CI closes deal for majority stake in Aligned Capital

CI Financial Corp. announced on Tuesday that it has completed the acquisition of a majority interest in Aligned Capital Partners Inc., a full-service investment advisory firm based in Burlington, Ont., with over 200 financial advisors administering approximately $10 billion in assets.

The Aligned deal, which was first announced on Aug. 5, closed on Monday and increases CI’s total assets to $204 billion. In Canada, CI now has approximately $61 billion in wealth management assets and 1,100 advisor teams. Including CI’s U.S. businesses, CI’s wealth management assets now total $76 billion. (Totals are based on assets as of September 30.)

“The Aligned team has achieved rapid growth due to its innovation, exceptional support for advisors and commitment to improving clients’ lives,” said Kurt MacAlpine, CEO of CI, in a release. “The firm is an excellent fit for CI.”

The Aligned transaction is “a step forward” in executing CI’s strategic priority of expanding its wealth management platform, MacAlpine said.

“Our growing scale in wealth management will allow us to realize important synergies while supporting continued investment in enhanced services for clients and advisors,” he said.

Aligned Capital will continue to be led by its existing management team, Christopher Enright, the firm’s founding partner and president and managing director, and Michael Greer, founding partner, executive vice president and managing director.

In addition to the acquisition of Aligned Capital, CI has also recently made six direct acquisitions of interests in U.S. registered investment advisor (RIA) firms and three indirect transactions, which were made by the RIAs.

CI has agreed to acquire Bowling Portfolio Management LLC of Cincinnati, Ohio, and holds ownership interests in:

• Balasa Dinverno Foltz LLC (“BDF”) of Itasca, Illinois
• The Cabana Group, LLC, of Fayetteville, Arkansas
• Congress Wealth Management, LLC of Boston, Massachusetts
• One Capital Management, LLC, of Westlake Village, California
• Surevest, LLC, of Phoenix, Arizona.

Rudy Mezzetta

Rudy is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on tax, estate planning, industry news and more since 2005. Reach him at rudy@newcom.ca.