CI scores big: Our complete coverage

(August 29, 2003) On a quiet Friday morning in August, CI Fund Management shook up Canada’s mutual fund industry by announcing a $1 billion agreement to acquire financial planning firm Assante and rival fund company Synergy. Advisor.ca has provided extensive coverage of this blockbuster deal over the past week and we’ve bundled all of our articles into one convenient package. This package includes details of the complex agreements, reaction from industry analysts and Assante advisors, a breakdown on possible fund and fund manager changes resulting from the takeovers and an interview with one of the key players in the deal, Synergy president Joe Canavan.

CI Fund Management has moved into the upper echelon of Canada’s mutual fund industry by acquiring the Canadian operations of Assante Corporation as well as Synergy Asset Management. The combined deals, worth nearly $1 billion, will make CI the number-two fund firm in Canada. For full details, please click here.

The massive shake-up that hit the mutual fund sector is being welcomed by those who watch the industry. See what these observers had to tell Advisor.ca about CI Fund Management’s power purchases by clicking here.

Assante advisors are expressing cautious optimism following the announcement on Friday, August 22, that CI Fund Management was buying Assante Asset Management. To read these views from the frontlines, please click here.

CI Fund Management’s takeover of Synergy Mutual Funds last week secured CEO and founder Joe Canavan as president of Assante in what was really a three-part deal. What else did CI get? Find out by clicking here.

Joe Canavan held a breakfast meeting with an Assante advisor this week in Toronto and came away with three pages of suggestions. That’s perhaps an indication of the challenge Canavan faces as he prepares to take the helm at Assante, part of a complex deal announced last week that will see CI Funds acquire both Assante and Synergy, the fund firm Canavan founded in 1997. To read what Canavan had to say to Advisor.ca, please click here.

Staff

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