Toronto-based CI Investments Inc. Friday announced the launch of Red Sky Canadian Equity Corporate Class and Signature Global Dividend Fund, expanding CI’s selection of funds in the Canadian equity and dividend categories.

Red Sky Canadian Equity Corporate Class has an objective to obtain maximum long-term capital growth by investing primarily in equity and equity-related securities of Canadian companies with good potential for future growth. Red Sky Capital Management, a Toronto-based alternative asset manager, is sub-advisor to the fund.

“The Red Sky team has extensive experience and has achieved strong results since the group was founded in 2010,” says Derek Green, CI President. “We are pleased to make their expertise available to investors through a dedicated Canadian equity mutual fund.”

Red Sky founder and CIO Timothy Lazaris leads a team of six professionals with over 70 years of combined capital markets experience. Lazaris and managing partners Brian Huen, Keith Lam and Dariusz Nieciecki are portfolio managers of Red Sky Canadian Equity. Red Sky also manages Red Sky Partners Fund, a North American equity hedge fund, and a portion of the portfolio of CI Canadian Small/Mid Cap Fund.

“We believe our focus on discovering high conviction core investments combined with opportunistic tactical moves will appeal to investors seeking a blend of performance and risk management,” says Lazaris.

Signature Global Dividend Fund’s objective is to achieve high total investment return by investing primarily in equity securities of companies anywhere in the world that pay, or may be expected to pay, dividends, as well as other types of securities that may be expected to distribute income. The portfolio advisor is Signature Global Advisors.

The fund pays a variable monthly distribution. It is also available as Signature Global Dividend Corporate Class, which does not pay a regular distribution but offers the tax efficiency of the CI Corporate Class structure.

“This fund provides another option for investors seeking income and stability provided by high-quality dividend-paying companies, with the additional choice and diversification offered by a global mandate,” says Green.

Eric Bushell, Signature chief investment officer, and John Hadwen, vice president portfolio management and portfolio manager, are the lead portfolio managers of the fund.

Signature manages over $35 billion in core equity, balanced and income-oriented funds, and is CI’s largest in-house portfolio management group.

CI Investments Inc. is a subsidiary of CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX), an independent, wealth management firm with $98.7 billion in assets.