CI Financial reports sales and assets for August

TSX Symbol: CIX

TORONTO, Sept. 2 /CNW/ - CI Financial Corp. ("CI") today reported gross retail sales of $587 million and net redemptions of $15 million for the month of August. Total assets under management at August 31, 2010 were $66.7 billion, a decrease of 0.5% over the month. Average retail assets under management for August were $63.4 billion, up 1.3% from $62.5 billion in July.

Sales consisted of $16 million in net redemptions of long-term funds and $1 million of net sales in money market funds. For the year-to-date, CI had gross retail sales of $6.8 billion and net sales of $1.2 billion.

Total fee-earning assets at August 31, 2010 were $88.5 billion. Assets under management consisted of retail investment funds at CI Investments Inc. of $63.2 billion and institutional assets of $3.6 billion. CI also reported assets under administration at Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Ltd. of $21.2 billion, and other fee-earning assets of $564 million.

Red Sky Capital Management, of which CI owns a substantial minority interest, launched the Red Sky Partners Fund on September 1, 2010 with an initial subscription of $34 million in assets under management. Red Sky Partners Fund is managed by industry veteran, Timothy Lazaris, and administered by CI.

In addition, on August 27, 2010, ScotiaFunds(TM) launched two new funds: The Scotia Global Balanced Fund and the Scotia Global Dividend Fund, which will be sub-advised by CI Investments.

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.
                               August 31, 2010
                             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                     $517           $533           -$16
    Short-term funds                     $70            $69             $1
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    TOTAL RETAIL FUNDS                  $587           $602           -$15
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    FEE-EARNING ASSETS                  Jul 31/10    Aug 31/10           %
                                        (millions)   (millions)       Change
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    Retail assets under management       $63,589       $63,172         -0.7%
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    Institutional managed assets           3,500         3,555          1.6%
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    TOTAL assets under management        $67,089       $66,727         -0.5%
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    Assante assets under
     administration*                    20,966        21,246          1.3%
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    CI other fee-earning assets              624           564         -9.6%
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    TOTAL FEE-EARNING ASSETS             $88,679       $88,537         -0.2%
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    MONTHLY AVERAGE RETAIL              Jul 31/10    Aug 31/10           %
    ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT             (millions)   (millions)       Change
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    Monthly average retail assets        $62,537      $63,352           1.3%
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    QUARTERLY AVERAGE RETAIL            Jul 31/10    Aug 31/10           %
    ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT             (millions)   (millions)       Change
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    Quarterly average retail assets      $63,515      $62,944          -0.9%
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    FISCAL AVERAGE RETAIL              Fiscal 2009  Fiscal 2010          %
    ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT             (millions)   (millions)       Change
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    Fiscal year average retail assets    $55,430      $63,122          13.9%
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    EQUITY                            FINANCIAL POSITION  (millions)
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    Total outstanding                 Debt Outstanding                  $733
     shares              287,546,700  Cash and marketable securities    (140)
    QTD weighted avg.                 ---------------------------------------
     shares              287,811,445  Net debt outstanding              $593
    Yield at $19.80             3.9%  ---------------------------------------
    In-the-money options   4,805,593
    Percentage of                     Terminal redemption value
     all options                 71%   of funds                         $800
    All options %
     of shares                  2.4%
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    * Includes CI and United Financial investment fund assets administered
        by Assante advisors.


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    ESTIMATED GEOGRAPHIC EXPOSURE OF AUM
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    Canada                   52%               Asia                 4%
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    United States            24%               Other                4%
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    Europe                    8%               Cash                 8%
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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 & Chief Executive Officer, [phone]