Canada's Toronto-Dominion Offers Its First U.S. Equity Fund, Tied to

Toronto-Dominion Bank last week launched its first U.S. equity mutual fund.

The debut of the Waterhouse Investors Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Fund, known as the Dow 30 Fund, coincides with the Canadian bank's rollout of a similar portfolio in its home country.

The objective of both funds is to match the performance of the 30 stocks that make up the well-known benchmark index. Toronto-Dominion's agreement with Dow Jones & Co. last December marked the New York news company's first licensing deal for its index.

Toronto-Dominion is offering the funds through its New York discount brokerage unit, Waterhouse Securities Inc. In Canada, the fund joins the Green Line family of funds which are sold through TD Asset Management, said Duncan Gibson, a bank vice chairman with responsibility for wealth management.

Toronto-Dominion has approximately 45 no-load mutual funds in its Green Line family, representing $10.3 billion under management, said Mr. Gibson.

In the United States, the Dow 30 Fund joins three money market funds in the Waterhouse Asset Management family, representing $5.2 billion of assets.

Mr. Gibson said there are no immediate plans to launch additional equity products in this country. "For us to enter into the funds business is a much larger decision, and it is not on a priorities list at all," he said.

David Hartman, chief investment officer with Waterhouse and manager of the Dow 30 Fund in New York, said the no-load portfolio would appeal largely to retail investors. According to Mr. Hartman, the fund has the appeal of other popular index products like those tied to the Standard & Poor's 500, but is simpler because there are less equities involved.

Since the launch last Friday, the U.S. version of the fund has accumulated $5 million of assets, while Canadian investors have invested $10 million. The Canadian fund is denominated in U.S. dollars, said Mr. Duncan.

The U.S. version of the fund is available through Waterhouse's discount brokerage and through that unit's mutual fund supermarket. The Canadian version is available through similar channels.

It remains unclear whether the U.S. version of the fund will be made available through Jack White & Co, the San Diego discount operation Toronto-Dominion is buying for $100 million, Mr. Gibson said. That deal is set to close next month.

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