IGM Financial’s profit flat in Q3 as investment returns weigh on assets

IGM Financial Inc.’s profit was flat year over year in the third quarter amid continued outflows and poor market returns.

Financial results for the third quarter, released Wednesday, said net earnings were $210 million, or 88 cents per share, down about 3% from $216 million, or 91 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

“Strong earnings contributions from IG Wealth and Mackenzie combined with ongoing discipline in expense management drove this quarter’s results,” James O’Sullivan, president and chief executive officer of IGM Financial, said in a release.

“We believe the business is positioned for long-term growth with our three drivers of growth in wealth management including IG Wealth, Rockefeller Capital and Wealthsimple, and in asset management including Mackenzie Investments, ChinaAMC and Northleaf.”

Net earnings in wealth management (including the discontinued operations of Investment Planning Counsel) were up 6.7% year over year, at nearly $118 million. Canada Life acquired Investment Planning Counsel in April for $575 million.

Assets under management and advisement were $253.4 billion, down 3.0% from the prior quarter and up 6.4% from the third quarter of 2022.

IG Wealth’s assets under advisement were $114 billion, down from $117 billion the previous quarter and up nearly 9% from $105 billion a year ago.

Assets under advisement attributable to high-net-worth clients (households with assets greater than $1 million) totalled $40.7 billion at the end of the quarter — an increase of nearly 21% year over year, the management’s discussion and analysis said. The amount represented 36% of assets under advisement.

AUA attributable to mass affluent clients increased 4.5% and represented 56% of AUA.

IG Wealth’s mutual fund assets under management were $102 billion, down 2.7% from the previous quarter and up nearly 7% from a year ago.

Investment returns resulted in a decrease of $2.4 billion in mutual fund assets compared to a decrease of $739 million in the third quarter of 2022, the management’s discussion and analysis said.

Mutual fund sales through the advisor network were $2.7 billion, an increase of 4% from the previous quarter and of 36% from the same period the previous year.

IG Wealth had net client outflows in the quarter of $17 million, compared to ouflows of $424 million in the previous quarter, and inflows of $406 million in the third quarter of 2022.

Mutual fund net redemptions were $420 million compared to net redemptions of $509 million in the previous quarter and $404 million in the same quarter of 2022.

The firm’s redemption rate for long-term funds “has been very stable compared to the overall mutual fund industry, reflecting our focus on financial planning,” the analysis said.

Last quarter, the firm introduced a new measure — assets under management and advisement including strategic investments — to reflect activities that include China Asset Management Co. Ltd., Northleaf Capital Group Ltd., Rockefeller Capital Management and Wealthsimple Financial Corp.

The measure was $400 billion on Sept. 30, down from $402.8 billion at the end of Q2 and up from $302.1 billion a year ago.

In the second quarter, IGM said it was streamlining operations and cutting jobs to bring costs down.

The firm had 3,231 advisors as of Sept. 30, down 55 advisors from 3,286 a year ago.

In particular, there were fewer less-experienced advisors. As of Sept. 30, the firm had 279 advisors who had less than four years’ experience, down 90 from 369 such advisors a year ago.