News/Press Release

• NOTICE TO UNITHOLDERS OF: STONE COVERED CALL CANADIAN BANKS PLUS FUND STONE DIVIDEND YIELD HOG FUND STONE DIVIDEND GROWTH CLASS STONE GLOBAL BALANCED FUND

  Press Date: April 21, 2023

  Redesignation of Units of the Funds Stone Asset Management Limited (the “Manager” or “Stone”), in its capacity as manager and trustee of Stone Covered Call Canadian Banks Plus Fund, Stone Dividend Yield Hog Fund, Stone Dividend Growth Class and Stone Global Balanced Fund (collectively, the “Funds” or individually a “Fund”) is providing notice that as of June 16, 2023, the following Series of units of the Funds will be redesignated as follows based on the applicable Series net asset value per unit of the two Series of units of the applicable Fund on June 16, 2023 (the “Series Redesignation”):  

  CURRENT SERIES			REDESIGNATED SERIES
  FUND NAME	SERIES	PURCHASE OPTION*	FUND NAME	SERIES	PURCHASE OPTION*
  STONE COVERED CALL CANADIAN BANKS PLUS FUND	A	LL	STONE COVERED CALL CANADIAN BANKS PLUS FUND	A	FE
  	A	DSC
  STONE DIVIDEND YIELD HOG FUND	A	LL	STONE DIVIDEND YIELD HOG FUND	A	FE
  	A	DSC
  STONE DIVIDEND GROWTH CLASS	T8C	LL	STONE DIVIDEND GROWTH CLASS	T8A	FE
  STONE GLOBAL BALANCED FUND	BB	DSC	STONE GLOBAL BALANCED FUND	AA	FE
  	L	LL
  	T8C	LL		T8A	FE

  
  
  *Purchase options require you to pay different fees and affect the amount of compensation your Dealer or Advisor receive. Low Load (“LL”), Deferred Sales Charge (“DSC”), and Front‐End (“FE”). These Series Redesignations will not increase your fees.
  
  You will not be required to pay any redemption fees, sales charges or other fund fees associated with the Series Redesignations. Unitholders should consult their own financial advisors for advice about their specific circumstances.
  
  We believe that the Series Redesignation’s are in the best interests of the existing unitholders. Management fees are either the same or lower in the Redesignated Series. Some unitholders will experience an annualized management fee decrease of 0.50% as a result of the Series Redesignations.
  
  

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  Do I need to do anything? No. The Series Redesignation will occur automatically on June 16, 2023. There is no action required on your part.

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  How does this affect my investment?
  After the Series Redesignation, you:
  • will continue to hold units of the same Fund as you currently hold with the same underlying pool of assets, investment objectives, investment strategies and valuation procedures;
  • will receive units having the same aggregate market value and cost as the units you currently hold;
  • will continue to have the same rights as a unitholder as you did prior to the redesignation; and
  • will not experience any increase in management fees or charges due to the Series Redesignation.
  The Series Redesignation will not result in a disposition of securities for tax purposes since you are holding the same Fund immediately after the Series Redesignation.

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  We thank you for entrusting your money with us and look forward to continuing to be of service to you, working with your financial advisor to provide investment solutions for your portfolio. If you have any questions, please contact your financial advisor or Marco Drumonde at 647-245-2047 or clientservices@stoneco.com.

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  STONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED

• Notice to Unitholders of Stone Global Growth Fund, Stone Global Sustainability Fund and Stone Growth Fund

  Press Date: September 13, 2022

  Redesignation of Units of the Funds
  Stone Asset Management Limited (the “Manager” or “Stone”), in its capacity as manager and trustee of Stone Global Growth Fund, Stone Global Sustainability Fund and Stone Growth Fund (collectively, the “Funds”) is providing notice that effective as of October 28, 2022, the following Series of units of Stone Global Growth Fund, Stone Global Sustainability Fund and Stone Growth Fund will be redesignated as follows based on the applicable Series net asset value per unit of the two Series of units of the applicable Fund on October 28, 2022 (the “Series Redesignation”):
   

  Fund	Current Series	Redesignated Series
  Stone Global Growth Fund	Series B	Series A
  	Series L	Series A
  Stone Global Sustainability Fund	Series B	Series A
  	Series L	Series A
  Stone Growth Fund	Series B	Series A
  	Series L	Series A
  	Series T8B	Series T8A
  	Series T8C	Series T8A

   
  You will not be required to pay any redemption fees, sales charges or other fund fees associated with the Series redesignations. Unitholders should consult their own financial advisors for advice about their specific circumstances.
  
