BMO Matchmaker portfolios

Zoomer | January 1st, 2006

Question: I have an RRSP with the Bank of Montréal called the Matchmaker and they use their mutual funds to create portfolios. I don’t hear too much good about mutual funds lately and have friends that tell me to move my investments out of this. What do you think? – M.C.

Answer:

First, I’m not sure what your friends are suggesting you invest in instead of mutual funds so I can’t offer an opinion on the alternative. However, I would point out that mutual funds are still the best way to get professional management and broad diversification for a small investor. Plus, the wide range of mutual funds available allows you to invest in any asset class you want. So if you don’t like the stock market, you can choose bond funds or money market funds.

As for the BMO Matchmaker series, these are portfolios of BMO funds that are structured to meet specific investor needs. You complete a questionnaire and then the appropriate portfolio is recommended for you. In the reviews of the Matchmaker portfolios in Gordon Pape’s 2001 Buyer’s Guide to Mutual Funds, which will be published in November, we note that most of the Matchmaker portfolios have been medioe performers and that as a general rule investors would be better off by putting their money into the BMO Asset Allocation Fund.