• Diluted EPS of ($1.00), adjusted diluted EPS¹ of $0.86, matching a record high
• EBITDA of ($20.7) million, adjusted EBITDA attributable to shareholders¹ of $246.1 million
• EBITDA per share of ($0.13) and record adjusted EBITDA attributable to shareholders¹ per share of $1.64
• Operating cash flow of $119.7 million, free cash flow¹ of $156.2 million
• Operating cash flow per share of $0.57, free cash flow per share of $1.01
• Record total assets of $474.2 billion, up $74.5 billion or 18.6% year over year
• Paid $31.2 million in dividends at $0.20 per share
• Repurchased 4.9 million shares under $85-million substantial issuer bid completed in April

All financial amounts in Canadian dollars as at March 31, 2024, unless stated otherwise.

CI Financial Corp. (“CI”) (TSX: CIX) today released financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.

“CI’s first quarter was marked by robust growth, with total assets reaching a new high of $474.2 billion, a gain of $29.4 billion for the period,” said Kurt MacAlpine, CI Chief Executive Officer. “Adjusted earnings per share¹ of $0.86 was up 6.2% from the previous quarter and up 16.2% from the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, adjusted net revenues rose 4.8% and adjusted EBITDA increased 4.0% over the previous quarter.

"Corient continues to perform well, with our U.S. wealth management segment reporting a gain in adjusted EBITDA for the quarter of 7.9%. This reflects the quality of Corient and its distinct value proposition, along with steps we have taken to integrate the business and expand our offerings to clients.

“We remain committed to returning capital to shareholders through share buybacks and in early April we repurchased 4.9 million shares for $85 million through a substantial issuer bid,” Mr. MacAlpine said. “This follows an earlier successful issuer bid in December, under which we bought back more than 6.5 million shares.”

Operating and financial data highlights

1. Free cash flow, net debt, adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net revenues and adjusted expenses are not standardized earnings measures prescribed by IFRS. For further information, see “Non-IFRS Measures” note below.
2. Includes $34.4 billion, $33.2 billion, $31.8 billion, $32.8 billion, and $33.0 billion of assets managed by CI and held by clients of advisors with CI Assante Wealth Management, CI Private Counsel (CIPC) and Aligned Capital Partners as at March 31, 2024, December 31, 2023, September 30, 2023, June 30, 2023, and March 31, 2023, respectively.
3. Includes $24.5 billion, $21.5 billion, $19.7 billion, $5.4 billion, and $5.0 billion of assets advised by CI and held by clients of advisors with Assante, CIPC, CI Direct Investing and Aligned Capital as at March 31, 2024, December 31, 2023, September 30, 2023, June 30, 2023, and March 31, 2023, respectively. Prior to July 2023, custody assets were historically not included as part of reported assets for Canada wealth management or consolidated total assets.
4. Month-end USD/CAD exchange rates of 1.3546, 1.3250, 1.3582, 1.3248, and 1.3515 for March 2024, December 2023, September 2023, June 2023, and March 2023, respectively.
5. Includes 100% of flows from CI’s minority investments in Columbia Pacific Advisors, OCM Capital Partners, The Cabana Group and GLASfunds Holdings.

Financial highlights

First quarter net loss attributable to shareholders was $154.4 million compared to a net loss of $63.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Excluding non-operating items, adjusted net income attributable to shareholders¹ was $132.8 million in the first quarter, up 3.6% from the previous quarter.

First quarter total net revenues were $645.7 million, down 9.8% from $715.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Excluding non-operating items, adjusted total net revenues¹ were $698.6 million, up 4.8% from $666.7 million due to higher revenues from all three segments.

First quarter total expenses increased 1.9% to $768.3 million from $753.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Excluding non-operating items, adjusted total expenses¹ were $470.3 million, up 4.8% from $448.7 million in the previous quarter as a result of seasonally higher payroll taxes, interest expense, and higher advisor and dealer fees due to higher Canada Wealth Management revenues.