  We believe that the Series Redesignation’s are in the best interests of the existing unitholders. All unitholders will experience an annualized management fee rate decrease of 0.50% as a result of the redesignations.

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  Do I need to do anything? No.  The Series Redesignation will occur automatically on October 28, 2022.  There is no action required on your part.

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    How does this affect my investment?
  After the Series Redesignation, you:
  • will continue to hold units of the same Fund as you currently hold with the same underlying pool of assets, investment objectives, investment strategies and valuation procedures;
  • will receive units having the same aggregate market value and cost as the units you currently hold;
  • will continue to have the same rights as a unitholder as you did prior to the redesignation; and
  • will not experience any increase in management fees or charges due to the Series Redesignation.
  
  The Series Redesignation will not result in a disposition of securities for tax purposes since you are holding the same Fund immediately after the Series Redesignation.
  

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  We thank you for entrusting your money with us and look forward to continuing to be of service to you, working with your financial advisor to provide investment solutions for your portfolio. If you have any questions, please contact your financial advisor or Stone Client Service at 1-800-795-1142 or clientservices@stoneco.com.

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  STONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED

• Notice to Investors in the Stone Mutual Funds

  Press Date: April 22, 2022

  NOTICE TO INVESTORS IN THE STONE MUTUAL FUNDS

  Stone Dividend Growth Class, Stone Growth Fund, Stone Dividend Yield Hog Fund, Stone Covered Call Canadian Banks Plus Fund, Stone Global Balanced Fund, Stone Global ESG Strategy Fund, Stone Global Growth Fund and Stone Global Sustainability Fund (collectively, the “Stone Mutual Funds“)

   

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  Re:         Acquisition of Stone Investment Group Limited by Starlight Investments Capital LP and Change of Control of the Manager of the Stone Mutual Funds, Notice under Section 5.8(1)(a) of NI 81-102  

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  On April 7, 2022, Stone Investment Group Limited (“Stone” or the “Company“) and Starlight Investments Capital LP (“Starlight Capital“) announced that they have entered into an arrangement agreement pursuant to which Starlight Capital, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, will acquire Stone through a series of transactions. On completion of the transactions, Stone Asset Management Limited (“SAM“), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stone and manager of the Stone Mutual Funds, will become an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Starlight Capital.  This will result in a change of control of SAM for purposes of National Instrument 81-102 – Investment Funds (“NI 81-102“).  This notice is provided to the investors in the Stone Mutual Funds in accordance with NI 81-102.  You are not required to take any action as a result of these transactions.  

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  Starlight Capital is an independent asset management firm offering mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, offering memorandum funds and structured products. Starlight Capital is a leading independent investment manager that is focused on helping Canadian investors realize their financial goals. Starlight Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Starlight Investments, a privately-held real estate investment and asset management company with over $25.0 billion of assets under management.  

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  Stone is an independent wealth management company offering the Stone Mutual Funds and private managed accounts. The boards of directors of each of Starlight Capital and Stone believe that the combination of the two businesses will create additional depth in investment and client service.  It is expected that all key personnel to the Stone Mutual Funds will continue to serve following the change of control.  

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  The closing of Starlight’s acquisition of Stone is subject to receipt of all necessary approvals and customary closing conditions, including the non-objection of Canadian securities regulators and approval by the shareholders of Stone. It is expected that the transactions will close in mid-June 2022.  

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  For further information please review the joint press release issued on April 7, 2022 outlining the transactions.  

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  Should you have any questions about this notice, please contact your advisor, or feel free to contact us at (416) 364-9188 or by e-mail at clientservices@stoneco.com.

• 2021 FundGrade A+® Awards

  Press Date: January 26, 2022

  Congratulations to our Portfolio Management Teams at SAM and Rathbones for their 2021 FundGrade A+® Award Wins!

  "It is an honour to be recognized once again at this year’s FundGrade A+® Awards. At Stone we pride ourselves on the strengths of both our in-house Portfolio Managers and the quality of our sub-advisory relationships. These awards recognize Stone Funds in each of our exclusive Pure Total Return® and Pure Growth® mandates, proof that our investment process and philosophy continue to deliver outstanding performance that allows our investors to sleep well, knowing they’ll have the financial resources to live well.”

  – Richard G. Stone, Chief Investment Officer, Stone Asset Management Limited

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  Fund Name	CIFSC Category	Fund Count	FundGrade Start Date
  Stone Dividend Growth Class	Canadian Dividend & Income Equity	277	1/31/2012
  Stone Global Growth Fund	Global Equity	1127	1/31/2012
  The end date for the FundGrade calculation is December 31, 2021.

