CI Fund Management Inc. president and CEO, Bill Holland says he expects the growth in the distribution business to come by building a superior platform that attracts high-level financial planners to the firm.

Speaking to analysts Wednesday, following release of the company’s results for the year ended May 31, Holland said there’s little room for margin expansion in this business, and that growth is likely to come through added volumes.

Holland noted that the firm is not just seeking more bodies, it is also focusing on bigger producers. He reported that 40-odd planners have left Assante since CI acquired it last year, mainly as smaller planners sell their books to bigger ones. This development was partly attributable to changes in the firm’s grid, he said, adding he is eager to see this sort of consolidation.

At the same time, Holland suggested that the sales outlook for the fund industry isn’t that great. He said that CI is about as good as it gets in terms of its products, branding and other aspects, yet sales remain modest. Holland suggested that this is the new reality for the fund business, and he doesn’t expect a return to the heavy selling days of the mid to late 1990s, as rival products take fund sales. While some of this is probably cyclical, part is also secular, he suggested. He also predicted that fees will be under pressure too, as firms struggle to find sales.

For July, he estimates that its sales will be similar to June, about $50 million.

In terms of the OSC investigation, Holland said that it spoke with the regulator about a month ago, in a meeting he described as “very productive”. Holland said the OSC was also talking to a number of the other big firms, representing the vast majority of industry assets, and that he expects that the industry may hear its findings within the year, but not the next month or so.