Dividends and share repurchases

CI paid $31.2 million in dividends at a rate of $0.20 per share. The annual dividend rate of $0.80 per share represented a yield of 4.8% on CI’s closing share price of $16.75 on May 9, 2024. As announced yesterday, the Board of Directors of CI declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, payable on October 15, 2024 to shareholders of record as of September 30, 2024.

In February 2024, CI commenced a substantial issuer bid, which expired on April 2, 2024. Under the offer, CI purchased for cancellation 4,857,142 common shares at a purchase price of $17.50 per share, for an aggregate price of $85 million.

First quarter business highlights

• CI Global Asset Management (“CI GAM”) was the recipient of an industry-leading 35 FundGrade A+® Awards for 2023. These awards are presented annually by Fundata Canada Inc. to acknowledge Canadian investment funds that have demonstrated consistent, outstanding risk-adjusted performance.
• As part of CI’s strategic priority to modernize asset management, CI GAM was active in enhancing its product lineup. New products included: two ETFs providing targeted exposure to U.S. momentum and value stocks; mutual fund versions of its popular CI WisdomTree Quality, Dividend Growth ETFs; and a commodity-focused liquid alternative fund. CI GAM also reduced the minimum initial investment on the CI Private Pools to $5,000 from $25,000, providing expanded access to these popular solutions.

Following quarter-end:

• CI executed amendments to the trust indentures governing its 3.759% Debentures due 2025 and 3.904% Debentures due 2027 following approvals from debenture holders at meetings held April 4, 2024. The amendments remove the covenants preventing any subsidiary of CI from creating, assuming, or otherwise directly incurring certain indebtedness.
• CI GAM launched CI Global Artificial Intelligence ETF (TSX: CIAI) to offer investors exposure to investment opportunities created by AI technologies. CI GAM also completed the mergers of 13 mutual funds and six ETFs into other funds, simplifying and streamlining the firm’s product lineup.
• Northwood Family Office was named the winner of the 2024 Family Wealth Report Award for Best Multi-Family Office in North America (up to and including US$2.5 billion AUM/AUA).

Analysts’ conference call

CI will hold a conference call with analysts today at 9:00 a.m. EDT, led by Mr. MacAlpine and Chief Financial Officer Amit Muni. A live webcast of the call and slide presentation can be accessed here or through the Investor Relations section of CI’s website.

Alternatively, investors may listen to the discussion through the following numbers (access code: 155730):

• Canada toll-free: 1-833-950-0062
• United States toll-free: 1-833-470-1428
• All other locations: 1-929-526-1599.

A recording of the webcast will be archived on CI’s Investor Relations site.

About CI Financial

CI Financial Corp. is a diversified global asset and wealth management company operating primarily in Canada, the United States and Australia. Founded in 1965, CI has developed world-class portfolio management talent, extensive capabilities in all aspects of wealth planning, and a comprehensive product suite.

CI operates in three segments:

• Asset Management, which includes CI Global Asset Management, which operates in Canada, and GSFM, which operates in Australia.
• Canadian Wealth Management, which includes the operations of CI Assante Wealth Management, Aligned Capital Partners, CI Private Wealth, Northwood Family Office, Coriel Capital, CI Direct Investing and CI Investment Services.
• U.S. Wealth Management, which includes Corient Private Wealth, an integrated wealth management firm providing comprehensive solutions to ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth clients across the United States.

CI is headquartered in Toronto and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: CIX). To learn more, visit CI’s website or LinkedIn page.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with an investment in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Please read the prospectus before investing. Important information about mutual funds and ETFs is contained in their respective prospectus. Mutual funds and ETFs are not guaranteed; their values change frequently, and past performance may not be repeated. You will usually pay brokerage fees to your dealer if you purchase or sell units of an ETF on recognized Canadian exchanges. If the units are purchased or sold on these Canadian exchanges, investors may pay more than the current net asset value when buying units of the ETF and may receive less than the current net asset value when selling them.

