CI Financial reports net sales of $35 million in September

TSX Symbol: CIX

TORONTO , Oct. 1 /CNW/ - CI Financial Corp. ("CI") today reported its seventh consecutive month of asset growth, with assets under management rising $2.0 billion or 3.2% in September to $64.8 billion . Total fee-earning assets increased by $2.7 billion or 2.9% during the month to $93.8 billion .

"The recovery has been quite remarkable, with our assets under management now exceeding their level of September 30 , 2008," said Stephen A. MacPhail, CI President. "The rally of the last seven months has been very positive for our fund investors, who stayed invested and benefited from the turnaround."

In September, CI subsidiaries CI Investments Inc. and United Financial Corporation had combined retail gross sales of $654 million and net sales of $35 million , which consisted of net sales of $64 million in long-term funds and net redemptions of $29 million in money market funds. A single institutional investor accounted for $27 million of the money market redemptions.

At September 30, 2009 , assets under management consisted of investment funds and structured products at CI Investments and United Financial of $60.6 billion , and institutional assets of $4.2 billion . CI also reported assets under administration of $28.2 billion , which consisted of $20.8 billion in assets under administration at Assante Wealth Management ( Canada ) Ltd. and $7.4 billion in assets under administration at Blackmont Capital Inc. Other fee-earning assets totalled $790 million .

Additional information about CI's sales, assets and financial position can be found below in the tables of preliminary statistics and on its website, www.ci.com/cix, in the Statistics section. The sales and assets reported in this release are the only statistics authorized by CI and CI takes no responsibility for reporting by any external sources.

    
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                             CI FINANCIAL CORP.
                             September 30, 2009
                             MONTH-END STATISTICS
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    MONTHLY SALES DATA                 GROSS SALES  REDEMPTIONS   NET SALES
    RETAIL MANAGED FUNDS                (millions)   (millions)   (millions)
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    Long-term funds                          $594         $530          $64
    Short-term funds                          $60          $89         -$29
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    TOTAL RETAIL FUNDS                       $654         $619          $35
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    FEE-EARNING ASSETS                     August    September
                                            31/09        30/09          %
                                        (millions)   (millions)      Change
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    Retail assets under management        $58,867      $60,610          3.0%
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    Institutional managed assets            3,984        4,221          5.9%
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    TOTAL assets under management         $62,851      $64,831          3.2%
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    Assante assets under
     administration*                     20,263       20,786          2.6%
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    Blackmont assets under
     administration                         7,243        7,412          2.3%
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    TOTAL assets under administration     $27,507      $28,198          2.5%
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    CI other fee-earning assets               796          790         -0.8%
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    TOTAL FEE-EARNING ASSETS              $91,154      $93,819          2.9%
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    MONTHLY AVERAGE RETAIL                 August    September
    ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT                 31/09        30/09          %
                                        (millions)   (millions)      Change
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    Monthly average retail assets         $58,343      $59,937          2.7%
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    QUARTERLY AVERAGE RETAIL                 June    September
    ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT                 30/09        30/09          %
                                        (millions)   (millions)      Change
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    Quarterly average retail assets       $53,727      $57,963          7.9%
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    FISCAL AVERAGE RETAIL                December    September
    ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT                 31/08        30/09          %
                                        (millions)   (millions)      Change
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    Fiscal year average retail assets     $60,208      $53,491        -11.2%
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                                          FINANCIAL POSITION
    EQUITY                                (millions)
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    Total outstanding shares 292,423,141  Bank debt                     $781
    QTD weighted avg. shares 292,395,093  Cash and marketable securities (28)
    Yield at $20.59                 2.9%  -----------------------------------
    In-the-money options       6,857,272  Net debt outstanding          $753
                                          -----------------------------------
    Percentage of all options        99%  In-the-money option liability
                                          (net of tax)                   $15
    All options % of shares         2.4%  Terminal redemption value
                                           of funds                     $799
                                          Quarter-to-date equity-based
                                           compensation(xx)              $11
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    *  Includes CI and United Financial investment fund assets administered
         by Assante advisors.
    (xx) Estimate partially based on marked-to-market pre-tax option expense
         accrual from change in share price and vesting from last quarter-end
         ($19.14) to September 30, 2009 ($20.59).

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    GEOGRAPHIC EXPOSURE OF AUM
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    Canada                      50%               Asia                    3%
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    United States               22%               Other                   4%
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    Europe                      10%               Cash                   11%
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CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX) is an independent, Canadian-owned wealth management company. CI offers a broad range of investment products and services, including an industry-leading selection of investment funds. CI is on the Web at www.ci.com/cix.

This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to CI and its products and services, including its business operations and strategy and financial performance and condition. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, among other things, general economic and market factors, including interest rates, business competition, changes in government regulations or in tax laws, and other factors discussed in materials filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time.

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