Advisor Group now owned by Transcontinental

The Advisor Group of properties – Advisor’s Edge, Advisor’s Edge Report, Advisor.ca and the Conseiller brands — has been acquired by Transcontinental Media.

Transcontinental also owns Investment Executive and Finance et Investissement.

When asked why the purchase made sense, Pierre Marcoux, senior vice-president of business and education at TC Media, pointed to the complementary nature of the brands.

“The acquisition of the Advisor Group does reinforce our overall portfolio with Investment [Executive] and Finances et Investissement,” says Marcoux. “We’ve been competing with Advisor Group for many years, but we’re considering that together, we will be stronger. The two groups are quite complementary when it comes to content.”

He points to Advisor’s strength in product coverage and practice management, and says the amount of overlap is small.

“That also reinforces the fact that there are differences in those products, and those differences have translated to the audiences. We can serve a bigger chunk of the market together,” he says. “Right from the get-go, I think there’s room for [all] those brands.”

So what happens now?

“We’re very happy to have a new team joining ours,” he says. “For the following weeks, maybe months, we don’t intend to change anything. Both teams will continue working as they have in the past. And once the integration is done, we will be able to better assess the best way to serve our clients, readers, users and advertisers,” he says.

Marcoux’s message to readers is to expect the same coverage they’ve always enjoyed from Advisor.

“Our goal is to continue serving the readers of Advisor the best way we can. You guys have built a great product. We don’t intend to change anything in that regard. There’s room for [IE] and Advisor, and we’ll find the best way to make that work.”

The brands purchased from Rogers Media Inc. in the transaction are: Advisor’s Edge and Advisor’s Edge Report (advisor.ca), Conseiller and Le journal du Conseiller (conseiller.ca and conseiller.ca/pme), Benefits Canada (benefitscanada.com and smallbizadvisor.ca), Avantages (conseiller.ca/avantages), Canadian Insurance Top Broker (CITopBroker.com), Canadian Investment Review (InvestmentReview.com) and Canadian Institutional Investment Network (institutionalinvestmentnetwork.ca).

Melissa Shin

Melissa is the editorial director of Advisor.ca and leads Newcom Media Inc.’s group of financial publications. She has been with the team since 2011 and been recognized by PMAC and CFA Society Toronto for her reporting. Reach her at mshin@newcom.ca. You may also call or text 416-847-8038 to provide a confidential tip.