2/16/2024

speaker
Betsy
Conference Operator

Welcome to the IGM Financial Fourth Quarter 2023 Analyst Call and Webcast. As a reminder, all participants are in a listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star then 1 on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star then 0. I would now like to turn the conference over to Kyle Martin, Treasurer and Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

speaker
Kyle Martin
Treasurer and Head of Investor Relations, IGM Financial

Thank you, Betsy. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to IGM Financial's 2023 Fourth Quarter Earnings Call. Joining me on the call today, we have James O'Sullivan, President and CEO of IGM Financial, Damon Murchison, President and CEO of of Vice President and CFO, IGM Financial. Before we get started, I would like to draw your attention to our cautions concerning forward-looking statements on slide three of the presentation. Slides four and five summarize non-IFRS financial measures and other financial measures used in this material. And on slide six, we provide a list of documents that are incorporated by reference and available on our website related to IGM Financial's fourth quarter results. I'll now turn it over to James.

speaker
James O'Sullivan
President and CEO, IGM Financial

Thank you, Kyle, and good morning, everyone. Turning to slide eight. 2023 was an important year for IGM Financial. We made significant progress positioning IGM for meaningful growth, including efforts during the year to streamline our organization and two important pairs of transactions. The first, of course, was the closing of an increased investment in China AMC and a partial sale of our Great West Life Co. equity stake. And the second was the equity investment in Rockefeller Capital Management in April and the sale of IPC to Canada Life, which closed during the fourth quarter. To capture the cumulative efforts to reposition IGM, we've introduced a new brand image, and realigned our segments to represent our focus on wealth and asset management with a combined total of $389 billion in assets under management and advisement. Turning to slide nine, looking ahead to 2024, we will be focused on leaning into our businesses, supporting them, and leveraging their competitive advantages to win in their respective market segments. Across our segments, we will continue to drive operational excellence, executing consistently, and seeking to continuously elevate our products and capabilities. In terms of capital allocation, as we articulated at our Investor Day in early December, our top priority is to invest in the long-term success of our core businesses, IG Wealth Management and McKenzie Investments. This will include investing in IG Wealth's segmented advice model and the leading middle office solution being implemented at McKenzie. We have an attractive dividend that we are committed to and we know is valued by our shareholders. And with the renewal of our normal course issuer bid during December, we will look to offset stock option dilution and potentially take advantage of opportunities to repurchase shares at attractive levels during 2024. Turning to the results for the fourth quarter on slide 10, adjusted EPS of 84 cents excludes the gain recognized on the sale of IPC to Canada Life, but it includes the impact of a negative fair value adjustment within IG wealth mortgage banking operations. Keith will speak to this later in the call. Our AUM&A, including strategic investments, grew by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, driven by strong financial market returns and significant net inflows across most of our wealth and asset management businesses. IG Wealth and McKenzie's net flows results continue to be influenced by the current operating environment. and partially offset the growth from strong client returns. IGM Financial was once again recognized by corporate nights as one of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world. We were also recognized as a top 100 employer in Canada. Part of this recognition relates to how we engage with our local communities and our talent. Our talent is comprised of great people and leadership teams working across our businesses. They drove our businesses to new heights during 2023. We are grateful for all of their hard work, dedication, and continued commitment. Turning to slide 11, we remind everyone how strong the markets finished in 2023, with significant increases across most equity markets and the Canadian fixed income market. Slide 12 speaks to the Canadian operating environment from the perspective of mutual fund flows. Canadians continue to redeem from mutual funds on a net basis during the fourth quarter as the high interest rates and inflationary environment continue to weigh on households. Looking forward to 2024, the strong equity and fixed income market performance in 2023 will serve to improve investor sentiment and supports a more constructive net flows view for 2024. However, we anticipate the current economic environment to continue to weigh on Canadian households' ability to save for their long-term financial objectives over the near term. This is temporary. As the economic picture evolves and the interest rates find a normalized level, Canadians will turn their attention back to their long-term financial health and adjust as required to achieve their goals. Our focus on financial planning and advice is relevant throughout market cycles. As we move through this phase of the current cycle, financial advisors are there to help clients navigate this period of change. Slide 13 presents IGM's Consolidated Average Results, both of which I spoke to in my opening comments. Slide 14 now presents an adjusted net earnings view based on our realigned segments. As our core businesses benefit from focused investments and our other companies execute against their growth-driven strategies, we look forward to presenting the strength of each segment as we work towards the medium-term earnings growth objective of 9% or better, which we outlined at our investor day. Slide 15 shows the Q4 ending AUM&A across our companies, including the investments that we have made over 2023 and excluding IPC. Our ending AUM&A was up by 35% versus Q4 2022. I'll now invite Damon to speak to the results of our wealth management segment. Thank you, James, and good morning, everyone.

