Investors Group announces mutual fund changes

WINNIPEG, March 15, 2017 /CNW/ - Investors Group has announced a number of proposed product changes including fund mergers and investment objective and strategy changes in an effort to simplify and streamline its mutual fund offering.

"Investors Group is committed to offering compelling investment solutions that also help clients build diversified portfolios," said Todd Asman, Executive Vice-President, Products and Financial Planning. "The proposed fund mergers will streamline our offering making it easier for clients to find appropriate products while the investment objective and strategy changes will help make risk management more responsive to market volatility."

Proposed Fund Mergers

The following proposed mergers are expected to take effect on or about the close of business on June 16, 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
Investors Core Canadian Equity Class	IG Franklin Bissett Canadian Equity Class
IG Templeton International Equity Fund	IG Mackenzie Ivy European Fund
IG Templeton International Equity Class	IG Mackenzie Ivy European Class
Investors International Equity Fund	IG Mackenzie Ivy European Fund
Investors International Equity Class	IG Mackenzie Ivy European Class
Investors Greater China Fund	Investors Pan Asian Equity Fund
Investors Greater China Class	Investors Pan Asian Equity Class
Alto Conservative Portfolio	Allegro Conservative Portfolio
Alto Moderate Conservative Portfolio	Allegro Moderate Conservative Portfolio
Alto Moderate Portfolio	Allegro Moderate Portfolio
Alto Moderate Aggressive Portfolio	Allegro Moderate Aggressive Portfolio
Alto Moderate Aggressive Canada Focus Portfolio	Allegro Moderate Aggressive Portfolio
Allegro Moderate Aggressive Canada Focus Portfolio	Allegro Moderate Aggressive Portfolio
Alto Aggressive Portfolio	Allegro Aggressive Portfolio
Alto Aggressive Canada Focus Portfolio	Allegro Aggressive Portfolio
Allegro Aggressive Canada Focus Portfolio	Allegro Aggressive Portfolio
Allegro Balanced Growth Canada Focus Portfolio Class	Allegro Balanced Growth Portfolio Class
Allegro Growth Canada Focus Portfolio Class	Allegro Growth Portfolio Class

All of the above mergers have been reviewed by the Investors Group Funds Independent Review Committee (IRC) which has determined that the mergers achieve a fair and reasonable result for the Merging Funds and the Continuing Funds and their securityholders.

Fee Reductions

To ensure clients will not experience any increase in fees as a result of the mergers, Investors Group will be reducing fees on a number of Continuing Funds. As of June 1, several of the Allegro Portfolios and Allegro Portfolio Classes will have annualized fee reductions of between 0.25 and 8.6 basis points regardless of whether the mergers are approved. Additional details are available in the accompanying appendix.

Proposed Investment Objective Changes

Effective on or about the close of business on May 23, 2017, subject to all necessary approvals, Investors Group proposes to change the investment objectives and strategies for the funds listed immediately below to incorporate a more flexible asset allocation capability. This will allow Investors Group to respond more quickly to changing market conditions, and increased efficiencies in the management of the portfolios. 

Fund

Allegro Conservative Portfolio

Allegro Moderate Conservative Portfolio

Allegro Moderate Portfolio

Allegro Moderate Aggressive Portfolio

Allegro Aggressive Portfolio

Alto Monthly Income Portfolio

Alto Monthly Income & Growth Portfolio

Alto Monthly Income & Enhanced Growth Portfolio

Investment objective changes are also proposed for the Classes listed immediately below so that they may invest in their corresponding funds which are expected to result in more efficient portfolio management and reduced trading costs in some instances.  These changes are expected to be effective after the close of business on or about May 29, 2017, subject to all necessary approvals:

Class	To invest into	Corresponding fund
Allegro Income Balanced Portfolio Class		Allegro Moderate Conservative Portfolio
Allegro Balanced Portfolio Class		Allegro Moderate  Portfolio
Allegro Balanced Growth Portfolio Class		Allegro Moderate Aggressive Portfolio
Allegro Growth Portfolio Class		Allegro Aggressive Portfolio
IG Franklin Bissett Canadian Equity Class		IG Franklin Bissett Canadian Equity Fund
IG Mackenzie Ivy European Class		IG Mackenzie Ivy European Fund
Investors Pan Asian Equity Class		Investors Pan Asian Equity Fund

Securityholder meetings

The above mergers and investment objective changes are subject to securityholder approval.  Securityholders of record as at March 24, 2017, will be asked to approve the changes involving their funds at meetings scheduled for 10 a.m. CT on May 18, 2017, 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.

Appendix

1)      Effective June 1, the following funds will have annualized fee reductions as indicated:

Fund	Total fee reduction (basis points)	Types of fees affected
Allegro Aggressive Portfolio (all series)	8.6	Management fee Trustee fee Administration fee
Allegro Conservative Portfolio (all series)	1.8	Management fee
Allegro Moderate Aggressive Portfolio (all series)	2.7	Management fee Administration fee
Allegro Moderate Conservative Portfolio (all series)	4.3	Management fee
Allegro Moderate Portfolio (all series)	0.25	Trustee fee

2)      Effective June 1, certain Corporate Classes will have annualized fee reduction as follows:

Fund	Total fee reduction (basis points)	Types of fees affected
Allegro Balanced Growth Portfolio Class – Series U and Tu   Allegro Balanced Growth Portfolio Class (all other series)	7.8     8.0	Management fee Administration fee Service fee
Allegro Balanced Portfolio Class (all series)	2.0	Management fee Administration fee
Allegro Growth Portfolio Class (all series)	1.0	Administration fee
Allegro Income Balanced Portfolio Class – Series U and Tu   Allegro Income Balanced Portfolio Class (all other series)	4.7     5.0	Management fee Service fee

SOURCE Investors Group Financial Services Inc.

Ron Arnst, Investors Group, [phone], [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.investorsgroup.com