News Press Releases

CI Global Asset Management Launches World's First Ethereum Mutual Fund

T.CIX | April 26, 2021

CI Ethereum Fund is the latest investment option in CI GAM’s cryptocurrency suite

Not for distribution to U.S. newswire services or for dissemination in the United States.

CI Global Asset Management (“CI GAM”) today announced the launch of CI Ethereum Fund (“the Fund”), the world’s first mutual fund to provide exposure to Ether, the cryptocurrency built on the Ethereum blockchain.

The Fund carries an industry-low management fee of 0.40% (for Series F), which CI GAM has entirely waived until June 15, 2021. The Fund’s management expense ratio (“MER”) has also been capped at 1.00% (Series F).

The introduction of the Fund follows CI GAM’s launch last week of CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF (TSX: ETHX), the world’s first ETF to invest directly in Ether. CI Ethereum Fund invests in units of CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF. CI GAM also offers a bitcoin mandate in both the ETF and mutual fund structures: CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (TSX: BTCX) and CI Bitcoin Fund.

“CI Global Asset Management is the only company in the world offering convenient, low-cost and secure exposure to the two largest cryptocurrencies through both ETFs and mutual funds,” said Kurt MacAlpine, Chief Executive Officer of CI Financial, the parent company of CI GAM.

“Importantly, these products allow investors to access these digital assets through their financial advisors, so they can be integrated into an investor’s existing portfolio and investment plan. Building a leadership position in the digital assets sector as it becomes increasingly mainstream is an important part of CI GAM’s mission to offer investors timely and relevant investment solutions in the product structure they prefer.”

CI Ethereum Fund’s investment objective is to provide unitholders with exposure to Ether through an institutional-quality fund platform. It invests all or substantially all of its assets in CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF. The Fund is available to retail investors in Canada in Series A, F and P units. The management fees have been waived until June 15, 2021, at which time they will revert back to a management fee of 0.90% for Series A and 0.40% for Series F. The MER for each series has been capped at 1.55% and 1.00%, respectively.

Key benefits of investing in CI Ethereum Fund include a convenient way to gain exposure to Ether, which provides potential diversification benefits due to its low correlation to other asset classes. The Fund also offers the expertise of a leading digital asset portfolio management team, secure storage of Ether in a segregated cold storage system, and the ability to be held in registered plans.

CI GAM is the manager of the Fund and CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF and Galaxy Digital Asset Management (“GDAM”) serves as the sub-advisor. As sub-advisor, GDAM executes Ether trading on behalf of the ETF. GDAM is the Asset Management arm of Galaxy Digital, a diversified financial services firm dedicated to the digital asset and blockchain technology sector.

More information is available at www.ci.com/ethereum/ .

About Galaxy Digital

Galaxy Digital Capital Management LP is an affiliate of Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. (TSX: GLXY) (“Galaxy Digital”). Galaxy Digital is a diversified financial services and investment management company in the digital asset, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology sector, and currently operates four distinct business lines, which include: Trading, Asset Management, Principal Investments and Investment Banking. Galaxy Digital’s CEO and Founder is Michael Novogratz. Galaxy Digital is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Chicago, San Francisco, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands (registered office) and New Jersey. Additional information about Galaxy Digital’s businesses is available on www.galaxydigital.io .

About CI Global Asset Management

CI Global Asset Management is one of Canada’s largest investment management companies. It offers a wide range of investment products and services and is on the Web at www.ci.com . CI GAM is a subsidiary of CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX, NYSE: CIXX), an independent company offering global asset management and wealth management advisory services with approximately C$240.6 billion in total assets as at March 31, 2021.

CI Ethereum Fund is a mutual fund that provides unitholders exposure to Ether. Given the speculative nature of Ether and the volatility of the Ether markets, an investment in the Fund may be deemed speculative and is not intended as a complete investment program and is appropriate only for investors who have the capacity to absorb a loss of some or all of their investment. An investment in the Fund is considered high risk.

The securities offered have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities nor will there be any sale of such securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with an investment in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Please read the prospectus before investing. Important information about mutual funds and ETFs is contained in their respective prospectus. Mutual funds and ETFs are not guaranteed; their values change frequently, and past performance may not be repeated. You will usually pay brokerage fees to your dealer if you purchase or sell units of an ETF on recognized Canadian exchanges. If the units are purchased or sold on these Canadian exchanges, 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.

This communication is provided as a general source of information and should not be considered personal, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice, or construed as an endorsement or recommendation of any entity or security discussed. Individuals should seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding any particular investment. Investors should consult their professional advisors prior to implementing any changes to their investment strategies.

Certain statements in this document are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements (“FLS”) are statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” or “estimate,” or other similar expressions. Statements that look forward in time or include anything other than historical information are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results, actions or events could differ materially from those set forth in the FLS. FLS are not guarantees of future performance and are by their nature based on numerous assumptions. Although the FLS contained herein are based upon what CI Global Asset Management believes to be reasonable assumptions, CI Global Asset Management cannot assure that actual results will be consistent with these FLS. The reader is cautioned to consider the FLS carefully and not to place undue reliance on FLS. Unless required by applicable law, it is not undertaken, and specifically disclaimed that there is any intention or obligation to update or revise FLS, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CI Global Asset Management is a registered business name of CI Investments Inc.