CI Financial’s reach expands to Down Under

CI Financial Corp. is set to purchase an 80% stake in Grant Samuel Funds Management (GSFM), an independent manager and distributor of investment strategies and products in Australia and New Zealand. GSFM’s assets under management exceed AU$6 billion.

Read: Echelon Wealth Partners announces partnership

Terms of the sale were not disclosed, but the transaction is expected to close on or about November 15, 2016.

Read: OSC teams up with Australians to support fintech

“CI has been looking for an opportunity to further expand outside Canada, and Australia was identified as an attractive market, with strong organic growth and a sophisticated investor base,” says Peter W. Anderson, CEO of CI, in a release.

In the same release, Andrew McKinnon, CEO of GSFM, says, “The CI business model is similar to the GSFM model, and the two businesses are culturally aligned.”

GSFM has other partners worldwide: Epoch in New York, Tribeca in Sydney, Payden & Rygel in Los Angeles and Triple 3 in Sydney.

Read: Richardson GMP has “host of options” for potential sale

Under the transaction agreement, current GSFM executives retain a 20% stake. The existing GSFM team will remain in place, with head of distribution Damien McIntyre, COO Peter Nichols and McKinnon continuing to manage all aspects of the company, which will retain the GSFM name.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.