Firm failed to find new auditor to meet regulatory deadline
Emerge Canada, the investment manager that first carried strategies run by Cathie Wood’s ARK Investments to the Great White North, is facing a setback after failing to find an auditor for its funds.
In a statement, the firm said the Ontario Securities Commission has issued a cease trade order in respect to its suite of Emerge ETFs.
The CTO dated Thursday was precipitated by Emerge’s failure to file audited annual financial statements, fund performance reports, and associated filings for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 by the prescribed March 31, 2023 deadline.
Emerge referenced an announcement from December 19, where it revealed its relationship with BDO LLP, the previous auditor of the Emerge ETFs, had ended. The firm said it has since been working to find a replacement.
“Once a new auditor is secured, [we] will expeditiously work to complete and file the Annual Filings and seek to have the CTO lifted,” Emerge said yesterday.
The firm encouraged unitholders of the Emerge ETFs to reach out to investment advisors, or its customer relations team, in order to find out the implications of the CTO for them.
The CTO impacts 11 Emerge ETFs, including its six ARK sub-advised strategies and its five recently launched EMPWR ETFs. Last September, Emerge introduced the EMPWR funds as the initial offering under its EMPWR initiative to highlight women-led investment managers while promoting sustainable investing.
In a December 14 securities filing, Emerge told regulators that BDO had “resigned, on its own initiative” effect November 3, adding that the auditor firm had voiced no reservations in reports it had prepared for the Emerge funds for the 2020 and 2021 financial years.
Wealth Professional has approached Emerge Canada for additional comment.
