Fiera Capital Corp T.FSZ

Outcomes

[Catscratch]

Any views on possible outcomes for Fiera this year? 

Seems like Desjardins is interested in growing Fiera organically but at some point I think it becomes an interesting target for one of the many larger financial institutions (banks, insurance cos, fund companies).  The cross/up-selling opporunities and cost efficiencies on $160B in AUM would would be pretty attractive for a larger more integrated financial instituation.

[claritas]

I think it will be sold as Mr Desjardins was moving towards retirement already.  It comes down to price.  They have lost large portfolios and the trend is not favorable.  The performance of portfolios under management has weakend.  These factors have pushed the share price down as expectations of a high price from other fund management firms have come back down to earth. 

[Catscratch]

My guess is that is the direction this is going as well.  Fiera is a relatively small fish in a large and crowded pond. If a possible sale is on the table this year I don't think they will change the dividend. Here's a link to a good report from Deloitte on M&A in the investment management business.  Supports that reasonable valuation is 1% to 2% enterprise value to AUM

[Catscratch]

Here's a better link. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/nl/Documents/financial-services/deloitte-nl-fs-asset-management-industry-insight-report.pdf