speaker
Damon Murchison
President and CEO, IG Wealth Management

Turn to slide 17 in Wealth Mansion's fourth quarter highlights, including IG Wealth, Rockefeller, and Wealthsimple. IG Wealth ended the quarter with AUA of $121.2 billion, a solid increase of 6.1% driven by financial markets. Growth inflows of $3.1 billion represent another strong quarter. Net outflows were $228 million during the fourth quarter as we continue to see partial redemptions by our clients as they navigate the current environment, including paying down debt and funding their lifestyles in a higher-cost environment. IG's growth outflows with a percentage of average AUA over the last 12 months remain well below the industry and ended the quarter at 11%, while the industry redemption rate was 16%. Both these rates remain relatively unchanged versus Q3. Client acquisition during Q4 continues to see our $1 million plus new client growth inflows represent more than 25% of total new client growth inflows. Also during the quarter, we were pleased to launch the iProfile Enhanced Monthly Income Portfolio. These portfolios are a great example of our capabilities, showcasing the ability to create new products that address the needs of our clients today and into the future. I'll speak to more of this on an upcoming slide. Also, on a later slide, I'll also provide an update on our wealth managers, Rockefeller and Wealthsimple. Both companies continue to show strong execution while our Rockefeller relationship continues to grow, offering new opportunities for both IG and Rockefeller alike. Turn to slide 18. You can see our Q4 flows. Our growth inflows continue to remain strong, with both the fourth quarter and full year remaining relatively in line with 2022. Outflows continue to be partial in nature, reflecting what we're seeing within the industry and similar to the last two quarters. January growth inflows represented our highest growth inflows in the last 10 years. I will note that our net outflow for the month included $177 million related to a transfer of a mandate within the IG-defined benefit benefit plan over to McKenzie. Turn to slide 19. You will see that our IBM solutions to the percentage of total AUA remains strong. Client cash, GICs, HISA positions continue to represent an opportunity, including dollar average costing back into the market over time. We continue to believe that we're winning market share through new client acquisition and greater share of wallet. Lastly, our investments continue to deliver strong relative investment performance with 59% of our assets ranked four and five star, and 92% plus rated three stores or higher by Morningstar. Turning to slide 20, we continue to see strong new client acquisition, particularly with clients over $500,000, as our value proposition continues to resonate with the marketplace. During the fourth quarter, we had $244 million in growth inflows from newly acquired clients with over a million dollars. representing over 25% of gross inflows from newly acquired clients during this quarter, a significant increase from 17% during Q4 2018. Over the course of 2023, you can see a continuation of our success within this segment, representing just under $1 billion in gross inflows for the year. This represents our best high net worth prospecting year in our history against this segment. As I spoke to at Investor Day, we are very pleased with our continued progress in the high net worth segment, and we fully expect to see these percentages increase over time as we execute our high net worth strategy. Turn to slide 21. I want to take a moment to speak to the industry wealth drivers. As a reminder, we view these drivers as representing a set of key financial challenges that we believe high net worth Canadians are going to have to navigate over the next 10 to 15 years, which I spoke to at length at Investor Day. The fourth quarter launch of the iProfile enhanced monthly income portfolios were developed with these in mind. With its predictable income and focus on performance and growth, it's a prime candidate for those preparing for and entering into retirement. The greater tax efficiency of these portfolios versus alternative solutions in the marketplace also touches on another important driver, tax planning and optimization. As we further migrate our business toward key high network segments, investing in our current and future portfolios suite of managed solutions will continue to provide significant opportunities for growth for our firm. Turn to slide 22. This shows the productivity of our advisors, an increasingly important metric as we grow the business and focus on scaling our segmented advice model. The investments we are making, whether it be further digitalization of our business, providing our advisors with next-gen financial planning tools and support, or leveraging our private wealth planning experience, have all fueled the ability for advisors to do more business in more ways with more complex clients. This emphasis on advisor productivity and operational excellence is a focus throughout all divisions of IG Wealth, and we look forward to continued strong productivity growth. Now, let's turn to slide 23. Here are some important updates on Rockefeller's progress over the course of 2023. Client assets were up approximately 9.4% during the quarter, driven by strong markets as well as continued inorganic and organic growth. During 2023, client assets grew by 24.7%. Year-to-date organic growth has driven $3.9 billion in client assets, or approximately $1 billion a quarter on average. Five new advisor teams were out during the quarter for a total of 21 during 2023. Over $120 million of acquired production was achieved during the quarter, as the teams that joined Rockefeller averaged a larger asset base than the initial forecast. Last time, I was happy to report that during December, the management teams of Rockefeller and IG Wealth Management engaged at Rockefeller's offices in New York to share best practices and strategies that can benefit both organizations. This is one of the key strategic benefits we highlighted in April last year and again at our investor day. We believe collaboration will provide opportunities to build and strengthen a mutually beneficial relationship. Turn to slide 24. The fourth quarter was an incredibly strong quarter for Wealthsimple as they continue to reinforce themselves as an important part of the Canadian wealth management ecosystem. Wealthsimple's AUA in Q4 ended at $31 billion, advancing by an incredible 24% or $6.1 billion, which represented record quarterly growth. On a year-over-year basis, AU is up 69%. They continue to serve approximately 2.2 million clients and have experienced client growth of approximately 10% year-over-year. Wealthsimple is proving their ability to execute, and they continue to deliver strong results. With that, I'll turn it over to Luke Gould.

