• Diluted EPS of $0.70 or adjusted EPS¹ of $0.85
• Pre-tax income of $186 million, adjusted EBITDA¹ of $273 million
• Operating cash flow of $207 million, record free cash flow¹ of $201 million or $1.02 per share
• Total assets of $361 billion, a year-over-year increase of 54%
• Net flow positive as a company on the strength of U.S. and Canadian wealth management
• Reached agreements to acquire three RIAs with over $21 billion in combined assets
• Expanded Canadian ultra-high-net-worth wealth management with acquisition of Northwood Family Office
• $246 million reduction in debt
• Paid quarterly dividend of $0.18 a share, totalling $35.5 million

All financial amounts in Canadian dollars at March 31, 2022, unless stated otherwise. Financial amounts for the quarter are unaudited.

CI Financial Corp. (“CI”) (TSX: CIX, NYSE: CIXX) today released financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2022.

“Achieving these strong results during a period of high economic and market uncertainty demonstrates the strength and resilience of our business model,” said Kurt MacAlpine, CI Chief Executive Officer. “Over the past two-and-a-half years, we have transformed and diversified the company, with wealth management now accounting for over 60% of our assets and U.S. wealth management becoming our largest business line by assets. These changes have made CI a larger, stronger firm and are having an increasingly positive impact on our revenues and earnings each quarter.

“The changes we made to our investment management platform continue to pay off – our investment performance relative to our peers is the highest in years and the redemptions in our mutual fund products were 50% lower than in the first quarter of 2021.”

“In Canadian wealth management, we acquired the country’s leading multi-family office in Northwood Family Office Ltd.” Mr. MacAlpine said. “The common theme in our most recent acquisitions is that they are all high-quality wealth management firms focused on the very attractive ultra-high-net-worth segment.”

“We continue to execute on our strategy and achieved significant milestones in U.S. wealth management during the first quarter. We launched the CI Private Wealth partnership, which will be key to driving the profitable growth of that business, and we reached agreements to acquire three registered investment advisors with more than $21 billion in client assets.

“We continue to take a balanced approach to allocating capital between dividends, share repurchases and debt reduction. During the quarter, we prioritized deleveraging and reduced debt by $246 million while also repurchasing shares and paying our regular dividend.”

Starting this quarter, CI has expanded its segment reporting to three segments and changed its income statement format. As CI’s strategy has rapidly evolved over the past two years, the company has reached a level of scale in its U.S. business that warrants separate disclosures and greater visibility into the performance of the business. CI has also expanded its asset management segment disclosures to provide more insight around the composition of assets under management. While prior periods have been restated to conform with the new presentation format, there is no change to consolidated financial results.

Operating and financial data highlights

1. Free cash flow, net debt, adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share and adjusted EBITDA are not standardized earnings measures prescribed by IFRS. For further information, see “Non-IFRS Measures” note below.

Financial highlights

Net income grew to $137.5 million in the quarter from $123.7 million in the fourth quarter. Excluding non-operating items, adjusted net income declined slightly to $166.8 million in the quarter from $171.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 as higher earnings in our U.S. Wealth Management segment due to recent acquisitions were offset by lower earnings primarily from our Asset Management segment.

First quarter total net revenues grew 2.3% to $633.8 million in the quarter from $619.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Excluding non-operating items, adjusted total net revenue increased 3.8% to $622.3 million, primarily driven by higher revenues from our U.S. Wealth Management segment due to recent acquisitions, partly offset by lower management fees from our Asset Management segment due to lower average AUM.

First quarter total expenses increased 1.0% to $448.0 million in the quarter from $444.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Excluding non-operating items, adjusted total expenses increased 5.1% to $384.8 million primarily due to acquisitions in our U.S. Wealth Management segment.

Capital allocation

In the first quarter of 2022, CI repurchased 4.5 million shares at a cost of $92.0 million, for an average cost of $20.21 per share, and paid $35.5 million in dividends at a rate of $0.18 per share. In addition, the company reduced debt by $246 million.

The Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, payable on October 14, 2022 to shareholders of record on September 30, 2022. The annual dividend rate of $0.72 per share represented a yield of 4.8% on CI’s closing share price of $14.68 on May 11, 2022.

