More than a quarter of Signature Select Canadian Fund (Trades, Portfolio)’s investments are in financial services, and the firm continued to invest in financial stocks in the third quarter, but its investments in the quarter were diverse. You will find activity in numerous financial services in Signature Select’s portfolio in the third quarter, but you will also find other kinds of stocks in Signature Select’s portfolio as well.
The fund had a 19.21% return in 2013, more than double its rate of return in 2012.
Signature Select added holdings in 21 companies that are new to its portfolio – UBS Group AG (UBS, Financial), Manulife Financial Corp (MFC, Financial), Dover Corp (DOV, Financial), Costco Wholesale Corp (COST, Financial), Adidas AG (ADS.Germany), Baker Hughes Inc (BHI, Financial), Mitsubishi Electric Corp (6503.Japan), Estee Lauder Cos Inc (EL, Financial), Newell Rubbermaid Inc (NWL, Financial), Drax Group PLC (DRX.UK), Dollar Tree Stores Inc (DLTR), Kate Spade & Co (KATE), SNC-Lavalin Group (SNC.Canada), Bridgestone Corp (5108.Japan), Rockwell Collins Inc (COL), Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd (7270.Japan), Dongfeng Motor Group Co Ltd (00489.Hongkong), Continental AG (CON.Germany), Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX), Suzuki Motor Corp (7269.Japan) and Amaya Inc (AYA.Canada).
Signature bought 1,335,400 shares of UBS Group, a Swiss financial services company, for an average price of $17.83 per share. The deal had a 1.6% impact on Signature Select’s portfolio.
Signature also bought 818,100 shares of Manulife Financial, a Swiss financial services company, for an average price of $21.92 per share. The transaction had a 1.1% impact on Signature’s portfolio.
None of the other new acquisitions had an impact on Signature Select’s portfolio that exceeded 0.75%.
Signature Select also increased its stakes in 22 companies – Royal Bank Of Canada (RY.Canada), BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP.Australia), Enbridge Inc (ENB.Canada), Crescent Point Energy Corp (CPG.Canada), Assa Abloy AB (ASSA B.Sweden), Citigroup Inc (C), Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ.Canada), Power Corporation Of Canada (POW.Canada), Drax Group PLC, NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI), Rockwell Automation Inc (ROK), Magna International Inc (MG.Canada), Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE.Canada), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (TMO), Rogers Communications Inc (RCI.B.Canada), Hyundai Motor Co (005380.Korea, South), Agilent Technologies Inc (A), EOG Resources Inc (EOG), Pentair PLC (PNR), Eaton Corp PLC (ETN), Safran SA (SAF.France) and TransDigm Group Inc (TDG).
Signature Select added 218,200 shares to its stake in Royal Bank of Canada, the largest financial institution in Canada, for an average price of $80.17 per share. Royal Bank is the third-largest fund in Signature Select’s portfolio; the purchase had a 1.09% impact on that portfolio.
Signature Select also invested in 403,300 shares of BHP Billiton, a metals, mining and petroleum company based in Australia, for an average price of $37.2. The acquisition had a 0.77% impact on Signature Select’s portfolio.
Divestitures and reductions
Signature Select sold its stakes in 29 companies. The sale of 433,350 shares of Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc (POT.Canada), the world's largest producer of potash and the third-largest producers of nitrogen and phosphate, for an average price of $38.56 had an impact of -1.1% on Signature Select’s portfolio.
Signature Select also sold 237,200 shares of Valero Energy Corp (VLO), a San Antonio-based oil and gas company, for an average price of $50.53 per share. The transaction had a -0.9% impact on the company’s portfolio.
Signature’s other stakes sales in the quarter had impact of less than -0.7%. Among the stakes Signature sold in the third quarter were Halliburton Co (HAL), Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (RYCEF), Renault SA (RNO.France), Kraft Foods Group Inc (KRFT) and Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB de CV (WMMVF).
Signature Select sold portions of its holdings in 22 companies – Roche Holding AG (ROG.Switzerland), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.Canada), Bayer AG (BAYN.Germany), Merck & Co Inc (MRK), Schlumberger NV (SLB), Rio Tinto PLC (RIO.UK), Nestle SA (NESN.Switzerland), British American Tobacco PLC (BATS.UK), Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc (ATD.B.Canada), Diageo PLC (DGE.UK), Baxter International Inc (BAX), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.Canada), Encana Corp (ECA.Canada), Brookfield Asset Management Inc (BAM.A.Canada), Sanofi (SAN.France), Credit Suisse Group (CSGN.Switzerland), Home Depot Inc (HD), PepsiCo Inc (PEP), CVS Health Corp (CVS), Saputo Inc (SAP.Canada), Sberbank Of Russia (SBRCY) and Denso Corp (6902.Japan).
Signature Select sold 73,400 shares (more than half its stake) in Roche Holding, a Swiss healthcare company, for an average price of $268.51 per share. Roche Holding is the fifth-largest holding in Signature Select’s portfolio; the deal had a -1.57% impact on that portfolio.
Signature Select also sold 429,900 shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank, a Canadian financial services company, for an average price of $56.52 per share. Toronto-Dominion is the largest holding in Signature Select’s portfolio, accounting for 8% of Signature Select’s holdings. The transaction had a -1.44% impact on Signature Select’s portfolio.
The company sold 104,500 shares of Bayer AG, a German pharmaceutical company, for an average price of $102.56 per share. The transaction had a -1.03% impact on Signature Select’s portfolio.
None of Signature Select’s other stake reductions had impacts on the portfolio of greater than -0.55%.
To view the portfolios of more gurus, visit the List of Guruspage. Not a premium member of GuruFocus? Try it free for 7 days.
