CI Global Asset Management is buying the management agreements for Invesco’s Canadian funds, which oversee a combined $26-billion of assets.Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
CI Financial Corp.’s CIX-T asset management arm is taking over Invesco Ltd.’s Canadian fund business, acquiring control of about 100 mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
CI Global Asset Management is buying the management agreements for Invesco’s Canadian funds, which oversee a combined $26-billion of assets, expanding the lineup of products CI can offer to clients.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Invesco, now based in Atlanta but formerly British, will continue to serve clients and maintain a presence in Canada as it and CI are also entering a long-term pact to have Invesco’s affiliates help manage 63 funds with $13-billion under management, providing portfolio management services.
Invesco spokesperson Andrea Raphael said in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail that as part of the partnership with CI, Invesco will be “reducing its Canadian operating footprint to ensure alignment with the future structure of our business.”
CI Financial did not respond to The Globe’s request for comment.
The transaction adds to a trend of consolidation in Canadian wealth and asset management. Since last summer, Quebec’s iA Financial Corporation Inc. IAG-T bought independent wealth manager RF Capital Group Inc. RCG-T, and Desjardins Group acquired money manager Guardian Capital Group Inc. GCG-T
CI Financial was itself acquired by Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Capital in a $4.7-billion privatization deal late in 2024, after an audacious U.S. expansion led by chief executive officer Kurt MacAlpine through which the asset manager took on billions of dollars of debt.
The privatization of CI came at a time when the company was under pressure from shareholders to take its U.S. arm public and show it had a plan to manage its heavy debt load.
The Invesco deal will boost CI’s asset management business to $170-billion, and “highlights how operating as a private company allows us to unlock new opportunities to create meaningful long-term value for CI and our clients,” Mr. MacAlpine said in a news release.
He also said that acquiring Invesco’s funds in Canada “reflects CI Financial’s continued commitment to investing in our Canadian businesses.”
Invesco Canada is a subsidiary of U.S.-based Invesco and was once a dominant mutual fund player in Canada that sold retail products under two well-recognized investment brands, AIM Trimark and PowerShares.
In 2008, U.S. parent Invesco renamed AIM Trimark Investments to Invesco Trimark Ltd., but as the company began to streamline its branding, Trimark was later dropped from the name of the Canadian business.
The Canadian arm retained the Trimark and PowerShares names for a small segment of investment funds offered to investors until 2018, when the two prominent investment brands were officially retired.
In 2009, Invesco was a pioneer in Canada’s ETF market as well as a top provider of the popular, low-cost investment products. But as the ETF space became more crowded, Invesco struggled to hold its market share.
Currently, Invesco is the 13th-largest ETF provider in Canada, with about $9.9-billion in ETF assets as of Jan. 9.
In comparison, CI Financial manages nearly $23-billion in ETFs. Upon the close of the Invesco deal, CI will become Canada’s fifth-largest ETF provider, up from its current eighth position.
“This event marks a significant consolidation of Canadian ETF issuers and may lead to further consolidation given the increasingly competitive landscape,” TD Securities ETF analyst Andres Rincon wrote in a client memo.
In 2019, CI acquired the ETF assets of WisdomTree Canada. Initially, CI co-branded the products as CI WisdomTree. However, as it took over full management of the funds, CI eventually dropped the WisdomTree name.
“We can expect a similar path for Invesco’s funds in Canada,” Mr. Rincon said.
With CI taking over, Invesco’s Canadian funds will gain access to its “vast wealth distribution footprint and scaled operating platform,” while maintaining a connection through the partnership arrangement for certain funds, Invesco CEO Andrew Schlossberg said in a statement.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, if it gains regulatory approval and closing conditions are met. Invesco Canada investors will be asked to approve the change of manager for each fund, and any fund that doesn’t win sufficient support will be left out of the transaction, the companies said.
Jefferies Securities Inc. and Stikeman Elliott LLP advised CI, and Invesco had advice from Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.