CI Financial Corp. reported a loss of $63.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, but higher revenues relative to the previous quarter.
The Q4 net loss attributable to shareholders compared to a $12.4-million loss in Q3, and a $9.5-million loss in Q4 last year.
Fourth quarter net revenues increased to $715.6 million, up 16.1% from $616.5 million in Q3 and up 15.4% from $620.3 million in Q4 2022. Higher revenues from the firm’s Canadian wealth management business were offset by lower asset management revenues, CI said.
Expenses also increased, rising by 26.5% to $753.7 million quarter over quarter and by 28.4% year over year. CI saw higher costs related to new leased office space, higher interest expenses, and higher advisor and dealer fees due to higher revenue in the Canadian wealth management division.
The firm also announced Friday it intends to repurchase up to $85 million in shares. In December, the firm completed repurchasing more than 6.5 million shares for an aggregate price of approximately $100 million, the firm said.
“We continue to use our cash flow to repurchase shares due to the disconnect between our share price and the underlying value of the company,” said CI Financial CEO Kurt MacAlpine in a release announcing Q4 results.
Total assets under management (AUM) and client assets were $444.8 billion in the fourth quarter, up 5.7% from $421.0 million at the end of the previous quarter and 16.0% from $383.7 billion at the end of the same period last year. The firm said this was the highest-ever figure for assets.
Nearly half of that figure is attributed to client assets in the U.S. wealth management business, which totalled $206.3 billion at the end of Q4, up from $197.0 billion at the end of the previous quarter and from $180.6 billion at the end of the same period last year.
Asset management AUM was $125.0 billion at the end of Q4, up from $119.0 billion at the end of the previous quarter and $117.8 billion at the end of Q4 last year.
For the quarter, CI saw net outflows of $367 million across its entire asset management segment, compared to outflows of $449 million in the previous quarter and net inflows of $1.3 billion during the same quarter last year.
Client assets in the Canadian wealth management segment totalled $88.0 billion at the end of Q4, up 7.9% from $81.6 billion at the end of the previous quarter and up 13.7% at the end of the same quarter last year.
During the quarter, CI completed its acquisitions of Coriel Capital Inc., a Montreal-based wealth management firm serving ultra-high-net-worth Canadians, and Windsor Wealth Management Inc., a registered investment advisor based in Indianapolis.
CI declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share.