speaker
Luke Gould
President and CEO, Mackenzie Investments

Great. Thanks, Damon. Good morning, everyone. Turn to page 26, a few comments in the quarter. First, our ending AUM was up 5%, driven primarily by strong investment returns of 6.5% for our clients, which was 10% during the year. On point two, investment funds experienced net redemptions of $826 million during the quarter, which continues to be in line with the industry environment. While the returns generated for clients in 2023 rewarded clients for remaining committed to their financial plans through market volatility, we haven't yet seen improvements in investor confidence. In point three, we're very pleased to see a meaningful increase in the share of our assets and four- and five-star funds, increasing to 51% from 43% in September as we enter the RRSP season. As we closed out January, we saw further improvements to 54% of our assets in four- and five-star funds. In point four, you can see some of our fourth quarter business developments. Most important, as indicated at investor day, We're pleased to announce a deal with BNY Mellon to bring a leading, innovative, and global middle office solution to McKinsey. This middle office partnership creates an environment for our investor professionals that puts us among global leaders. On the right, China MC's long-term mutual fund net sales continue to impress with a 3% increase during the fourth quarter driven by net sales of $49 billion, or $9 billion, that overcame weak market performance and reflected further market share gains. And Norfleet delivered $800 million in new commitments. Since our investment in Norfleet 12 quarters ago, Norfleet has averaged $1 billion in commitments each quarter. Turning to page 27, you can see the trended history of McKinsey's net flows. As you can see, during the quarter, we experienced outflows that were in line with the industry. And on both the charts on the left and the right, you can see the trend is stable over the last 12 months. We believe their business is very well positioned for when investor confidence levels improve. Turn to page 28. On the bottom left again, you can see our net sales rate is in line with the industry. With our boutique approach and diversified suite, McKenzie tensed up the most consistent net sales among peers. And as mentioned on the right, you can see the improvement in Morningstar ratings to 51% in four and five stars. And as mentioned, we did see a further improvement in January. I'd remind that we target 60% of assets in four and five star funds with our boutique approach. And the overall performance at December is the highest level we've had in over a year. Turning to page 29, you can see our performance in net sales for our retail mutual funds by boutique. I'm going to make a couple of points on this slide. First, you can see strong long-term performance and evolving performance across a number of boutiques. And we believe that we have a lot of compelling mandates in categories and demand to lean into through RSPC using. I would highlight in the middle our global quant equity boutique that we profiled in Investor Day. This Boston-based team now has a five-year track record and have really delivered, with their emerging market mandates being ranked among the top in the world, as well as the very top quant in the investment database. While we're marketing this boutique and institutional, they also advise to an emerging markets mandate and a core global equity mandate on a retail shelf that we're actually promoting. I also do want to indicate that, including this slide, but embedded into our fixed income and multi-strategies boutiques, is net sales of $40 million into our four Northleaf private asset funds that we pioneered for Canadian retail. These funds are scaling and now have $200 million in assets and have delivered very strong track records since launch, with a return of 28% on private equity, an ongoing yield of over 10% on a private credit, and a return of 11% on our infrastructure fund. On page 30, it's an interesting time for the Chinese mutual fund industry. In spite of equity market declines during the last three quarters, the industry continues to generate strong net sales and growth in long-term mutual fund assets. At the bottom left, you can see that in Q4, net sales were 318 billion yuan overall and 494 billion yuan, or 90 billion Canadian dollars, into long-term mutual funds. Full year, long-term mutual fund net sales were 1.35 trillion yuan, representing a net sales rate in excess of 10% of assets. The net sales for both the quarter and the full year were largely into fixed income funds, and there were net outflows in active equity and balance funds being offset by net inflows into ETFs. On the right, you can see the Chinese market position continue to strengthen. They're now second largest in both long-term funds and overall mutual funds, with market share increasing to 5.1% from 4.6% a year ago. On page 31, you can see continued growth in China MC's long-term mutual fund assets, up 3% in the quarter and 16% in the year. Their long-term mutual fund net sales in the quarter were 49 billion yuan, as I've mentioned, or 9 billion Canadian in the quarter, and 172 billion yuan, or 32 billion during the year. This represents an annualized net sales rate of 24% of assets during both the quarter and the full year. Like the industry, China AMC experienced good net sales into both fixed income funds and ETFs. And in spite of volatile financial markets, we're confident in China AMC's ability to continue to grow market share as a bold innovator with a broad offering and strong distribution reach within the Chinese asset management industry. And on page 32, You can see continued strong growth at Northleaf with just under $1 billion in new commitments in the quarter and $3.6 billion in the year. Fundraising continues to be diversified across private credit, infrastructure, and private equity offerings. And I'll now turn the call over to Keith Potter.

