The firm’s total revenue for the quarter grew 15.3% compared to the third quarter, while its total expenses decreased slightly.
Looking across 2021, CI’s revenue reached $2.7 billion on the back of 33% annual growth, reflecting the impact of acquisitions, favorable market conditions and positive organic growth across the franchise. Expenses increased 52% to $2.1 billion due to higher variable costs associated with those acquisitions, as well as higher asset levels.
“In the US, we expanded our wealth management business by completing the acquisition of eight registered investment advisors and taking a minority stake in two alternative asset managers in the fourth quarter alone,” said CI CEO Kurt McAlpine. “With assets of $151 billion, US Wealth Management is now our largest business line.”
CI’s Canadian wealth platform grew 20% year-over-year to $80.6 billion. AUM in the firm’s asset-management business grew 11%, driven by a combination of strong investment performance and positive net sales.
McAlpine said, “The significant change in net sales stems from the actions we have taken to modernize our asset management business, including integrating our boutique investment teams into a global platform and offering a wide range of innovative investment solutions “
