Barclays Global Investors Canada Ltd. (BGI Canada) today marks its 10th anniversary in Canada, with a celebration at the Ontario Heritage Centre in Toronto.
Since entering the Canadian market in 1992, BGI Canada has grown from two employees and one office in Toronto, to 82 employees and offices in Toronto and Montreal. During this same time, the company has grown its customer base from zero to 175 institutional clients and 80,000 retail unitholders. Assets under management now stand at $39 billion, making BGI Canada one of the largest money managers in the country.
“One of the keys to our success in the past — and our success going forward — is our ongoing commitment of delivering performance through innovation for both retail and institutional investors, ” said Gerry Rocchi, president of BGI Canada, in a news release.
In 1999, the company launched its iUnits family of exchange traded funds, aimed at both retail and institutional investors. Over the past three years, the iUnits family has grown to 11 funds, including the world’s first bond ETFs and futures-based ETFs. The most recent addition to the ETF family is the iREIT (Real Estate Income Trust) Fund, which is expected to commence trading by the end of October 2002.
BGI Canada sponsors the BGI Research Award for Excellence in Canadian Capital Markets, in conjunction with the Canadian Investment Review.