speaker
Keith Potter
Vice President and CFO, IGM Financial

Thank you, Luke, and good morning, everyone. On slide 34, you can see key highlights for Q4. EPS of $1.76 reflects a gain on sale of IPC, and excluding this, Q4 adjusted earnings came in at $0.84 per share. I would also highlight that we paid down the short-term credit facility during the fourth quarter, and both IPC earnings and the financing costs up to November 30th are reported in discontinued operations. Adjusted earnings did include a negative fair value adjustment in the mortgage operations, which had an after-tax impact of almost $0.03 per share. I'll speak to this more in a moment. On expenses, our 2023 operations in support of this development expense came in at 1.7% for the full year, slightly below our annual guidance. We're also updating our 2024 guidance to 3.5% growth, plus an additional 0.5% related to what I would call a geography change, where we're changing certain advisor programs at IG Wealth Management that will move approximately $5 million in expenses from asset-based and sales-based compensation to business development. As James mentioned, and as we signaled at investor day, We have realigned how we present our results to better characterize and simplify iGEM's business as a wealth and asset management company. And finally, during the quarter, we marked up the fair value of our investment in Wealthsimple by 20%. And as a reminder, this is fair value through other comprehensive income. On slide 35, you can see our AUM&A and flows, which now include IPC. And during the fourth quarter, we experienced volatility in our AUM&A and closed the quarter up 5.6%, while average assets were down slightly relative to Q3. Turning to slide 36, we have our consolidated earnings at IGM. On point two, the quarter-over-quarter improvement in our share of associated earnings is driven by Northley. It's a combination of higher revenue, lower expenses, and a lower tax rate. The year-over-year change is a combination of the change in ownership position at LIFCO and China MC, lower run rate earnings at China MC after the few reductions we spoke to in Q2 call, and higher earnings at LIFCO during Q4 of 2022. I'd also like to point out that the timing of earnings release has reverted back to following LIFCO for 2024, and as a result, we are recording LIFCO's share of earnings based on actual results. On point three, our operations in support of this development expenses for the quarter were up both on a sequential and year-over-year basis, which is in line with our previous guidance. On page 37, we present the key profitability drivers for IT wealth, our advisory and product and program fee rates for flat quarter-over-quarter. And as a reminder, the advisory fee rate will vary based on mix of clientele and product mix, such as cash and cash-like assets. The asset-based compensation rate was down 0.6 basis points during the quarter. A contributing factor to the drop is a change in certain programs that will result in lower ongoing asset-based compensation. And this reduction will be offset by programs that are part of business development expense. I'll speak more to that as it relates to our guidance for 2024. On slide 38, you can see IB's overall earnings of 101.7 million. It's down 2.8% relative to Q4 2022. This is primarily due to the impact of the negative fair value adjustment in the mortgage operations. The primary driver of the negative fair value adjustment was due to an effective economic hedge in our mortgage warehouse that did not qualify for hedge accounting under IFRS. The hedge locked in a fixed rate cost of funds, and as rates fell in December, we recognized a fair value loss up front. However, as we securitize the mortgages at lower interest rates, it will reduce funding costs and allow us to realize higher net interest income over the life of the mortgage. On point two, the combination of business development and operations and support expenses were up 1.9% on a full year basis in line with our previous guidance. And relative to Q4 2022, the increase in operations and support and business development expenses were driven primarily by investments in technology, and just general operating costs. Lastly, you'll see at the bottom right of the slide, we are presenting EBITDA. This is not a new disclosure, and we are bringing it forward for completeness for those who track this metric. Moving to slide 39, you can see McKenzie's AUM by client and product type, as well as net revenue rates. Focusing on the top right, you can see the net management fee rate for third-party clients excluding