CI Financial completes acquisition of WisdomTree's Canadian ETF business, announces ETF name changes

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TORONTO, Feb. 20, 2020 /CNW/ - CI Financial Corp. ("CI") (TSX: CIX) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of all issued and outstanding shares of WisdomTree Investments, Inc.'s Canadian exchange-traded fund business, WisdomTree Asset Management Canada, Inc. ("WisdomTree Canada").

The transaction has added 14 Toronto Stock Exchange-listed ETFs with approximately $1 billion in assets under management to CI's family of ETFs – increasing CI's ETF assets to over $10 billion. CI is maintaining the existing lineup of WisdomTree Canada ETFs with no changes to their current investment objectives, strategies and underlying indexes; however, the names of the WisdomTree Canada ETFs are being changed effective March 4, 2020.

"With over 55 mandates and $10 billion in assets, we are well positioned in the ETF market with size, scale and breadth of products," said Kurt MacAlpine, CI Chief Executive Officer. "As a client-focused organization, CI is offering its solutions in a variety of investment structures, including ETFs, so that investors can access our capabilities in the structure they prefer."

The acquisition is another step in the execution of CI's strategic priorities of modernizing its asset management business, expanding its wealth management platform and globalizing the firm. "The addition of ETFs offering WisdomTree's fundamentally weighted approach to indexing, along with the recent launch of CI Liquid Alternatives™ in an ETF structure, further diversify our lineup and complement CI First Asset's extensive family of smart beta and actively managed ETFs," Mr. MacAlpine said. "With this acquisition, we are modernizing CI's asset management operations and accessing expertise on a global basis to enhance our products and services."

The name of the manager of WisdomTree Canada's ETFs will be changed to CI ETF Investment Management Inc. from WisdomTree Asset Management Canada, Inc. ("CI ETF"), effective today. Terms of the acquisition were previously disclosed in a November 2019press release.

Name changes

The names of WisdomTree Canada's ETFs will be changed effective March 4, 2020, as shown below. WisdomTree Investments, Inc. has licensed to CI ETF the right to use and refer to certain WisdomTree indexes and therefore certain ETFs will continue to use the WisdomTree name. Information about CI's ETFs is available at firstasset.com.

About CI Financial

CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX) is an independent Canadian company offering global asset management and wealth management advisory services. CI held approximately $182.8 billion in fee-earning assets as of January 30, 2020. Its primary operating businesses are CI Investments Inc., Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Ltd., CI Private Counsel LP, GSFM Pty Ltd., WealthBar Financial Services Inc., and BBS Securities Inc. Further information is available at www.cifinancial.com.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses may be associated with an investment in exchange traded funds (ETFs). Please read the prospectus before investing. ETFs are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Individuals should seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, prior to investing. You will usually pay brokerage fees to your dealer if you purchase or sell units of an ETF on the TSX or the NEO Exchange. If the units are purchased or sold on the TSX or the NEO Exchange, investors may pay more than the current net asset value when buying units of the ETF and may receive less than the current net asset value when selling them.

"WisdomTree®" and "Variably Hedged®" are registered trademarks of WisdomTree Investments, Inc. and WisdomTree Investments, Inc. has patent applications pending on the methodology and operation of its indexes. The ETFs referring to such indexes (the "WT Licensee Products") are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by WisdomTree Investments, Inc. or its affiliates ("WisdomTree"). WisdomTree makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, and shall have no liability regarding the advisability, legality (including the accuracy or adequacy of descriptions and disclosures relating to the WT Licensee Products) or suitability of investing in or purchasing securities or other financial instruments or products generally, or of the WT Licensee Products in particular (including, without limitation, the failure of the WT Licensee Products to achieve their investment objectives) or regarding use of such indexes or any data included therein.

SOURCE CI Financial Corp.

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