Securityholders vote in favour of Investors Group mutual fund changes

WINNIPEG, Sept. 1, 2017 /CNW/ - At meetings held yesterday, Investors Group securityholders voted in favour of a number of fund mergers that will help simplify its mutual fund offering as well as investment objective and strategy changes that will enable flexible asset allocation and increase portfolio management efficiencies. The approved changes may also result in fee reductions in some instances.

"Merging the Alto Portfolios into Allegro provides our Alto clients access to a wider range of investment solutions along with dynamic asset allocation capabilities for certain portfolios," said Todd Asman, Executive Vice-President, Products and Financial Planning. "This enables us to respond quickly to changes in the markets and the economy by adjusting the equity and fixed income allocations of the underlying funds. We are also very pleased to announce that Alain Bergeron of Mackenzie Investments will assume the portfolio construction and asset allocation duties for the Alto Monthly Income Portfolios."

Fund Mergers Vote

All proposed mergers were approved by securityholders and are expected to take effect on or about the close of business on September 8, 2017. The fund mergers will streamline Investors Group's existing product offering and ensure clients and advisors have access to premium and diversified investment solutions.

Please see the June 15, 2017, news release in the attached appendix for a list of the affected mutual funds.

Investment Objective Changes Vote

Approved in a separate meeting yesterday, were the following investment objective changes:

1) Effective on or about the close of business on September 6, 2017, Investors Group will change the investment objectives and strategies for their Allegro Portfolios to a dynamic asset allocation strategy. The change will allow the funds to invest in fixed income, equity and/or other asset classes within disclosed ranges for greater flexibility to respond more quickly to changing market conditions.

2) Investment objective and/or strategy changes for several Investors Group Corporate Classes will also take place so that they may invest in the corresponding unit trust fund versions. These changes are expected to be effective after the close of business on or about September 6, 2017.

3) Effective on or about the close of business on September 6, 2017, Investors Group will change the investment objectives for Allegro Balanced Growth Canada Focus Portfolio Class and Allegro Growth Canada Focus Class to increase the geographic diversification.  

Please see the news release in the attached appendix for mutual funds affected by each investment objective, strategy or name change.

Volatility Risk Rating Change

In addition, Investors Group will be changing the volatility risk rating of Investors Greater China Class (to be known as Investors Pan Asian Equity Class II) from "High" to "Medium to High" effective September 6, 2017.

This is not a solicitation to purchase securities of these funds.  Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual funds investments.  Please read the prospectus of the mutual funds before investing.  Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. These funds are distributed across Canada by Investors Group Financial Services Inc., (in Quebec, a financial services firm) and Investors Group Securities Inc. (in Quebec, a firm in financial planning).

Founded in 1926, Investors Group is a national leader in delivering personalized financial solutions to Canadians through a network of Consultants located across Canada. In addition to an exclusive family of mutual funds and other investment vehicles, Investors Group offers a wide range of insurance, securities, mortgage and other financial services. Investors Group is a member of the IGM Financial Inc. (TSX: IGM) group of companies.

^TM This trademark is owned by IGM financial Inc. and licensed to its subsidiary corporations.

Appendix

Investors Group announces mutual fund changes

Winnipeg, MB – June 15, 2017: Investors Group has announced a number of proposed changes to its mutual fund offering that will allow quicker response to changing market conditions and help ensure client investments continue to be well positioned for growth.

"These changes will improve our ability to ensure client portfolios are best aligned to address their unique needs," said Todd Asman, Executive Vice-President, Products and Financial Planning. "Our pursuit of excellence in investment and portfolio management is fuelled by our strong commitment to putting clients first."

In addition, Investors Group will be making slight fee reductions on a number of funds.

Proposed Fund Mergers

The following proposed mergers are expected to take effect on or about the close of business on September 8, 2017, subject to all necessary approvals.

Existing Fund (Merging Fund)	To be merged into (Continuing Fund)
Investors Canadian Balanced Fund	Investors Mutual of Canada
Investors Core Canadian Equity Fund	IG Franklin Bissett Canadian Equity Fund
IG Templeton International Equity Fund	IG Mackenzie Ivy European Fund
Investors International Equity Fund	IG Mackenzie Ivy European Fund
Investors Greater China Fund	Investors Pan Asian Equity Fund
Alto Conservative Portfolio	Allegro Conservative Portfolio^1
Alto Moderate Conservative Portfolio	Allegro Moderate Conservative Portfolio^1
Alto Moderate Portfolio	Allegro Moderate Portfolio^1
Alto Moderate Aggressive Portfolio	Allegro Moderate Aggressive Portfolio^1
Alto Moderate Aggressive Canada Focus Portfolio	Allegro Moderate Aggressive Portfolio^1
Allegro Moderate Aggressive Canada Focus Portfolio	Allegro Moderate Aggressive Portfolio^1
Alto Aggressive Portfolio	Allegro Aggressive Portfolio^1
Alto Aggressive Canada Focus Portfolio	Allegro Aggressive Portfolio^1
Allegro Aggressive Canada Focus Portfolio	Allegro Aggressive Portfolio^1

________________________

¹ Allegro Portfolio funds are undergoing name changes effective on or about July 14, 2017. See Proposed Investment Objective Changes (1) for details.

