CI Mutual Funds Inc. announced Wednesday that it plans to streamline its mutual fund lineup by merging funds with similar mandates.

“Our goal is to simplify our lineup by reducing duplication and to maximize the efficiency of our funds for unitholders by creating larger funds, so that the operating costs are spread over larger asset bases,” said Peter Anderson, CI President.

“At the same time, we will continue to offer one of the broadest selections of funds within the Canadian industry,” he added.

The mergers are subject to unitholder and regulatory approval. For a complete list of the 30 terminating and the continuing funds, please refer to the company’s news release.

Investors in the terminating funds are being asked to vote on the proposals at special meetings scheduled for August 27. If approved, the mergers will take effect on or about August 29.

Although these mergers will change the underlying funds of a number of segregated funds, CI says the investment mandates of those funds will remain unchanged and the contracts of the segregated fund investors will not be affected.

In a separate announcement, CI proposed to merge its 15 Insight Program pools into similar mutual funds.

Under the proposal, unitholders in the Insight pools will be issued new “Class W” units in the mutual funds that maintain their current fee structure. The pools are being merged into mutual funds with the
same investment mandates with similar investment styles and, in all cases but one, the same investment managers.

The mergers are subject to unitholder and regulatory approval. Details of the proposed consolidation can be found in the company’s news release.

“Combining the pool assets with existing mutual funds allows us to simplify the Insight Program without compromising quality,” said Anderson. “Working with their financial advisers, Insight investors will continue to receive the same level of sophisticated management, support and analysis that is the foundation of the program,” he added.

Insight is a comprehensive investment management solution that offers
investors a wide range of benefits, including a personalized investment strategy, access to multiple asset classes and investment styles, regular portfolio rebalancing and detailed performance evaluation. The fee-based program is offered to clients through financial advisers.

Investors in the pools are being asked to vote on the proposals at
special meetings scheduled for August 27. If approved, the mergers will take effect on or about August 29.