Investors Group Inc. is expanding fee transparency to all clients while introducing product and pricing changes to accelerate growth, the Winnipeg-based wealth-management firm announced Thursday.
The increased fee transparency, which is in the form of unbundled pricing, is being rolled out to all IG Wealth Management clients over the course of 2019, the company says in a news release.
Under the new model, clients pay an advisory fee to the dealer for its services as opposed to dealer compensation being bundled as part of mutual fund management fees. The company has successfully offered an unbundled fee option (Series U) to high net-worth clients across its product suite since 2013.
“With an enhanced unbundled structure, we have put a high priority on transparency of fees, which further demonstrates our commitment to put the client at the centre of everything we do,” says Jeff Carney, president and CEO, IG Wealth Management, in a statement. “Our unbundled offerings have been very successful, currently representing more than 75% of high net-worth client sales as of the third quarter of 2018. Today’s announcement will further strengthen the relationship between our advisors and clients, while accelerating our growth into 2019.”
The company is also introducing more competitive pricing to reward client loyalty while encouraging consolidation with IG Wealth Management and new client acquisition. It plans to implement the changes over the course of 2019.
Beginning March 1, 2019, the company will enhance the competitiveness of pricing to households with over $1 million in assets with IG Wealth Management through advisory fee reductions across multiple client segments.
During the second quarter of 2019, it will open unbundled fee options to households with less than $500,000 in assets.
The company will be migrating clients to unbundled solutions beginning in the third quarter of 2019, with most accounts expected to be migrated over the following twelve months.
These changes to advisory fee levels and pricing structures are “anticipated to reduce IG Wealth Management’s annualized weighted average fee rate by 0.03% of assets under management during the second quarter of 2019,” the company says.