Goodbye IFIC, hello SIMA

The Investment Funds Institute of Canada, a name that has been synonymous with the industry for more than 60 years, is no more. But the organization itself is starting a new chapter of its story with a new name.

From today, IFIC is SIMA, or to give it its full name, the Securities and Investment Management Association, reflecting an expanded mandate as the leading voice for investment fund managers, investment and mutual fund dealers, and capital markets participants.

Andrew Mitchell became CEO of IFIC just over two years ago having led the asset management distribution operations of SEI Investments Company Canada, and previous roles at Worldsource Wealth Management, Standard Life Canada, and Bank of America Canada.

In an interview with WP, he revealed the rebrand from IFIC to SIMA and explained the rationale behind the change.

“The catalyst for rebranding was this shift from the two-legged stool of asset management and wealth management to a three-legged stool of asset management, wealth management and capital markets,” he said, adding that the new name better reflects where the industry is now, and how it sees itself, through the choice of words used.

“Investment funds is not in there, but investment management is, because that's what we do. And that's what many of our manager members would say, they are diverse in how they wrap a vehicle for various investor types,” Mitchell said.

The word ‘institute’ has been replaced by ‘association’ too, and this in recognition that, while IFIC/SIMA has an education element, it was felt that institute may suggest academia or even a regulatory organization.

“So we wanted to get away from that. And we wanted to make sure that if you don't know IFIC today in Canada or globally, that the name itself has an ease of understanding. And it's a little more progressive and forward looking,” Mitchell added.

Another word that has gone is Canada. While there are only so many word that you would want in name or letters in an acronym – and the choices made for SIMA allow a certain amount of future-proofing – does the change also allow for geographic expansion?

“It's interesting you bring up kind of the global ambition thing. I wouldn't say we have that at all, but we definitely want to be much more engaged with our global counterparts,” Mitchell said, noting the common ground that international counterparts and other bodies share.

Industry trends and challenges

Moving on to talk about the many trends and challenges that SIMA and its membership are focused on currently and in the coming years, Mitchell spoke of the growth of ETFs alongside mutual funds in recent years, and the burgeoning role of private markets in portfolios.

“You're seeing the private side, not so much yet in retail in Canada, but obviously lots more interest and discussion of how private alternatives fit into, probably more than mass affluent, let's call it affluent and high net worth individuals for now. And the proliferation there of pension plans, not only in Canada but globally, and institutional plans using some of those solution sets,” he said.

He added that there are some large firms such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton, partnering with alternatives specialists and building out the infrastructure for these investments, with discussion and demand likely to expand over the next few years.

Advisory channels

In the advisory space, Mitchell referenced CIRO’s consultation on non-tailored advice, launched in December, asking for feedback from stakeholders including industry representatives, investor advocates and investors, on how to update its guidance for OEO dealers working with DIY investors.

The SIMA chief executive stressed the important role of professional advice and support for investors, amid a rise in social media and finfluencers who may harm both wealth and mental health of those who end up following bad information, especially self-directed investors.

“The more we can provide intelligence up front for that investor to make good choices for themselves, the better off we are. If you're impacting people's wealth by not giving them better options and a better journey, that's a little bit concerning from a risk perspective,” he said.

Tariffs and the economy

With uncertainty around that Canadian economy and how it may be adversely affected by tariffs, Mitchell addressed both short-term and long-term concerns.

“From an industry perspective, I think the argument would be made by our asset management side, and definitely the advice channel, that this is a time to be speaking to your advisor, be thinking about your risk, and maybe the old tenets of basic investing would ring true once again – stay invested, stay diversified, rebalance your portfolio. This is not the time to be taking money away from your portfolio, because you know the age-old story of you miss the few best days in the market, and you can miss a significant amount of return,” he said.

While investment fund sales stats are positive, he highlighted concerns from recent bank earnings reports such as mortgage risk, higher insolvencies, and credit card debt.

“Those are all very concerning at the consumer level. We've got to make sure that we're making sure that the industry remains strong, that we remain resilient, we do our best to work with our members to figure out what those goals are,” he said.

One wish

Asked if he could have one wish granted for the investment industry, Mitchell said improved financial literacy for consumers.

“I don't have all the answers how to solve for that because it's such a huge, huge issue, but that would be the wish for the investor community or the consumer that maybe isn't an investor yet,” he said.

For the industry itself, he would like to see greater efficiency, partly through reduced regulatory burden.

“We have to do it. There's costs there. There's administration processes there. There's overlap. There's duality. And that's not saying we need one CSA or anything else. It's how do we continue to keep that dialogue actionable, to reduce that burden of regulation, ever so slightly, every win would be a win,” he concluded.

From today, the Securities and Investment Management Association (SIMA) is at sima-amvi.ca. In French, it is known as Association des marches de valeurs et des investissements (AMVI).