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  Since its debut in 2012, The FundGrade A+® award has become a highly prized achievement in the Canadian investment funds industry. The FundGrade A+® award has been accepted and embraced as a truly objective, independent mark of distinction for those funds and fund managers who receive the award. Achieving a FundGrade A+® Rating denotes inclusion in an exclusive group, because around 6% of the investment fund products available in Canada have received a FundGrade A+® rating.

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  FundGrade A+^® is used with permission from Fundata Canada Inc., all rights reserved. The annual FundGrade A+^® Awards are presented by Fundata Canada Inc. to recognize the “best of the best” among Canadian investment funds. The FundGrade A+^® calculation is supplemental to the monthly FundGrade ratings and is calculated at the end of each calendar year. The FundGrade rating system evaluates funds based on their risk-adjusted performance, measured by Sharpe Ratio, Sortino Ratio, and Information Ratio. The score for each ratio is calculated individually, covering all time periods from 2 to 10 years. The scores are then weighted equally in calculating a monthly FundGrade. The top 10% of funds earn an A Grade; the next 20% of funds earn a B Grade; the next 40% of funds earn a C Grade; the next 20% of funds receive a D Grade; and the lowest 10% of funds receive an E Grade. To be eligible, a fund must have received a FundGrade rating every month in the previous year. The FundGrade A+^® uses a GPA-style calculation, where each monthly FundGrade from “A” to “E” receives a score from 4 to 0, respectively. A fund’s average score for the year determines its GPA. Any fund with a GPA of 3.5 or greater is awarded a FundGrade A+^® Award. For more information, see www.FundGradeAwards.com. Although Fundata makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Fundata.

• Lipper Fund Awards 2021

  Press Date: November 17, 2021

  

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  Congratulations to our portfolio managers at SAM for winning back-to-back Lipper Awards!

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  Stone Dividend Growth Class Series F  | Best Fund Over Past Five Years | Canadian Dividend & Income Equity

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  “Awards are a recognition of end results. At Stone, this means a commitment to our investment process and our in-house investment managers, and providing service where the customer comes first. Stone Dividend Growth Class also won a Lipper Award last year for its three-year results. We are proud to continue delivering outstanding performance that allows our investors to sleep well, knowing they’ll have the financial resources to live well.”  – Richard G. Stone, Chief Investment Officer

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  See the full list of winners on globeandmail.com

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  About Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards:
  For more than 30 years and in over 17 countries worldwide, the highly respected Refinitiv Lipper Awards have honoured funds and fund management firms that have excelled in providing consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to their peers and focus the investment world on top-funds. The merit of the winners is based on entirely objective, quantitative criteria. This coupled with the unmatched depth of fund data, results in a unique level of prestige and ensures the award has lasting value. Renowned fund data and proprietary methodology is the foundation of this prestigious award qualification, recognizing excellence in fund management. Find out more at www.lipperfundawards.com  

• Congratulations to our Portfolio Managers at SAM for their 2020 Lipper Fund Awards!

  Press Date: November 19, 2020

  REFINITIV LIPPER FUND AWARDS 2020 WINNER CANADA

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  Stone Dividend Growth Class Series A  |  Best Fund Over Past 3 Years  |  Canadian Dividend & Income Equity

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  Stone Growth Fund Series A  |  Best Fund Over Past 3 Years  |  North American Equity

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  “The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards celebrate exceptional investment management. In a year of dramatic change across the global economy, climate, the environment and political cultures, it has never been more important to have your investments entrusted with talented and experienced professionals. The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards recognize those exceptional managers and fund management groups who navigate these changes and steer your savings into outperforming returns”, said Robert Jenkins, Head of Research, Lipper, Refinitiv. “We at Refinitiv congratulate the 2020 Refinitiv Lipper Fund Award winners for delivering outstanding performance to their investors and wish Stone Asset Management Limited continued success.”

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  Stone Asset Management Limited extends our congratulations to all the other winners who are providing outstanding investment performance for Canadian investors this year.

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  The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards, granted annually, highlight funds and fund companies that have excelled in delivering consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to their peers. The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards are based on the Lipper Leader for Consistent Return rating, which is a risk-adjusted performance measure calculated over 36, 60 and 120 months. The fund with the highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return (Effective Return) value in each eligible classification wins the Refinitiv Lipper Fund Award. For more information, see lipperfundawards.com. Although Refinitiv Lipper makes reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Refinitiv Lipper.