CI Financial Corp. (TSX:CIX) had gross retail sales of $780 million and net sales of $32 million during September, the wealth management company said Monday.

Total assets under management increased 3.7% over the month to $69.2 billion, representing the highest month-end level in CI’s assets under management since May 2008.

CI’s retail assets under management at September 30, 2010 were $65.6 billion, up 3.3% from the average level for the third quarter of 2010, positioning CI very well for the fourth quarter of the year.

“The tone in financial markets improved considerably in September,” says Stephen MacPhail, CI president and CEO. “Should recent trends continue, the outlook for the remainder of the year is quite favourable.”

Sales consisted of $29 million in net sales of long-term funds and $3 million of net sales of money market funds. For the year-to-date, CI had gross retail sales of $7.6 billion and net sales of $1.2 billion.

Total fee-earning assets at September 30, 2010 were $91.5 billion. Assets under management consisted of retail investment funds at CI Investments Inc. of $65.6 billion and institutional assets of $3.6 billion. CI also reported assets under administration at Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Ltd. of $21.6 billion, and other fee-earning assets of $592 million.