Fiera reports $23-million profit in first quarter

Montreal-based Fiera Capital Corp. reported net earnings of $23 million for the first quarter of 2021, while assets under management (AUM) declined.

Fiera’s $23-million Q1 profit compared to $12 million in the same period a year ago, the firm said in its earnings report on Thursday.

In the previous quarter, Fiera reported a loss due to an impairment charge related to the Fiera Capital Emerging Markets Fund. In the fourth quarter of 2020, City National Rochdale informed Fiera that it would no longer offer the fund to its clients, thereby discontinuing its revenue-sharing arrangement with Fiera.

The termination of that arrangement, as well as Fiera’s sale of Bel Air Investment Advisors — its ultra-high-net-worth private wealth platform — earlier this year, reduced AUM by $10.3 billion, Fiera said in the earnings report.

Fiera was managing $172.9 billion in assets on March 31, an almost 5% decline from $181.9 billion on Dec. 31, 2020. Year-over-year AUM was up 8.4%.

The NCR and Bel Air transactions aside, Fiera reported net organic AUM growth of $3.1 billion during the quarter, including $3.2 billion in new mandates won in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

Fixed income markets and foreign exchange movements reduced AUM by $1.7 billion during the quarter, the firm said.

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