DundeeWealth Inc. today announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its Quebec network of financial advisors to Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc.

The transaction includes a network of approximately 340 mutual fund only licensed financial advisors with approximately $2.6 billion in assets under administration and approximately 70 additional advisors who are insurance only licensed.

The purchase will be made through Industrial Alliance’s Investia Financial Services Inc. Upon completion, the applicable DundeeWealth operations will be merged with Investia and will remain headquartered in Quebec City.

DundeeWealth says it continues to operate in Quebec through all of its other business units, including the mutual fund and investment management operations of Dynamic Funds and Goodman Private Wealth Management and the capital markets and financial advisory business conducted through its full service investment dealer platform, Dundee Securities Corp.

“DundeeWealth is delighted to have achieved a stronger and broader relationship with IA and its large group of mutual fund financial advisors,” says David Goodman, DundeeWealth president and CEO.

“Across the country, our mandate with respect to the wealth management business continues to be to provide and support a full-service, independent financial advisory group,” added Mr. Goodman. “It will be business as usual for our full service investment dealer platform and all of our other business units in Quebec.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close on Dec. 31.

“The transaction is a logical fit for us,” says Normand Pépin, executive vp of Industrial Alliance. “This opportunity allows us to further increase the size, scale and efficiencies of our Quebec mutual fund distribution operations.”

“We welcome the opportunity to work with this network of highly qualified and experienced independent financial advisors, many of whom are already well known to Industrial Alliance. We expect that both advisors and clients will benefit from Investia’s scale of operations and its first-rate technology and back-office platform,” Pépin adds.

IE