CI Financial

CI Financial Inc.
Public
Traded as TSX: CIX
S&P/TSX Composite Component
Industry Investment Management
Founded 1965
Headquarters Toronto,Ontario, Canada
Key people
 Peter W. Anderson (Chief Executive Officer & Director)
William T. Holland (Chairman of the Board)
Sheila A. Murray (President & General Counsel)
Brands
  • CI Investments
  • Assante Wealth Management
  • Sentry Investments
  • Stonegate Private Counsel
  • First Asset
  • Grant Samuel Funds Management
  • BBS Securities Inc.
  • Virtual Brokers
Website Official Website
CI Financial in Toronto

CI Financial is a Canadian public investment management company based in Toronto, Ontario. It principally offers mutual funds targeted to retail investors, although it also offers other financial products and services, such as exchange-traded funds and wealth management. As of 2017, it had $140 billion of assets under management.[1] It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

History

CI Financial was founded in 1965 as Universal Savings Fund Management Ltd.[2] It was a small private firm until 1994, when it held an IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange as C.I. Fund Management (the C.I. stood for Canadian International).[3] In the next 9 years, it increased in size by 10 times.[3] In 1999, Bill Holland became CEO of the company, a position that he was to hold for more than 10 years.[3] Also in 1999, the company acquired BPI Financial Corp. for $206 million, creating Canada's fifth-largest public mutual fund company.[4] in 2003, CI purchased the Canadian operations of financial firm Assante Corp. for $846 million.[5] As a result of this acquisition, and two others at the same time, CI became the second largest fund management company in Canada.[5]

In 2005, CI changed its name to CI Financial, to reflect the diversity of its activities.[6] In 2007, it acquired Rockwater Capital for $250 million.[7] This deal allowed CI to expand into the investment banking business.[7] In 2008, Sun Life Financial sold its 37% ownership in CI to Scotiabank for $2.3 billion.[8] Scotiabank made the purchase to strengthen its relatively weak wealth management business.[8] Sun Life had held the stake until before 2003. In 2010, CI acquired Hartford Investments's Canadian operations.[9] In 2014, Scotiabank sold most of its stake in CI, in part due to conflicts with the management of the company.[10] In 2015, CI acquired First Asset Capital Corp., allowing it to expand into offering exchange-traded funds.[11] In 2017, CI acquired Sentry Investments for $780 million.[1] The deal was intended to lower costs through consolidation.

Also in 2017, CI acquired BBS Securities Inc., parent company of online brokerage Virtual Brokers, due to its investment in Fintech.[12]

Divisions

Controversy

In 2004, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) approved settlement agreements with CI Investments and three other fund companies. As part of the settlement, CI Investments agreed to make a payment of $49.3 million to investors in its mutual funds that were affected by market timing trades carried out by third party investors in certain mutual funds managed by CI Investments.[13][14] In 2016, CI reached a no-contest settlement with the OSC to pay $156 million to 360,000 investors in its mutual funds.[15] The settlement was due to CI Investments miscalculating the net asset value of certain funds, by not properly accounting for interest earned from 2009 to 2015. CI Investments also paid an $8 million voluntary payment to the commission.[16][17] This settlement agreement resulted in the largest amount of compensation paid to investors pursuant to a no-contest settlement agreement in Ontario.[18][15]

References

  1. 1 2 "Why CI is buying Sentry". www.advisor.ca. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  2. ↑ "About Us | CI Financial". CI Financial. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  3. 1 2 3 "From truck driver to deal maker". The Globe and Mail. 2003-08-23. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  4. ↑ "BPI and CI merger to create huge mutual fund firm". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  5. 1 2 "CI Fund Management snaps up two finance companies". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  6. ↑ "CI changing name". The Globe and Mail. 2005-06-27. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  7. 1 2 "CI fund offers $251M for Rockwater Capital". The Toronto Star. 2007-02-12. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  8. 1 2 "Scotiabank scores CI stake from Sun Life". www.advisor.ca. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  9. ↑ "CI Financial acquires Hartford's Canadian arm". The Globe and Mail. 2010-10-21. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  10. ↑ "Scotiabank unloads its stake in CI to welcoming arms". Financial Post. 2014-05-28. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  11. ↑ "CI Financial scoops up ETF provider First Asset Capital". The Globe and Mail. 2015-10-23. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  12. ↑ "CI Financial buys Virtual Brokers parent BBS". The Globe and Mail. 2017-09-08. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  13. ↑ "Market timing at heart of class action". The Globe and Mail. 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  14. ↑ "Regulators assess $203.2 million in penalties over market timing". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  15. 1 2 "CI Investments to pay clients $156-million in OSC settlement deal". The Globe and Mail. 2016-02-10. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  16. ↑ "IN THE MATTER OF THE SECURITIES ACT, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.5, AS AMENDED -AND – CI INVESTMENTS INC" (PDF). Ontario Securities Commission.
  17. ↑ "CIBC divisions to repay $73-million to overcharged customers". The Globe and Mail. 2016-10-28. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  18. ↑ "Critics question settlement program for banks that overcharged fees". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
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