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Four analysts and top management from twenty sector firms examine the investing in Canada sector in this special 129-page Investing in Canada issue from The Wall Street Transcript, available at (212/952-7433) or http://www.twst.com/info/info490.htm.

TWST: What do you include in your coverage of Canada?

Mr. Brewington: The companies that I follow directly are the three largest fund managers in Canada, AGF Management (TSE:AGFb.TO), CI Fund management (TSE:CIX.TO), and Investors Group Inc. (TSE:IGI.TO). CI has done a number of acquisitions over the past couple of years, including BPI, while Investors Group acquired the public manager Mackenzie Financial in April 2001. I also follow AMVESCAP (NYSE:AVZ), which is a UK-domiciled company, but they had purchased Trimark Financial, at the time Canada’s third largest fund manager late in 2000.

TWST: How have the Canadian asset manager stocks performed over the past 12 months? How does that compare to the US, European or Australian markets?

Mr. Brewington: In what was another difficult year for the equity markets, the Canadian asset managers, while dropping early in the year, did rebound toward the end of the year and actually outpaced the TSE 300 Index for the year. Our Putnam Lovell Index of Canadian Money Managers posted a total return of –7.0% compared with the 13.9% decline in the TSE 300 Index. This compares with the 12.3% decline for the publicly traded US money managers and the 13.0% decline in the S&P 500 for the year.

TWST: What were the major issues and challenges that Canadian asset managers faced in 2001?

Mr. Brewington: That's a good question. There have been a number of things that have happened in Canada this past year which are very unique, compared to what we've seen in prior history. Number one, we've seen a huge explosion of money fund sales in 2001 versus 2000. Number two, the competitive landscape of the mutual fund industry is changing. The banks have been challenging the status quo, and have been throwing considerable resources behind building market share in the mutual fund arena. In addition, there were a number of new product developments in 1999 and 2000, and new product initiatives went on the back burner in 2001, but there were a number of new pricing strategies this past year as Fidelity Canada, Franklin Templeton and Royal Mutual Funds all instituted a new corporate class share structure, expanding their fund profiles.

TWST: You mentioned that consolidation was a large issue over the past year. Would you give us an overview of what you saw?

Mr. Brewington: There are a number of multinational players with extraordinary research and technological capabilities, and they've set their sights on the management of Canadian assets. This is a continuation of the same globalization trend that we had identified last year. A lot of this was driven by the increase of the foreign content rule from 25% in 2000 to 30% in 2001. It has led to a sharper focus on global investment strategies among Canadian pension funds and Canadian fund managers. Multinational businesses see a terrific opportunity in Canada, made relatively simple by their cultural similarities in the US. So for example, as noted earlier, firms like Perigee and Bissett & Associates needed to have additional global investment capabilities in order to more effectively compete with the changes in the RSP foreign content rules. Bissett partnered up with Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) while Legg Mason (NYSE:LM) purchased Perigee. Then we saw AMVESCAP, a multinational company domiciled in the UK, which has a top-tier presence in the UK and the United States, add top-tier presence in Canada by their acquisition of Trimark Financial.

This special issue includes:

1) Investing in Cananda - In an in-depth (4,700 words) Analyst Interview, Nick Majendie, Director and Senior Vice President of Canaccord Capital Corporation, examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.

2) Canadian Telecommunications - In an in-depth (3,700 words) Analyst Interview, Peter Rhamey, Managing Director at BMO Nesbitt Burns, Inc., examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.

3) Canadian Software & IT Services - In an in-depth (4,200 words) Analyst Interview, Paul Bradley, Technology-Software Analyst at Canaccord Capital Corporation, examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.

4) Canadian Asset Management - In an in-depth (3,800 words) Analyst Interview, Bruce Brewington, Vice President at Putnam Lovell, examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.

5) CEO interviews (average 2,500 words). Top management of twenty sector firms examine the outlook for their firm and the sector.