Ms. Jennifer Sinopoli reports

CI GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT ANNOUNCES ENHANCEMENTS TO SELECTED BOND AND CANADIAN BALANCED FUNDS

CI Financial Corp.'s CI Global Asset Management (CI GAM) has made enhancements to its mutual fund lineup, including management fee reductions on several fixed-income funds and changes to the investment strategies of a key Canadian balanced mandate.

The changes, which are effective today, are:

• Management fee reductions to CI Corporate Bond Fund, CI Corporate Bond Class, CI Corporate Bond Corporate Class, CI High Yield Bond Fund and CI High Yield Bond Corporate Class;
• Revisions to the investment strategies of CI Canadian Balanced Fund and CI Canadian Balanced Corporate Class to allow for up to 10 per cent of their portfolios to be invested in private, non-traditional investments, with the goal of further diversifying their portfolios and providing the potential for enhanced risk-adjusted returns.

"These moves reflect the ongoing modernization of our product lineup, ensuring that CI GAM continues to provide a broad selection of effective solutions that meet the needs of Canadian investors in a challenging environment," said Jennifer Sinopoli, executive vice-president and head of distribution for CI GAM.

"In addition to building out our mutual fund and ETF lineup with relevant new products, including private markets and other alternative investments, we continue to enhance our existing product lineup. Pricing changes and expanding our presence in alternative investments are just two examples of these improvements."

Management fee reductions

The base management fees for CI Corporate Bond Fund, CI Corporate Bond Class and CI Corporate Bond Corporate Class have been reduced by 15 basis points to 0.55 per cent for Series F and P and to 1.05 per cent for Series A. The base management fees for CI High Yield Bond Fund and CI High Yield Bond Corporate Class have been reduced by 20 basis points to 0.60 per cent for Series F and P and to 1.35 per cent for Series A.

Management fee reductions for these funds have also been applied to certain tiers of the CI Prestige preferred pricing program, which provides discounted pricing as eligible assets invested with CI GAM reach certain thresholds, starting at $100,000.

"These are strong core fixed-income funds with solid track records and a management team with decades of experience investing in corporate credit," said Ms. Sinopoli. "The management fee reductions announced today make our funds even more competitive in these key bond fund categories."

CI GAM is one of Canada's largest fixed-income investment managers, with approximately $23.8-billion (as at Sept. 30, 2023) in fixed-income assets under management across a broad range of asset classes and fund mandates.

The CI Corporate Bond funds invest primarily in a mix of investment-grade and high-yield corporate bonds. The funds benefit from the CI GAM team's active management of the asset mix, as well as its research and analysis into individual corporate issuers. CI Corporate Bond Fund (Series F) holds an overall four-star rating from Morningstar Canada and is first quartile over the one-, three- and 10-year periods ending Sept. 30, 2023.

The CI High Yield Bond funds invest primarily in high-yield corporate bonds and benefit from the CI GAM team's credit analysis of individual holdings, as well as its macroeconomic insights that guide security selection. CI High Yield Bond Fund (Series F) holds an overall four-star rating from Morningstar Canada and is first quartile over the one-, three-, five- and 10-year periods ending Sept. 30, 2023.

The new effective management fees are as shown in an attached table.

The changes follow significant reductions to the management fees of CI GAM money market funds earlier this year.

Changes to the CI Canadian Balanced mandate

CI Canadian Balanced Fund and CI Canadian Balanced Corporate Class currently invest primarily in a mix of Canadian equity, equity-related and fixed-income securities. Under the revised investment strategies, they may invest up to 10 per cent of their portfolios in private, non-traditional investments, which are those that are not publicly listed or traded. These may include investments in private equity, private credit, private real estate, private infrastructure and venture capital.

"The addition of a private markets component to a balanced portfolio can deliver a number of potential benefits," said Marc-Andre Lewis, executive vice-president and chief investment officer of CI GAM. "Private markets offer access to a differentiated set of investment opportunities and their risk-return profile is uncorrelated to public markets. This provides the potential for increased portfolio diversification, lower realized volatility and enhanced risk-adjusted returns."

CI GAM intends for the CI Canadian Balanced funds to make their allocation to private investments through existing private markets solutions managed by CI GAM. CI GAM has enlisted leading alternative asset managers to participate in its private markets solutions, which include a growth mandate and an income mandate.

The CI Canadian Balanced funds' revised investment strategies set out a neutral asset mix of approximately 55 per cent equity securities, 40 per cent fixed-income securities and 5 per cent private, non-traditional investments. Generally, their asset mix will be within the following ranges: 50 per cent to 60 per cent equity securities; 30 per cent to 50 per cent fixed-income securities; and 0 per cent to 10 per cent private, non-traditional investments. Note that CI Canadian Balanced Corporate Class currently gains exposure to these asset classes indirectly by investing in CI Canadian Balanced Fund. The funds' investment objectives are not changing.

The investment strategy changes do not apply to CI Canadian Balanced Pooled Fund, a mandate offered to institutional investors.

About CI Global Asset Management

CI Global Asset Management is one of Canada's largest investment management companies. It offers a wide range of investment products and services. CI GAM is a subsidiary of CI Financial, an integrated global asset and wealth management company with approximately $421-billion in assets as at Sept. 30, 2023.