Mr. Darcy Hulston reports
CANOE FINANCIAL ACQUIRES FIERA CAPITAL MUTUAL FUNDS
Canoe Financial LP and Fiera Capital Corp. have reached an agreement under which Canoe will acquire the investment fund management contracts for nine of Fiera Capital mutual funds with approximately $785-million in assets. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory and unitholder approvals.
"As an independent investment management firm, we are always seeking opportunities to strategically grow our business and continue to offer a superior investment experience for our investors," said Darcy Hulston, president and chief executive officer of Canoe Financial. "We are very pleased to have acquired Fiera's high-quality investment solutions and look forward to continuing to offer their investors industry-leading active investment management."
Mr. Hulston said the acquisition is part of Canoe's long-term strategy of building scale organically and through acquisitions. The addition of the Fiera Capital mutual funds assets brings Canoe Financial's total assets under management to $5.43-billion.
"Darcy and I are very confident this transaction represents a terrific opportunity for our investors as both Canoe and Fiera share the same commitment to providing quality asset management to Canadians," said Jean-Phillippe Lemay, president and chief operating officer of Fiera's Canadian division. "We are confident that our clients will be in good hands as Canoe Financial has a proven track record of rewarding investors through a diverse lineup of award-winning products."
As part of the transaction, there will be no change in the current portfolio management team for the Fiera Capital Global Equity Fund, the Fiera Capital Defensive Global Equity Fund and the Fiera Capital International Equity Fund. "Fiera Capital's foreign equity team, led by Nadim Rizk, are excellent global managers with impressive long-term returns, so we are very pleased that they will continue to manage all three of these mandates as subadvisers for Canoe," says Mr. Hulston. Additionally, there will be no change in portfolio management to the Fiera Capital Equity Growth Fund, which Fiera Capital will also continue to subadvise.
The proposed transaction is subject to the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals and approval by the unitholders of the Fiera Capital mutual funds. Upon completion of the proposed transaction and subject to receipt of all regulatory and unitholder approvals, Canoe will become the trustee, manager and portfolio manager of the Fiera Capital mutual funds and all funds will undergo a name change to continue under the Canoe banner. In addition, certain of the Fiera Capital mutual funds will be merged into mutual funds managed by Canoe while other Fiera Capital mutual funds will be asked to approve certain other changes.
Fiera Capital mutual funds Proposed material changes
Fiera Capital Global Equity Fund (to be
renamed Canoe Global Equity Fund) Change of trustee, investment fund manager
and portfolio manager
Appointment of Fiera Capital as
subadviser to Canoe
Amendment and restatement of the master
declaration of trust
Adoption of a fixed administration fee
Fiera Capital Defensive Global Equity
Fund (to be renamed Canoe Defensive Global
Equity Fund) Change of trustee, investment fund manager
and portfolio manager
Appointment of Fiera Capital as subadviser to
Canoe
Amendment and restatement of the master
declaration of trust
Adoption of a fixed administration fee
Fiera Capital International Equity Fund (to
be renamed Canoe International Equity Fund) Change of trustee, investment fund manager
and portfolio manager
Appointment of Fiera Capital as subadviser
to Canoe
Amendment and restatement of the master
declaration of trust
Adoption of a fixed administration fee
Fiera Capital Equity Growth Fund (to be
renamed Canoe Canadian Small Mid Cap Fund) Change of trustee, investment fund manager
and portfolio manager
Appointment of Fiera Capital as subadviser
to Canoe
Amendment and restatement of the master
declaration of trust
Adoption of a fixed administration fee
Fiera Capital Diversified Bond Fund
(to be renamed Canoe Diversified Bond Fund) Change of trustee, investment fund manager
and portfolio manager
Merger into Canoe Bond Advantage Fund
Fiera Capital High Income Fund (to be
renamed Canoe High Income Fund) Change of trustee, investment fund manager
and portfolio manager
Merger into Canoe Premium Income Fund
Fiera Capital Core Canadian Equity Fund (to
be renamed Canoe Core Canadian Equity Fund) Change of trustee, investment fund manager and
portfolio manager
Merger into Canoe Equity Portfolio Class
Fiera Capital U.S. Equity Fund (to be
renamed Canoe U.S. Equity Fund) Change of trustee, investment fund manager and
portfolio manager
Merger into Canoe U.S. Equity Income Portfolio Class
Fiera Capital Income and Growth Fund
(to be renamed Canoe Income and Growth Fund) Change of trustee, investment fund manager
and portfolio manager
Merger into Canoe Asset Allocation Portfolio Class
Details about the changes will be contained in meeting materials to be mailed to unitholders of the Fiera Capital mutual funds. More information on the proposed acquisition can be found in the Fiera news release issued today and posted on SEDAR and Canoe Financial.
About Canoe EIT Income Fund
One of Canada's largest closed-end investment funds, designed to maximize monthly distributions and capital appreciation by investing in a broadly diversified portfolio of high-quality securities. The fund is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol EIT.UN and is actively managed by Robert Taylor, senior vice-president and portfolio manager of Canoe Financial.
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