CI Global Asset Management Announces Appointment of Marc-André Lewis as Executive Vice-President and Head of Investment Management

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CI Global Asset Management (“CI GAM”) today announced the appointment of Marc-André Lewis, an accomplished investment professional with extensive global experience, as its Executive Vice-President and Head of Investment Management.

Mr. Lewis is joining CI GAM from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (“ADIA”), one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, where he was Head of Portfolio Construction. In this role, his responsibilities included strategic asset allocation, quantitative research and alternative indexing activities at the organization, as well as sitting on the executive committee and tactical asset allocation committee for its Strategy and Planning Department.

“The appointment of our first-ever Head of Investment Management is a critical step in the transformation of CI GAM from a multi-boutique investment model to an integrated global investment manager,” said Kurt MacAlpine, Chief Executive Officer of CI Financial, parent company of CI GAM. “Marc-André’s expertise and leadership experience gained at one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated investment organizations will help drive this next stage of CI GAM’s growth and development.

“His background spans public and private markets, all asset classes, asset allocation, portfolio construction, risk management and fundamental and quantitative strategies,” Mr. MacAlpine said. “This diverse background makes him the ideal candidate for this role.”

Mr. Lewis’s appointment will be effective September 1, 2021. He will be leading a group of more than 100 investment professionals and overseeing the continued development of CI GAM’s integrated global investment platform. The company announced in November 2020 that it would be combining its in-house investment boutiques and operating as one team under one brand – CI Global Asset Management. Mr. Lewis will be relocating from Abu Dhabi to Toronto for the position.

“I am excited and honoured to be joining CI GAM in this important new role of Head of Investment Management,” said Mr. Lewis. “CI Financial has made incredible progress in executing on its new strategy over the past 18 months and I look forward to contributing to the modernization of its asset management business. My career has been dedicated to delivering exceptional investment performance and I’m eager to put my skills to work on behalf of CI GAM’s broad range of clients, from retail investors to institutions.”

Prior to joining ADIA, Mr. Lewis was Senior Vice-President and Deputy Chief Risk Officer at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (“CDPQ”), where he led a team that analyzed and monitored the risks of both public and private investments in the CDPQ portfolio. He was also a member of the CDPQ asset allocation committee. He holds a PhD in theoretical physics from Pierre and Marie Curie University (now Sorbonne University), and an M.Sc. in theoretical physics and a B.Sc. in mathematics and physics from Université de Montréal.

Portfolio management update

CI GAM also announced portfolio management appointments in response to decisions by Eric Bushell and Robert Lyon to retire from investment management after long and successful careers. These moves have been planned for some time and are unrelated to the appointment of Mr. Lewis. Their portfolio management duties are being filled by senior, experienced CI GAM portfolio managers who are already involved in those mandates, ensuring a seamless transition of duties.

“On behalf of everyone at CI, I thank Eric and Bob for their many years of service and for their thoughtfulness in planning an orderly succession,” Mr. MacAlpine said. “Eric has built an incredibly talented team and this deep bench strength will ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities for our firm and our clients.”

Mr. Bushell began his investment industry career at BPI Financial Corp. (“BPI”) in 1993 and joined CI GAM in 1999 when CI Financial Corp. acquired BPI. In 2002, he became Chief Investment Officer of CI GAM’s Signature team. Under his leadership, Signature grew from a small Canadian-focused investment team to a global multi-asset investment team with over 50 professionals managing approximately $55 billion in a broad range of equity, sector equity, income, and balanced mandates from offices in Toronto and Hong Kong.

“Eric has made an incredible contribution to the success of CI GAM and its growth into one of Canada’s top investment managers,” said Mr. MacAlpine. “Eric was early in understanding that capital markets were becoming increasingly globalized, complex and interconnected and he built an investment team to manage that reality. He emphasized the development of deep expertise in industry sectors and asset classes on a global basis, married to a highly collaborative team approach.”

“After 28 years in the industry and nearly 20 years as Signature’s CIO, I decided this was the right time to retire from investment management and start the next chapter of my life,” