CI Fund Management Inc. today reported that its wholly owned subsidiary, CI Mutual Funds Inc., had net sales of $241 million in November 2002.

Gross sales for November of $548 million included $297 million in sales arising from the conversion of segregated fund assets into mutual fund assets. During the month, CI changed the underlying funds of a number of CI-administered segregated funds, replacing funds managed by outside investment firms with CI mutual funds. According to Investment Funds Institute of Canada practice, these assets are counted as net sales in the month the switch was made.

Once those assets are excluded, CI had net redemptions of $56 million, a 33% improvement from the previous month and a 55% improvement from redemptions in September 2002.

Total fee-earning assets were $34.6 billion at November 30, 2002, an increase of 3.5% from the previous month. Total fee-earning assets included mutual fund assets under management of $28.4 billion and segregated fund assets of $1.4 billion.

“This was the second consecutive month of asset growth, reflecting the gains in major markets since they hit a bottom for the year-to-date on October 9,” said Stephen MacPhail, chief operating officer.

Funds with strong net sales include the CI Value Trust Fund, managed by Bill Miller, CEO of Legg Mason Funds Management, Inc. and one of the most successful fund managers in the United States. As portfolio manager of the U.S.-based Legg Mason Value Trust, he is the only equity mutual fund manager to have outperformed the S&P 500 Index in each of the last 11 calendar years. At November 30, 2002, he was on track to extend his record for another year, as Legg Mason Value Trust was outperforming the index by 446 basis points for the year-to-date.