Wealth management company CI Financial Corp. (TSX:CIX) announced Thursday it is raising its dividend by 6.3% amid higher fourth-quarter earnings.

The Toronto company says its raising its monthly dividend to 8.5 cents from 8 cents.

CI Financial says its fourth-quarter earnings per share were 34 cents versus 31 cents, an increase of 10% from the same quarter in 2011.

Net sales for the quarter were $724 million compared with a loss of $360 million, while assets under management for the quarter were $74.3 million, up nine per cent form $69.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

For fiscal 2012, net income was $352 million down seven per cent from $376.9 million in 2011.

As of Dec. 31, assets under management were $75.7 billion, up nine per cent from $69.6 billion as of Dec. 31, 2011.

“CI ended 2012 with strong sales growth in both retail and institutional funds,” chief executive Stephen MacPhail said in a news release.

“Assets under management are now at an all-time high for CI, approaching $80 billion, positioning CI for an excellent first quarter of 2013 and supporting the 6.3% increase in the dividend.”

For the year ended December 31, CI reported earnings per share of $1.24, down five per cent from the previous year.

Included in the 2011 results was $3.5 million in revenue from an insurance settlement, while 2012 results included an $18.8 million non-cash future tax provision resulting from the increase in the Ontario corporate tax rate imposed.

Adjusting for these items, the year-over-year decline in net income was less than one per cent, CI said.