First quarter business highlights

• CI Private Wealth US, LLC (“CIPW”) is the entity through which CI holds its interests in its U.S. RIAs. CIPW is structured as a limited liability company in which CI is majority owner. Certain employees of CIPW and its affiliates subscribed for membership interests in the firm which interests were issued effective January 1, 2022. This unique model aligns the interests of all member partners and incentivizes them to collaborate, realize synergies, and drive the profitable growth of the firm as a whole.
• CI agreed to acquire three U.S. registered investment advisors (“RIAs”) with combined assets of approximately $21.6 billion. They include:
  • Certain assets of Eaton Vance WaterOak Advisors, formerly Eaton Vance Investment Counsel (“EVIC”). The Boston-based EVIC team joining CI acts as advisor on behalf of families, endowments, foundations and other institutions. The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2022.
  • Corient Capital Partners, LLC, of Newport Beach, California, which serves ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families across the United States. This transaction was completed on April 29, 2022.
  • Galapagos Partners, LP of Houston, a multi-family office serving wealthy families and individuals. This transaction also closed on April 29, 2022.
• CI agreed to acquire Toronto-based Northwood Family Office Ltd. (“Northwood”), Canada’s leading multi-family office. The transaction was completed on April 1, 2022. Northwood manages and co-ordinates the integrated financial, investment and personal affairs of wealthy Canadian and global families and oversees approximately $2.2 billion of investment assets.
• In February 2022, Euromoney announced that Northwood has been ranked as the #1 family office in both Canada and North America in the prestigious Euromoney Private Banking and Wealth Management Survey for 2022.
• CI expanded its capabilities in digital assets with the acquisition of a minority stake in Newton Crypto Ltd., a Canadian crypto asset trading platform.
• CI Global Asset Management (“CI GAM”) continued to broaden its ETF lineup with the launch of several thematic ETFs: CI Galaxy Multi-Crypto ETF, CI Bio-Revolution ETF and CI Digital Security ETF.
• CI GAM received securityholder approval for the merger of 21 mutual funds and six exchange-traded funds into other CI GAM investment funds. The mergers, which were implemented on April 8, 2022, were an important step in modernizing CI’s asset management business as they reduced product duplication and simplified the lineup for CI GAM’s advisor and investor clients.

Following quarter-end:

• CI announced its intention to sell up to 20% of its U.S. wealth management business via a U.S. initial public offering (“IPO”). CI stated that it intends to use the net proceeds from the IPO to pay down debt, and that a final decision on the IPO size, conditions and timing is pending and will be subject to market conditions.
• CI subsidiary CI Private Wealth US, LLC applied for a charter to establish and operate a South Dakota trust company. Once chartered, the trust company will offer administrative trust solutions through CI’s U.S. wealth management platform.
• Products introduced by CI GAM included CI Galaxy Blockchain ETF, CI Galaxy Metaverse ETF and CI Floating Rate Income Fund (ETF Series).

Analysts’ conference call

CI will hold a conference call with analysts today at 9:00 a.m. EDT, led by Chief Executive Officer Kurt 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: 581835):

• Canada toll-free: 1-833-950-0062
• United States toll-free: 1-844-200-6205
• United States (New York local): 1-646-904-5544.
• All other locations: 1-929-526-1599.

About CI Financial

CI Financial Corp. is an integrated global wealth and asset management company. CI’s primary asset management businesses are CI Global Asset Management (CI Investments Inc.) and GSFM Pty Ltd., and it operates in Canadian wealth management through CI Assante Wealth Management (Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Ltd.), CI Private Counsel LP, Aligned Capital Partners Inc., Northwood Family Office Ltd., CI Direct Investing (WealthBar Financial Services Inc.), and CI Investment Services Inc.

CI’s U.S. wealth management businesses consist of Barrett Asset Management, LLC, Balasa Dinverno Foltz LLC, Bowling Portfolio Management LLC, Brightworth, LLC, BRR OpCo, LLC (Budros, Ruhlin & Roe), The Cabana Group, LLC, Corient Capital Partners, LLC, CPWM, LLC (Columbia Pacific Wealth Management), Congress Wealth Management LLC, Dowling & Yahnke, LLC, Doyle Wealth Management, LLC, Galapagos Partners, LP, Gofen & Glossberg, LLC, Matrix Capital Advisors, LLC, McCutchen Group LLC, OCM Capital Partners, LLC, Portola Partners Group LLC, Radnor Financial Advisors, LLC, RegentAtlantic Capital, LLC, The Roosevelt Investment Group, LLC, RGT Wealth Advisors, LLC, R.H. Bluestein & Co., Segall Bryant & Hamill, LLC, Stavis & Cohen Private Wealth, LLC, and Surevest LLC.

CI is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under CIX and on the New York Stock Exchange under CIXX. Further information is available at www.cifinancial.com.

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.

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 and its intention to conduct an IPO of its US wealth management business. 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 these forward-looking statements include that CI will proceed with the IPO, that all outstanding acquisitions will be completed and their asset levels will remain stable, that the investment fund industry will remain stable and that interest rates will remain relatively stable. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, among other things, general economic and market conditions, including interest and foreign exchange rates, global financial markets, the risk that the IPO may not occur in its expected timeframe or at all, changes in government regulations or in tax laws, industry competition, technological developments and other factors described or discussed in CI’s disclosure materials filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time. 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.

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

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 classified as compensation per IFRS
• restructuring charges including organizational expenses for the establishment of 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 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 12, 2022 available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or at www.cifinancial.com.