March fund sales expected to be $3.8 billion

The RRSP season ended on a high note for the mutual fund industry, with IFIC estimating preliminary net sales for March of between $3.5 billion and $4.1 billion.

That’s down from February, when net sales were $4.9 billion, but up from March 2005’s total of $3.4 billion.

“The preliminary numbers are a credit to the industry for producing and distributing the kinds of products Canadians want to invest in, especially for the long term,” said IFIC president Joanne De Laurentiis. “And of course, it points to the specific nature of mutual funds themselves and the unique benefits they provide.”

IFIC estimates that net assets of the industry at the end of March will be in the range of $606 to $611 billion, up approximately 3.3% from February.

For a change, one of the big banks was not at the top of the fund company list in March. Instead, CI Financial led the way with an impressive $772 million in net sales.

“March was another strong month for CI,” said company president Stephen MacPhail. “The Canadian and global equity markets made excellent gains, contributing to our best month for growth in managed assets since November 2003.”

RBC Asset Management was a close second, with $719 million in net sales. “March 1st was the final day of a strong RSP season and kicked off another record month,” noted company president Brenda Vince.

Other top performers included TD Asset Management, at $592 million, and IGM Financial, which includes Investors Group, Mackenzie Financial and Counsel Wealth Management, which generated $582 million in net sales.

On the negative side, AIM Trimark had another poor month, with net redemptions of $668 million, while AIC’s lengthy losing streak continued, off $140 million, although AIC points out that redemptions have declined 54% compared to the same month last year.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, doug.watt@advisor.rogers.com