CI Financial completes sale of Blackmont Capital

TSX Symbol: CIX

TORONTO, Dec. 31 /CNW/ - CI Financial Corp. ("CI") announced today that it has completed the sale of Blackmont Capital Inc. ("Blackmont") to Macquarie Group, effective December 31, 2009.

Also today, CI completed the transfer of Blackmont's capital markets operations to CI's newly created wholly owned subsidiary CI Capital Markets. As previously announced on December 3, 2009, a group of employees led by senior management intends to acquire all of the outstanding shares of CI Capital Markets in early 2010.

CI maintains a leading presence in the Canadian retail financial advisory business through its wholly owned subsidiary Assante Wealth Management, one of Canada's largest such firms with approximately 800 financial advisors across the country.

CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX) is an independent, Canadian-owned wealth management company with approximately $87.6 billion in fee-earning assets at November 30, 2009. CI offers a broad range of investment products and services, including an industry-leading selection of investment funds, and is on the Web at www.ci.com/cix.

For further information: Stephen A. MacPhail, President, CI Financial Corp., [phone]