fund into Mackenzie Universal World Emerging Growth Capital Class;

Scudder Life Sciences Fund and Mackenzie Universal Health Sciences Fund into Mackenzie Universal Health Sciences Capital Class;

Scudder Global Fund into Mackenzie Universal Growth Trends Capital Class;

Scudder Canadian Equity Fund and Mackenzie Sentinel Canada Equity Fund Limited into Mackenzie Universal Select Managers Canada Fund;

Scudder Canadian Small Company Fund into Mackenzie Ivy Enterprise Fund;

Scudder Canadian Money Market Fund into Mackenzie Money Market Fund.

Funds with Objective Changes

Mackenzie Universal RSP Health Sciences Fund and Mackenzie Universal World Emerging Growth Capital Class.  

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