iA Clarington reduces fees, launches ETFs

iA Clarington has reduced its fees on several funds and launched an ETF series.

The firm will lower fees on 33 funds, it said in a release. As of October 22, funds with a reduced management expense ratio (MER) will include:

MERs for the iA Clarington Managed Portfolios will also fall, starting at 0.94% for the iA Clarington Conservative Portfolio (Series F).

The firm is also launching an Active ETF Series for three of its fixed income funds. This series will use the same strategies, exposures and portfolio managers as the corresponding mutual fund series. The ETF fee structure will be the same as the Series F mutual funds. The series will be available for the following funds:

• iA Clarington Core Plus Bond Fund (management fee for the ETF series is 0.50%)
• iA Clarington Global Bond Fund (management fee for the ETF series is 0.70%)
• iA Clarington Emerging Markets Bond Fund (management fee for the ETF series is 0.80%)

Single fee-based purchase option

The fee-based purchase option of the iA Clarington Elite Series, known as Series EF, will close to new investors as of October 22, the release said. Series F will be the only fee-based purchase option for new investors. Auto-switches into a separate high-net-worth series won’t be necessary with this change. Where applicable, investors will pay the lower of the two Series’ fees.

iA Clarington intends to merge Series EF into Series F in March 2019, subject to necessary approvals, for funds with a Series F fee reduction.

Fund mergers

The firm is also proposing the following funds be merged as of Mar. 22, 2019, subject to regulatory and other approvals. The terminating funds will be closed to new investors as of October 22. Nine of the 10 proposed mergers will require a shareholder vote.

The iA Clarington Tactical Income GIF will be merged into the iA Clarington Strategic Income GIF, and IA Clarington Tactical Bond GIF will be renamed IA Clarington Core Plus Bond GIF, subject to regulatory approval of the proposed mergers.

Staff

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