CI Financial's US Arm Seeks South Dakota Trust Charter

Tom Burroughes

17 June 2022

CI Private Wealth US, subsidiary of CI Financial, has applied for a charter to set up and operate a South Dakota trust company.

Once chartered, CI Trust will offer administrative trust solutions to clients through CIPW’s national wealth management platform, CI Financial said in a statement yesterday.

“CI Trust will allow us to offer clients a variety of robust trust solutions and further enhance the elite client experience that CI Private Wealth provides,” Kurt MacAlpine, chief executive officer of CI, said.

“Trusts are a critical part of meeting the complex wealth management and estate planning needs of ultra-high net worth and high net worth clients. CI Trust will offer comprehensive, customized administrative trust solutions designed to satisfy each client’s goals, while CIPW manages the trust’s assets to ensure alignment with the client’s overall wealth management plan.”

CI has made waves in the US market since embarking on a major acquisition spree in the registered investment advisor space from January 2020. Once all outstanding acquisitions are completed, CI’s US assets will reach about $134 billion . CI Financial intends to hold an initial public offering of its US business – as analyzed here by Family Wealth Report.

“Establishing CI Trust is an important step in our mission of building the country’s leading wealth management firm for ultra-high net worth and high net worth investors,” MacAlpine said. “It will build on other successful enhancements to our service offerings, such as the launch earlier this year of our Family Office Services platform, which completed approximately 1,000 tax returns for our clients in its first year of operation.”

The ability to offer trust services with a charter is a long-established feature of the US financial industry. For example, in January, Chilton Trust won a National Trust Charter from Delaware.