CI Global Asset Management is buying the management agreements for Invesco’s Canadian funds, which oversee a combined $26-billion of assets.Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
CI Financial Corp.’s CIX-T asset management arm is taking over Invesco Ltd.’s Canadian fund business, acquiring control of about 100 mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
CI Global Asset Management is buying the management agreements for Invesco’s Canadian funds, which oversee a combined $26-billion of assets, expanding the lineup of products it can offer to clients.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The two companies are also entering a long-term pact to have Invesco’s affiliates help manage 63 funds with $13-billion under management, providing portfolio management services.
The transaction adds to a trend of consolidation in Canadian wealth and asset management. Since last summer, Quebec’s iA Financial Corporation Inc. IAG-T bought independent wealth manager RF Capital Group Inc. RCG-T, and Desjardins Group acquired money manager Guardian Capital Group Inc. GCG-T
CI Financial was itself acquired by Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Capital in a $4.7-billion privatization deal late in 2024, following an audacious U.S. expansion led by chief executive officer Kurt MacAlpine through which the asset manager took on billions of dollars of debt.
The privatization of CI came at a time when the company was under pressure from shareholders to take its U.S. arm public and show it had a plan to manage its heavy debt load.
This latest deal with Invesco “highlights how operating as a private company allows us to unlock new opportunities to create meaningful long-term value for CI and our clients,” Mr. MacAlpine said in a news release.
He also said that acquiring Invesco’s funds in Canada “reflects CI Financial’s continued commitment to investing in our Canadian businesses.”
Invesco Canada is a subsidiary of U.S.-based Invesco Ltd., and was once a pioneer in Canada’s ETF market as well as a top provider of the popular, low-cost investment products. But as the ETF space became more crowded, Invesco had struggled to hold its market share.
With CI taking over, Invesco’s Canadian funds will gain access to its “vast wealth distribution footprint and scaled operating platform,” while maintaining a connection through the partnership arrangement for certain funds, Invesco CEO Andrew Schlossberg said in a statement.
Spokespeople for CI and Invesco Canada could not immediately be reached for comment.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, if it gains regulatory approval and closing conditions are met. Invesco Canada investors will be asked to approve the change of manager for each fund, and any fund that doesn’t win sufficient support will be left out of the transaction, the companies said.
Jefferies Securities Inc. and Stikeman Elliott LLP advised CI, and Invesco had advice from Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.