FundGrade A+® is used with permission from Fundata Canada Inc., all rights reserved. The annual FundGrade A+® Awards are presented by Fundata Canada Inc. to recognize the “best of the best” among Canadian investment funds. The FundGrade A+® calculation is supplemental to the monthly FundGrade ratings and is calculated at the end of each calendar year. The FundGrade rating system evaluates funds based on their risk-adjusted performance, measured by Sharpe Ratio, Sortino Ratio, and Information Ratio. The score for each ratio is calculated individually, covering all time periods from 2 to 10 years. The scores are then weighted equally in calculating a monthly FundGrade. The top 10% of funds earn an A Grade; the next 20% of funds earn a B Grade; the next 40% of funds earn a C Grade; the next 20% of funds receive a D Grade; and the lowest 10% of funds receive an E Grade. To be eligible, a fund must have received a FundGrade rating every month in the previous year. The FundGrade A+® uses a GPA-style calculation, where each monthly FundGrade from “A” to “E” receives a score from 4 to 0, respectively. A fund’s average score for the year determines its GPA. Any fund with a GPA of 3.5 or greater is awarded a FundGrade A+® Award. For more information, see www.FundGradeAwards.com. Although Fundata makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Fundata.

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations with respect to CI Financial Corp. (“CI”) and its products and services, including its business operations, strategy and financial performance and condition. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as “believe”, “expect”, “foresee”, “forecast”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “estimate”, “goal”, “plan” and “project” and similar references to future periods, or conditional verbs such as “will”, “may”, “should”, “could” or “would”. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent management beliefs regarding future events, many of which by their nature are inherently uncertain and beyond management’s control. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements involve risks and uncertainties. The material factors and assumptions applied in reaching the conclusions contained in the forward-looking statements include that asset levels will remain stable. The foregoing list is not exhaustive and the reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors carefully and not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Other than as specifically required by applicable law, CI undertakes no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statement after the date on which it is made, whether to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.

This communication is provided as a general source of information and should not be considered personal, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice, or construed as an endorsement or recommendation of any entity or security discussed. Individuals should seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding any particular investment. Investors should consult their professional advisors prior to implementing any changes to their investment strategies.

CI Global Asset Management is a registered business name of CI Investments Inc.

NON-IFRS MEASURES

In an effort to provide additional information regarding our results as determined by IFRS, we also disclose certain non-IFRS information which we believe provides useful and meaningful information. Our management reviews these non-IFRS financial measurements when evaluating our financial performance and results of operations; therefore, we believe it is useful to provide information with respect to these non-IFRS measurements so as to share this perspective of management. Non-IFRS measurements do not have any standardized meaning, do not replace nor are superior to IFRS financial measurements and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The non-IFRS financial measurements include:

• Adjusted net income and adjusted basic and diluted earnings per share
• Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin
• Free cash flow
• Net debt.

These non-IFRS measurements exclude the following revenues and expenses which we believe allows investors a consistent way to analyze our financial performance, allows for better analysis of core operating income and business trends and permits comparisons of companies within the industry, normalizing for different financing methods and levels of taxation:

• gains or losses related to foreign currency fluctuations on our cash balances
• costs related to our acquisitions including:
  • amortization of intangible assets
  • change in fair value of contingent consideration
  • related advisory fees
  • contingent consideration and consideration for strategic recruitment classified as compensation per IFRS
• restructuring charges including organizational expenses for the establishment of Corient and CIPW
• legal provisions for a class action related to market timing
• certain gains or losses in assets and investments
• costs related to issuing or retiring debt obligations
• expenses associated with Corient and CIPW redeemable units.

Further explanations of these Non-IFRS measures can be found in the “Non-IFRS Measures” section of Management’s Discussion and Analysis dated May 10, 2024 available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or at www.cifinancial.com.