The banking group embarked on a large wealth management acquisition drive in 2020, buying a raft of RIAs in the US, for example. Its US wealth arm was rebranded as Corient.

Reported adjusted net income at CI Financial, the Canada-headquartered bank that four years ago began a spending spree on wealth management firms, was C$141.2 million ($100.6 million) for the third quarter of 2024, up from C$132.8 million a year earlier. 

Measured under IFRS accounting, there was a net loss, attributable to shareholders, of C$27.6 million in Q3, widening from C$12.4 million.

Total client assets, including its Canadian and US wealth management businesses, stood at $518 billion at September 30, up from C$420.9 billion a year before.

US wealth management assets rose to C$250.6 billion from C$197 billion; Canadian wealth management assets rose to C$100 billion from C$81.5 billion.

“Our momentum continued in the third quarter, with CI producing record results on key measures,” Kurt MacAlpine, CI’s chief executive, said. “Total assets grew by 6 per cent over the quarter to a new high of C$518.1 billion, while adjusted diluted earnings per share at C$0.97 and adjusted EBITDA attributable to shareholders per share at $1.85 were also at record levels.”

In August last year, CI Private Wealth, the business formed by CI Financial after a rapid series of M&A deals in the US wealth space, rebranded as Corient.

Since CI Financial entered the US RIA sector in 2020, it has become one of the industry’s fastest-growing wealth platforms through acquisitions and organic growth. 

In May 2023, CI Financial closed its previously-announced sale of a 20 per cent minority investment in its US wealth management business.