Changes include streamlining of product lineup, name changes, and lowered minimums for award-winning strategy
Following previous efforts to improve its investment offerings, CI Global Asset Management (CI GAM), CI Financial’s asset management arm, has announced more changes to streamline and enhance its product lineup.
“The changes announced today are another step in modernizing our asset management business, an important strategic objective for our company,” said CI Financial CEO Kurt MacAlpine. “[W]e are simplifying and streamlining our existing product lineup, making it easier for advisors and investors to do business with us.”
In previous months, CI GAM unveiled a broad range of new investment solutions, and merged its in-house portfolio management boutiques into one global investment platform under the CI GAM brand.
Following an “ongoing comprehensive review” that includes feedback from financial advisors, CI GAM is proposing to merge 23 of its mutual funds and private pools – which includes both fixed income and equity-focused strategies – into other mandates. The management and administration fees that investors will pay in respect of the continuing funds will be the same as or lower than those of the corresponding mutual funds.
Nineteen of the mergers will be put to a vote by security holders of the terminating funds’ securityholders; two of the mergers will also require approval from the continuing funds’ securityholders. Meetings to vote on the proposals are scheduled for March 14, 2022; if approved the mergers will be implemented on or after April 8. Notifications providing full details of the mergers, including for those that do not require security holder approvals, will be sent to affected securityholders in February.
To better align certain funds’ names with their underlying strategies or, in certain cases, to unify CI GAM’s funds under the CI name, the firm has also announced the following name changes:
|
Current Fund Name |
New Fund Name |
|
CI Black Creek Global Balanced Corporate Class |
CI Global Balanced Corporate Class |
|
CI Black Creek Global Balanced Fund |
CI Global Balanced Fund |
|
CI Black Creek Global Leaders Corporate Class |
CI Global Leaders Corporate Class |
|
CI Black Creek Global Leaders Fund |
CI Global Leaders Fund |
|
CI Black Creek International Equity Corporate Class |
CI International Equity Corporate Class |
|
CI Black Creek International Equity Fund |
CI International Equity Fund |
|
CI Canadian Equity Income Class |
CI Canadian All Cap Equity Income Class |
|
CI Global Investment Grade Credit Private Pool |
CI Investment Grade Bond Private Pool |
|
CI Global Investment Grade Private Pool Class |
CI Global Investment Grade Class |
All the name changes will take effect tomorrow, December 1, 2021, except for the CI Canadian Equity Income Class which will be renamed subsequent to the fund mergers on or after April 8 next year.
CI GAM is also reducing the minimum initial investment for CI Global Investment Grade Private Pool Class, which will be renamed CI Global Investment Grade Class, from $25,000 to $500. The change, which will take effect tomorrow, applies to Series A, F, and P shares of the fund, which recently won in two categories at the recent 2021 Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards.
The firm has also lowered the risk rating for the CI Canadian Equity Income Class from medium to low-to-medium, in accordance with the mutual fund risk classification methodology required by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA).
Finally, CI GAM announced that effective on or about March 31, 2022, it will be a portfolio advisor to the CI Global Health Sciences Corporate Class. The firm is replacing the fund’s current sub-advisor, Altrinsic Global Advisors. Jeff Elliott, who holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry as well as an MBA and the CFA designation, has been assigned as lead portfolio manager.
