Also announces new Head of ETF Strategy

TORONTO, Oct. 4, 2016 /CNW/ - AGF Investments Inc. (AGF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Karrie Van Belle to the position of Senior Vice-President, Head of Marketing and Communications, effective today.  

In this role, Karrie will provide direction and leadership to AGF's marketing and communications for both the retail and institutional channels, including digital marketing, and have overall responsibility in leading the firm's focus on corporate branding.

"Karrie brings a wealth of experience in leading teams to drive exceptional results", said Blake Goldring, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AGF Management Limited. "We are thrilled to have someone with her industry background and expertise across multiple disciplines within marketing and communications."

She has more than 15 years of experience rooted in the Canadian asset management industry extending across client segments and product platforms. Karrie's experience includes promoting innovation in marketing while managing marketing and communications strategies for retail, institutional and ETF platforms.

Most recently, Karrie was Managing Director, Head of Canada Marketing and Communications at BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited where she was accountable for build­ing, communicating and executing on the marketing and press strategies to deliver brand growth and relevance to the firm's retail and institutional clients.

"I'm looking forward to this new opportunity and the chance to build on a brand with a rich history as AGF continues to grow its business, particularly as it expands its ETF strategy," said Van Belle.

Karrie replaces Interim Head of Marketing and Communications, Jay Bhutani, who has agreed to take on the role of Senior Vice-President, Head of ETF Strategy. In this role, Jay will be responsible for leading the development and distribution strategies for the ETF platform in Canada.

"I want to thank Jay for his leadership during this transition," said Goldring. "As he moves into this new role, he will play an integral part in launching our ETF offerings in early 2017 through QuantShare Advisor."

"I am excited to build on AGF's 60 years of innovation leading the launch of QuantShare Advisor. This is an exciting new collaboration leveraging the complementary strengths of AGF's investment professionals from Highstreet and FFCM," added Bhutani.

Jay brings more than 20 years of financial services experience in asset management, product and business development to this role. He has been with AGF for nearly 10 years in senior roles, including Head of Product, Interim Head of Marketing and Vice-President of Business Solutions.

About AGF Management

AGF Management Limited is one of Canada's premier independent investment management firms with offices across Canada and subsidiaries around the world. AGF's products include a diversified family of mutual funds, mutual fund wrap programs and pooled funds. AGF also manages assets on behalf of institutional investors including pension plans, foundations and endowments as well as for private clients. With over $34 billion in total assets under management, AGF serves more than one million investors. AGF trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol AGF.B.

SOURCE AGF