LONDON, ON, Aug. 17, 2026 /CNW/ -- Canada Life Investment Management Ltd. today announced a series of changes to select mutual funds across its Counsel Portfolios and Canada Life Mutual FundsTM shelf. This includes reduced management fees and investment minimums, as well as changes to Fund names, investment strategies, and/or sub-advisors. These changes reflect the firm's ongoing commitment to reviewing and enhancing its product shelf.
"We're taking decisive action to strengthen our mutual fund shelf and today we announce the next evolution of enhancements as we continue along this journey," said Sam Febbraro, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Life Investment Management Ltd. "We're making these enhancements to create a more competitive lineup that's easier for advisors and their clients to navigate and helps Canadians achieve better outcomes."
Enhancing the Visio and Essentials lineup
Canada Life Investment Management Ltd. is making its Visio and Essentials offering more competitive, providing greater accessibility and making name changes to more clearly identify its products as outlined below.
"Advisors and clients have told us they want more choice and greater access to ETF-based investment solutions," said Nick Moumos, Chief Operating Officer, Canada Life Investment Management Ltd. "These enhancements reflect that feedback and reinforce our commitment to delivering competitive, client-focused solutions that help advisors meet evolving investor needs."
Counsel ETF Portfolios Changes
Effective August 17, 2026, all of the Counsel Essentials Portfolios are renamed the Counsel ETF Portfolios to better reflect their investment strategies and underlying investments.
In addition, Counsel Conservative Income Portfolio (renamed to Counsel Income ETF Portfolio) has undergone changes to align with the Counsel ETF Portfolios. Specifically, the Fund's sub-advisor has changed to Mackenzie Financial Corporation, the investment strategies have been amended to primarily invest in ETFs for equity and fixed income exposures and the asset mix range has changed from 20%-40% equity securities and 60%-80% in fixed income securities to 10%-30% equity securities and 70%-90% in fixed income. Finally, the management fee has been reduced from 1.70% to 1.35% for Series A and T and from 0.70% to 0.35% for Series F, FT, I and IT.
Related to the above changes, Counsel Essentials Income Portfolio (renamed to Counsel Conservative ETF Portfolio) changed its asset mix range from 15%-35% equity securities and 65%-85% in fixed income securities to 30%-50% equity securities and 50%-70% in fixed income.
Details of the new names by fund are as follows:
Former Name |
New Name |
Counsel Conservative Income Portfolio |
Counsel Income ETF Portfolio |
Counsel Essentials Income Portfolio |
Counsel Conservative ETF Portfolio |
Counsel Essentials Balanced Portfolio |
Counsel Balanced ETF Portfolio |
Counsel Essentials Growth Portfolio |
Counsel Growth ETF Portfolio |
Counsel Visio Pool Changes
Effective August 17, 2026, all of the IPC Private Wealth Visio Pools are renamed the Counsel Visio Pools and the minimum investment requirement is reduced to $25,000 from $150,000 to be more accessible to investors.
Introducing Canada Life Visio Pools
Effective on or about September 21, 2026, two existing Canada Life Mutual FundsTM will be renamed as Canada Life Visio Pools. As a result, the impacted Funds will undergo the following changes:
- Canada Life Global Equity and Income Fund will be renamed Canada Life Visio Global Balanced Pool, Mackenzie Financial Corporation will remain as the sole sub-advisor to the Fund, and the investment strategies will be amended to reflect an allocation to a concentrated global equity fund in addition to diversifying the Fund's asset classes by investing in ETFs.
- Canada Life Global Balanced Fund will be renamed Canada Life Visio Global Growth Pool, and the Fund's investment strategies will be amended to reflect an allocation to a concentrated global equity fund in addition to diversifying the Fund's asset classes by investing in ETFs.
Strengthening select stand-alone funds through investment strategy and/or sub-advisor changes:
Effective August 17, 2026, certain exclusionary investment criteria of select Canada Life Responsible Investment Branded Funds were removed as outlined below:
Fund Name |
Exclusion removed |
|
Conventional weapons: 10% of revenue |
|
Conventional weapons: 5% of revenue |
In addition, changes will also be made to the Responsible Investment Approach outlined within the Counsel Portfolios' Simplified Prospectus. Currently, all Counsel Portfolios other than the Counsel Money Market, Counsel High Interest Savings Fund, Counsel Essentials Portfolios (renamed Counsel ETF Portfolios) and Counsel Global Listed Private Equity Pool are prohibited from investing in certain companies based on exclusionary criteria and revenue thresholds from specific industries. Effective August 17, 2026, these restrictions will be removed for the Counsel International Growth and Counsel Conservative Income Portfolio (renamed Counsel Income ETF Portfolio), and all other Counsel Portfolios will have these restrictions removed effective on or about January 1, 2027.
Canada Life Strategic Income Fund, effective August 17, 2026, the Fund updated its investment strategy allowing it to invest up to 49% in foreign securities (previously 30%) to provide additional geographical diversification opportunities.
Counsel High Yield Fixed Income, effective on or about August 24, 2026, the Fund will divest all of its investments in the BlueBay Emerging Market Corporate Bond Fund (which currently has an asset allocation range of 20% - 40% of the Fund) and Counsel North American High Yield Bond will continue as the only underlying Fund.
Counsel Canadian Dividend and Counsel Canadian Value, effective on or about September 21, 2026, Mackenzie Financial Corporation will assume sub-advisory responsibility for the Funds. The investment strategies for Counsel Canadian Value will also change to lower the foreign securities limit to 30% (previously 49%).
Counsel U.S. Growth Equity, effective on or about September 28, 2026, Marsico Capital Management LLC will assume sub-advisory responsibility of the Fund. The investment strategies will change to reflect the new sub-advisor's approach to U.S. growth equity investing which includes a more concentrated portfolio that typically includes between 20 and 35 equity securities.
Canada Life Global Growth Equity Fund, effective on or about October 19, 2026, Capital International, Inc. will assume sub-advisory responsibility of the Fund and the investment strategies will change to reflect the new sub-advisor's approach to global equity investing.
About Canada Life Investment Management Ltd.
Canada Life Investment Management Ltd. is an investment management firm offering wealth management products and services for individuals, families and business owners. The funds are sub-advised by leading asset managers, providing access to specialized investment expertise from around the world. CLIML is a subsidiary of The Canada Life Assurance Company. Learn more.
About Canada Life
Canada Life is a leading insurance, wealth management and benefits provider focused on improving the financial, physical, and mental well-being of Canadians. For over 175 years, individuals, families and business owners across Canada have trusted us to provide sound guidance and deliver on the promises we've made. We proudly serve more than 14 million customer relationships from coast to coast. Canada Life is a subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco Inc. and a member of the Power Corporation of Canada group of companies. Visit canadalife.com to learn more.
Canada Life Mutual Funds and Counsel Portfolios are managed by Canada Life Investment Management Ltd. They are distributed by Quadrus Investment Services Ltd., IPC Investment Corporation, and IPC Securities Corporation, and may also be available through other authorised dealers in Canada.
Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.
Canada Life Investment Management and design, and Canada Life and design, are trademarks of The Canada Life Assurance Company.
SOURCE Canada Life Investment Management Ltd. (CLIML)
For more information, contact: Colin Roy, Associate Manager, Media Relations, Canada Life, 204-946-7380, [email protected]
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