Canada Life, was 80.4 basis points down from Q3. And this was driven by a mixed shift in McKenzie's AUM strategic partnerships. Turning to slide 40, you can see McKenzie's earnings of 49.4 million. On point one, operations and support development expenses were up by 1.4% on a full year basis. And this is below our previous guidance of two to two and a half percent relative to 2022. Relative to Q4 2022, operations and support and visit development expenses increased by 0.3%. Part of the lower expected expenses are related to timing and are expected to shift into 2024. Turning to slide 31 on 2024 guidance for operations and support visit development expenses, there are two components that are important to focus on. First, we are revising our base operations and support visit development expense growth and guidance to 3.5% over 2023. This includes 4% at McKinsey and a base 3% growth at IG. As mentioned, McKinsey's expenses are slightly lower in 2023 and will shift some of the investment into the business into 2024. In addition to the 3% base growth at IG, As I commented a moment ago, there will also be a change in programs that will reduce asset-based compensation and sales-based compensation expense by approximately $5 million, but it will be offset by programs that will increase business development expense by the same amount. And this will result in an additional 1% growth in business development expense at IG, or approximately 0.5% at the IGM level for 2024. And we view this as a geography change as we adjust programs versus net new incremental spend. Slide 42 has China MC results. On the left, ending AUM of RMB 1.8 trillion was flat quarter over quarter. However, average assets were down 3% in the quarter. So with respect to earnings on the right, the sequential decrease is in line with total average assets being down. And as Luke commented, China MC continues to strengthen its leadership position in the China asset management industry in a top market environment. On slide 43, you can see our new segmented view of earnings, contributions from our respective companies in this segment. Wealth management includes IG Wealth, Rockefeller, Wealthsimple, and Nesto. Asset management includes McKenzie, China NC, and Northleaf. And corporate and other includes LifeCo and Portage. I have two other comments. First, on Rockefeller, earnings are in line with our expectations. And second, on Northleaf, Earnings of $6.9 million after non-controlling interest are up over last quarter and down from last year. And as a reminder, in 2022, there were some one-time items as well as a lower effective tax rate. In 2023, we've also experienced a lower effective tax rate. And as we progress into 2024, we expect earnings to be closer to about $4 million per quarter Slide 44 builds on the previous slide, providing a summarized view of our ownership and value of our strategic investments by segment. Two points. First, as I commented, you can see the revised value of Wealthsimple. The change in fair value reflects an increase in public and peer valuations during the quarter, strong performance of Wealthsimple, which Damon touched on, and a revised revenue forecast for the company. To help give consideration to IBM's value through some of the parts, at the bottom right of the slide, you can see the value of our strategic investments across our segments is approximately $5 billion. We'd also like to highlight that the supplemental package follows the realigned segments for strategic investments, and we've provided a mapping in the appendix, so you can please reach out to the IR team if you have any questions related to this. That concludes my remarks, and I'll turn it over for questions.

speaker
Betsy
Conference Operator

We will now begin the question and answer session. To join the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. We will pause for a moment as callers join the queue. Thank you for your patience. The first question today comes from Jeffrey Korn with RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

speaker
Jeffrey Korn
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

Hi, good morning. First question was just on RRSP season. I mean, it sounds like the comments are muted given the current market environment. Just wondering if there's any insight you have on what you think February might shape out to be. Like, do you think it could be a positive month for the industry and or within IGM and then Any thoughts you're getting in anecdotes or those sorts of things when you think the monthly flows numbers for the industry might actually eventually turn positive?

