TORONTO, Oct. 8, 2020 /CNW/ - CI Financial Corp. ("CI") (TSX: CIX) today reported preliminary assets under management at September 30, 2020 of $128.2 billion and wealth management assets of $66.0 billion, for total assets of $194.2 billion.

This represents new all-time month-end highs for wealth management assets and total assets for CI as it executes its strategic priorities of expanding its wealth management platform, globalizing the firm and modernizing its asset management business.

"We've been very successful in meeting our strategic objectives. Having completed the acquisition of Balasa Dinverno Foltz last month, we've built our U.S. wealth management operations to $15 billion in just eight months and boosted our total wealth assets to a record $66 billion," said Kurt MacAlpine, CI Chief Executive Officer. "There is great momentum in our wealth business given that three recently announced transactions are scheduled to close this quarter and we continue to actively seek new acquisitions.

"Despite volatile markets this year, our Canadian retail flows for the year-to-date have improved by $1.2 billion over the first nine months of last year," Mr. MacAlpine said. "We are confident this trend will continue as we diversify and modernize our asset management business through enhancements to sales, marketing and our product lineup."

CI's assets under management declined by 1.8% in the month of September and 1.1% year over year. CI's average core assets under management for the third quarter were $124.6 billion, an increase of $6.2 billion or 5.2% over the average of $118.4 billion for the second quarter of 2020.

Canadian wealth management assets were $51.1 billion at September 30, 2020, down 0.4% for the month and up 6.2% over the 12-month period. U.S. wealth management assets were $14.9 billion, representing an increase of $6.7 billion or 81.7% in September. This growth reflects the acquisition of Balasa Dinverno Foltz LLC ("BDF"), a registered investment advisor ("RIA") based in Itasca, Ill., which was completed on September 16, 2020. Year-over-year comparisons are not available given that CI has acquired its U.S. wealth management businesses in 2020.

Canadian wealth management assets include the assets of Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Limited, CI Private Counsel LP, CI Direct Investing (WealthBar Financial Services Inc.) and Virtual Brokers, a division of CI Investment Services (BBS Securities Inc.). CI's U.S. wealth management business consists of its interests in five registered investment advisory firms: BDF, The Cabana Group, LLC, Congress Wealth Management, LLC, One Capital Management, LLC, and Surevest LLC.

CI also reported preliminary sales results for the second quarter. CI's Canadian retail business, excluding products closed to new investors, had $1.4 billion in net redemptions, essentially flat compared to the third quarter of 2019. CI's Canadian institutional business posted net redemptions of $1.1 billion, an increase of $0.7 billion from the same quarter a year ago. Consistent with CI's previous quarter, nearly all the institutional redemptions came from bank and insurance-owned asset managers with in-house internal investment teams.

CI's U.S. asset management business, which consists of certain assets managed by its U.S. RIAs, had net sales of $0.3 billion, while GSFM Pty Ltd. had net sales of $0.4 billion. CI's closed business, comprised primarily of segregated fund contracts that are no longer available for sale, had $0.2 billion in net redemptions for the quarter.

Further information about CI's assets and financial position can be found below in the tables of statistics and on its website, www.cifinancial.com. These are the only statistics authorized by CI, and CI takes no responsibility for reporting by any external sources.

About CI Financial
CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX) is an independent company offering global asset management and wealth management advisory services. CI's primary asset management businesses are CI Investments Inc. and GSFM Pty Ltd., and it operates in wealth management through Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Ltd., CI Private Counsel LP, CI Direct Investing (WealthBar Financial Services Inc.), CI Investment Services (BBS Securities Inc.), Balasa Dinverno Foltz LLC, The Cabana Group, LLC, Congress Wealth Management, LLC, One Capital Management, LLC and Surevest LLC. Further information is available at www.cifinancial.com.

All financial amounts in Canadian dollars unless otherwise specified.

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations with respect to CI Financial Corp. ("CI") and its products and services, including its business operations, strategy and financial performance and condition. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "believe", "expect", "foresee", "forecast", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "goal", "plan" and "project" and similar references to future periods, or conditional verbs such as "will", "may", "should", "could" or "would". These statements are not historical facts but instead represent management beliefs regarding future events, many of which by their nature are inherently uncertain and beyond management's control.  Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements involve risks and uncertainties. The material factors and assumptions applied in reaching the conclusions contained in these forward-looking statements include that the investment fund industry will remain stable and that interest rates will remain relatively stable.  Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, among other things, general economic and market conditions, including interest and foreign exchange rates, global financial markets, changes in government regulations or in tax laws, industry competition, technological developments and other factors described or discussed in CI's disclosure materials filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time. The foregoing list is not exhaustive and the reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors carefully and not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Other than as specifically required by applicable law, CI undertakes no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statement after the date on which it is made, whether to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.

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