The funds will provide international access to their Canadian clients' portfolios.

BMO Investments has launched two new funds designed to help Canadian investors diversify their portfolio with international exposure.

It has launched the BMO International Equity Fund and the BMO Japan Fund, the firm said in a statement late last week.

The BMO International Equity Fund will provide its customers access to the international equity markets, which, according to BMO, “are expected to continue to rebound based on accommodative monetary policy and lessening political risks”. 

The BMO Japan Fund will provide its clients access to Japanese equity markets. The firm has said that "the Japanese economy has more exposure to industrial and consumer companies and has limited exposure to resource companies compared to Canada".

"Many Canadian investors have a large portion of their portfolio invested in their home market, yet Canada represents only four per cent of global equity markets," said Kevin Gopaul, head of BMO Global Asset Management Canada. "BMO International Equity Fund and BMO Japan Fund help build better portfolios by adding exposure to international markets that have different return drivers than Canadian markets."

The firm has been busy over the past few days, as this publication reported yesterday that BMO appointed a national head of banking for its private banking arm, and is also offering its Canadian private banking clients free access to tens of thousands of ATMs across the US and Puerto Rico.