speaker
Damon Murchison
President and CEO, IG Wealth Management

Hey, Jeff, it's Damon. So our SP season this year is a little muted relative to what we expect in the past, but we are seeing a pickup in February, which is traditionally where you get, you know, one of the best months of the year. In terms of being positive, you know, There's a number of things that would impact that, but we're feeling good about RSV season and relative to where we are. I know Luke will jump in and talk about it as well. In terms of the near-term outlook and for the rest of the year, it is going to be a little bit of a tough year in the near term. As James talked about, there's just not a lot of cash on hand for a lot of Canadians right now, and many of them have to renew their mortgages in the upcoming year, and that's going to impact things. But At the same token, we do look at the over $2 trillion that's sitting on the sideline, and we do expect at some point for that money to start to be reinvested for the long term. Obviously, not all of it is long-term money, but as that starts to roll in, you should start to see the industry's net sales start to pick up.

speaker
Luke Gould
President and CEO, Mackenzie Investments

Luke? Yeah, I share Damon's view, Jeff. We have done So when February will be positive, we're focused on the last one trailing, like the year-over-year improvement. We haven't seen things start to improve yet, but there's some sign of life in places. But yeah, right now we just haven't seen it picking up. And I remind everybody, there's $2 trillion of deposits that's sitting a lot on the sidelines. We haven't seen that money start going back, but the clients sure have been rewarded for sticking to the plans at 2023.

speaker
Jeffrey Korn
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

Thanks for that. And just my second question is, was unwell simple. The AUA was up quite a bit quarter-by-quarter in Q4. The number of accounts was actually, I think, marginally down quarter-by-quarter. Aside from the positive market performance, what really drove that net low increase? I think that there was some promotional activity that was happening during the quarter. I'm not sure if that was really what was driving it.

speaker
James O'Sullivan
President and CEO, IGM Financial

There was some promotional activity, Jeff, to be sure. And I would say that was a contributing factor, but not the only factor. I mean, Mike Ketchum and team have been working for many quarters to evolve that business model, to diversify the business, to strengthen it. And I think what Mike, you know, displayed at Investor Day was really early progress in that regard. So as we sit here today, this is a This is clearly, once again, a fast-growing and very well-diversified business.

speaker
Jeffrey Korn
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

Okay. Thank you.

speaker
Betsy
Conference Operator

Once again, if you have a question, please press star then 1 to enter the question queue. The next question comes from Graham Riding with TV Security. Please go ahead.

speaker
Graham Riding
Analyst, TV Securities

Hi, sorry. Just with the Wealthsimple up 24% quarter to quarter, but I saw the number of clients were down actually a little bit quarter to quarter. What's behind that?

speaker
James O'Sullivan
President and CEO, IGM Financial

Yeah, thanks for the question, Graham. I can really only answer that question in a general manner. And what I would say generally is that as companies, including Wealthsimple, you know, evolve their go-to-market strategies, their client bases will evolve. And Wealthsimple is actively evolving their offering. They're strengthening their business. And I would describe everything that has happened at Wealthsimple as thoughtful and deliberative.

speaker
Graham Riding
Analyst, TV Securities

Okay. And then I think you mentioned that you increased your investment. How mature was that, or did you flag what that number was?

speaker
Keith Potter
Vice President and CFO, IGM Financial

Yeah, Graeme, the actual transaction is detailed, is confidential, but it was a material amount. We increased our percentage ownership by about 0.4%.

speaker
Graham Riding
Analyst, TV Securities

Okay, so not overly material. And then just on the IG Wealth side, you know, I realize that there's still some headwinds industry-wide for long-term funds, but I There's been a noticeable drop-off as well on just the flows into your cash-type products on a last-full-month basis. Is that just a reflection of high interest rates, inflation, deleveraging on Canadian households, or what do you attribute sort of the drop-off into cash-type products?

speaker
Damon Murchison
President and CEO, IG Wealth Management

Yeah, it's a combination of the fact that our advisors are doing a very good job of really trying to make sure that we – we dollar average costs back into the markets. We're a shop, because we're a shop of financial planners, we preach time in the market, not timing the market. So you do have that, and you do have the fact that our advisors are not just using cash, they're using HIZAs, they're using GICs, they're using money market funds as well.

speaker
Graham Riding
Analyst, TV Securities

Good. That's it for me. Thanks.

speaker
Betsy
Conference Operator

This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Kyle Martin for any closing remarks.

speaker
Kyle Martin
Treasurer and Head of Investor Relations, IGM Financial

Thank you, Betsy. And thank you everyone for taking the time with us this morning. With that, we can close out today's call.

speaker
Betsy
Conference Operator

This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating and have a pleasant day.

Disclaimer

This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.

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