Fiera Capital and Fiera Investments Announce Sale of Retail Mutual Funds

Fiera Capital Corporation has announced that they have reached a definitive agreement with Canoe Financial, pursuant to which Canoe has agreed to acquire the rights to manage a number of Fiera Investments' retail mutual funds.

Jean Phillippe Lemay, Global President and Chief Operating Officer, Fiera Capital, said “This transaction will allow Fiera Capital to broaden its existing partnership with Canoe by leveraging the combination of Canoe's strong distribution network in the Canadian retail market and Fiera Capital's excellence in investment management. Canoe is one of the fastest growing entities in the Canadian mutual fund industry, with over USD5.45 billion in assets across a diversified range of award-winning mutual funds, and we are very pleased to enhance our relationship with this long-standing strategic partner.”

Darcy Hulston, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canoe, said “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement to acquire Fiera Investments' high-quality mutual fund line-up, and look forward to continuing to offer their investors industry-leading active portfolio management. This transaction builds upon our continued partnership with Fiera Capital, which has not only been beneficial to our respective firms, but also and most importantly to our investors.”

Canoe has agreed to acquire the rights to manage the following Mutual Funds:

The "Trust Funds", consisting of the following funds:

• Fiera Canadian Bond Fund
• Loomis Sayles Global Diversified Corporate Bond Fund
• Loomis Sayles Strategic Monthly Income Fund
• Fiera Strategic Balanced Registered Fund
• Fiera Intrinsic Balanced Registered Funds
• Fiera Canadian Dividend Registered Fund
• Fiera US Dividend Registered Fund
• Fiera Core Global Equity Registered Fund
• Fiera Canadian Preferred Share Registered Fund
• Oakmark US Equity Registered Fund
• Oakmark International Equity Registered Fund

The "Class Funds" consisting of the following funds:

• Fiera Canadian Bond Class
• Loomis Sayles Global Diversified Corporate Bond Class
• Fiera Strategic Balanced Class
• Fiera Intrinsic Balanced Class
• Fiera Canadian Dividend Class
• Fiera US Dividend Class
• Fiera Core Global Equity Class
• Fiera Canadian Preferred Share Class
• Oakmark US Equity Class
• Oakmark International Equity Class

The transaction is expected to close on or about June 26, 2020 and is subject to, among other matters, receiving all necessary securityholder and regulatory approvals, as well as satisfying other customary closing conditions, according to a Fiera Capital press release.

Upon completion of the proposed transaction and subject to receipt of all necessary approvals, Canoe will become the trustee of the Trust Funds, as well as the manager and portfolio manager of the Mutual Funds. All Mutual Funds will undergo a name change to continue under the Canoe banner, and, on or about July 3, 2020, Canoe intends to merge each of the Mutual Funds into the corresponding retail mutual fund managed by Canoe as specified below. As part of the agreement, Canoe has agreed to retain Fiera Capital to act as sub-advisor for certain of the Canoe funds into which the Mutual Funds will be merged.

Securityholders of the Mutual Funds will be asked to approve the proposed change of manager from Fiera Investments to Canoe and the proposed merger of their Mutual Funds into the corresponding Canoe fund, and unitholders of the Trust Funds will be asked to vote on the proposed change of trustee from Fiera Investments to Canoe, at special meetings.

Details about the changes will be contained in the meeting materials to be mailed to securityholders of the Mutual Funds. Fiera Investments will refer the proposed transaction to the Independent Review Committee of the Mutual Funds, which acts in an advisory capacity representing the interests of the Mutual Funds and securityholders with respect to conflict of interest matters. The Independent Review Committee will be asked to review the proposals and determine that, if implemented, each proposal would achieve a fair and reasonable result for the Mutual Funds.

Fiera Capital is a leading independent asset management firm with approximately CAD169.7 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2019. The firm provides institutional, retail and private wealth clients with access to full-service integrated money management solutions across traditional and alternative asset classes