CI Financial posts loss in third quarter

CI Financial reported a loss of $12.4 million in the third quarter, as well as lower revenues compared to the previous quarter.

The Q3 loss compared to $14.9 million in net income a year earlier and $51.0 million in net income in the previous quarter. CI said Thursday that excluding non-operating items would result in adjusted net income of $132.8 million for Q3 this year, down 2.4% from the previous quarter.

Revenues also fell in the third quarter, dropping by 20.6% to $616.5 million compared to $776.1 milllion in the second quarter, but up by 20.0% from a year earlier. CI said that excluding non-operating items would result in adjusted total net revenues of $669.6 million, and attributed that figure to its acquisition of a U.S. registered investment advisor (RIA) in the quarter, as well as higher average assets in the Canadian wealth management segment.

Client assets in the Canadian wealth management segment totalled $81.5 billion at the end of the third quarter, down slightly from $82.6 billion at the end of the previous quarter and up from $73.9 billion at the end of the same quarter last year.

CI saw net outflows of $465 million across its entire asset management segment in the quarter, with asset management AUM at $119 billion as of Sept. 30. That’s up from $114 billion as of the same time last year.

Asset management segment revenues also declined, driven by lower interest income.

CI reported a 10.2% quarter-over-quarter decrease in expenses, though expenses rose by 1.3% when excluding non-operating items.

In October, CI acquired Windsor Wealth Management Inc., an Indianapolis-based RIA with approximately $1.9 billion in assets under management.

As mentioned on its second-quarter earnings call, CI converted client assets at Aligned Capital Partners to the CI Investment Services custody and clearing platform during the third quarter. As of Sept. 30, $23.4 billion in assets are on the platform, up from from $9.1 billion as of June 30.

CI declared a quarterly dividend of 20 cents per share.

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.