Proposed Investment Objective Changes

1) Investors Group proposes to change the investment objectives and strategies of specific funds by allowing them to invest in fixed income, equity and/or other asset classes within disclosed ranges. This is expected to allow quicker response to changing market conditions. The changes, effective on or about September 6, 2017, subject to all necessary approvals, affect the following funds: 

Fund	Fund name as of July 14
Allegro Conservative Portfolio	Allegro Income Portfolio
Allegro Moderate Conservative Portfolio	Allegro Income Balanced Portfolio
Allegro Moderate Portfolio	Allegro Balanced Portfolio
Allegro Moderate Aggressive Portfolio	Allegro Balanced Growth Portfolio
Allegro Aggressive Portfolio	Allegro Growth Portfolio
Alto Monthly Income Portfolio	No change
Alto Monthly Income & Growth Portfolio	No change
Alto Monthly Income & Enhanced Growth Portfolio	No change

2) Investment objective and/or strategy changes are also proposed for specific Corporate Classes so that they may invest in the corresponding unit trust fund versions.  This is expected to result in more efficient portfolio management and reduced trading costs in most instances. These changes are expected to be effective on or about September 6, 2017, subject to all necessary approvals.

Class		Fund
IG Franklin Bissett Canadian Equity Class	To invest into	IG Franklin Bissett Canadian Equity Fund
Investors Core Canadian Equity Class	To invest into	IG Franklin Bissett Canadian Equity Fund
IG Mackenzie Ivy European Class	To invest into	IG Mackenzie Ivy European Fund
Investors International Equity Class	To invest into	IG Mackenzie Ivy European Fund
IG Templeton International Equity Class	To invest into	IG Mackenzie Ivy European Fund
Investors Pan Asian Equity Class	To invest into	Investors Pan Asian Equity Fund
Investors Greater China Class	To invest into	Investors Pan Asian Equity Fund

Some of the Corporate Classes named above are undergoing name changes effective on or about September 6, 2017.  These Classes will be closed to new investments other than reinvested distributions and dividends, and existing pre-authorized contribution (PAC) arrangements at that time with the exception of Investors Core Canadian Equity Class, which will be closed on or about September 8.

Current fund name	Fund name as of September 6
Investors Core Canadian Equity Class	IG Franklin Bissett Canadian Equity Class II
Investors International Equity Class	IG Mackenzie Ivy European Class II
IG Templeton International Equity Class	IG Mackenzie Ivy European Class III
Investors Greater China Class	Investors Pan Asian Equity Class II

3) Effective on or about September 6, 2017, subject to all necessary approvals, Investors Group is also proposing to change the investment objectives for Allegro Balanced Growth Canada Focus Portfolio Class and Allegro Growth Canada Focus Class to increase the geographic diversification.

To reflect this shift in focus, the Corporate Classes are undergoing name changes. These Classes will also be closed to new investments other than reinvested distributions and dividends, and for existing pre-authorized contribution (PAC) arrangements at that time. 

Fund	Fund name as of September 6
Allegro Balanced Growth Canada Focus Portfolio Class	Allegro Balanced Growth Portfolio Class II
Allegro Growth Canada Focus Portfolio Class	Allegro Growth Portfolio Class II

Fee Reductions

As of September 1, 2017, several funds will have fee reductions totalling between 0.25 and 8.6 basis points on an annualized basis. Additional details are available in the accompanying Appendix.

Securityholder meetings

The above mergers and investment objective and strategy changes are subject to securityholder approval.  Securityholders of record as at July 7, 2017, will be asked to approve the changes involving their funds at meetings scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on August 31 at Investors Group's head office in Winnipeg.

This is not a solicitation to purchase securities of these funds.  Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual funds investments.  Please read the prospectus of the mutual funds before investing.  Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. These funds are distributed across Canada by Investors Group Financial Services Inc., (in Quebec, a financial services firm) and Investors Group Securities Inc. (in Quebec, a firm in financial planning).

Founded in 1926, Investors Group is a national leader in delivering personalized financial solutions to Canadians through a network of Consultants located across Canada. In addition to an exclusive family of mutual funds and other investment vehicles, Investors Group offers a wide range of insurance, securities, mortgage and other financial services. Investors Group is a member of the IGM Financial Inc. (TSX: IGM) group of companies.

^TM This trademark is owned by IGM financial Inc. and licensed to its subsidiary corporations.

SOURCE Investors Group Financial Services Inc.

Allan Hiebert, Investors Group, [phone], [email protected]