IGM Financial Inc.

Good day, and welcome to the IGM Financial fourth quarter 2024 results conference column broadcast. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on a touchtone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Kyle Martin, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Betsy. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to today's call. Joining me on the call today, we have James O'Sullivan, President and CEO, IGM Financial. Damon Murchison, President and CEO, IG Wealth Management. Luke Gould, President and CEO, McKenzie Investments. about 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 the material. And on slide six, we provide a list of documents that are available on our website related to IGM's Q4 results. I'll take us to slide nine and turn it over to James.

Thank you, Kyle, and good morning, everyone. During 2024, we continued to execute on our growth strategy at IGM Financial with important progress and success across all our businesses. We achieved adjusted EPS of $3.95, up 12 percent relative to 2023, and our second highest year on record. and we returned over $650 million of capital to shareholders through our common dividend and share repurchase program. We grew our client assets, including our proportionate share for strategic investments, by 24%, reaching over $480 billion at the end of the year. Our core businesses, IG Wealth and McKenzie, made up a large portion of our growth in assets and drove the majority of our earnings growth in the year, demonstrating the strength of our core. Our strategic investments also delivered strong client asset growth, including significant new inflows across each of the four businesses. We have the businesses that we want, and 2024 results support our belief that we are well-positioned and an architect at IGM to deliver growth. Turning to slide 10, as we look ahead to 2025, we will continue to invest in our wealth and asset management businesses, building on recent success and supporting their long-term growth. At IG Wealth Management, we will leverage our leading advisor platform and strong momentum to drive further gains in the mass affluent and high net worth segments. And McKenzie, remains focused on delivering investment excellence, leveraging and expanding our distribution advantage, and elevating the client and advisor experience. We will continue to return capital to shareholders with our strong dividend and share repurchase program. And as we've said for over a year, from an M&A perspective, we expect to be most focused on investing in the strategic investments that we own today. Shifting to our fourth quarter results on slide 11, adjusted EPS of $1.05 was up 22% relative to the prior year and was the second best fourth quarter on record. Quarter-ending assets at each of our wealth and asset management companies reached record period-ending highs. During the fourth quarter, we renewed our normal course issuer bid and continued returning capital to shareholders. During the quarter, IGM Financial was once again recognized as a top sustainable company, as well as one of Canada's top employers. We are proud of these awards and view them as a reflection of the dedication and commitment that our employees deliver each and every day. Turning to slide 12, financial markets remained strong throughout 2024 with positive returns in all major equity markets. IG and McKenzie's average client return, which represents our diversified asset mix across global asset classes and currency exposures, was an impressive 15.5% for the year. As shown on slide 13, The industry backdrop clearly improved during 2024, helped by strong financial markets that supported investor confidence as the bite of high inflation and interest rates began to ease. Absent financial market volatility, we would expect 2025 to show continued improvement. But the prospect of volatility is real and has been experienced this week. with the announcement and then delay of tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Across IGM, we are prepared for uncertainty surrounding how the U.S. chooses to engage with Canada and the rest of the world, and the potential financial impact market volatility that may come from it. Our client assets are well diversified, and our clients will continue to benefit from our focus on financial planning and advice. IGM also benefits from a range of growth drivers, both within our core businesses and our strategic investments, which continue to position us for near and long-term success. Keith will speak more to our earnings results later in the call. So on slide 14, I'll just quickly highlight that IGM's double-digit earnings growth for the quarter and the year were both driven by the wealth and asset management segments. And on slide 15, we see how each of the six wealth and asset management businesses contributed to IGM's asset growth over the course of 2024, which Damon and Luke will each speak to next. So, Damon, over to you.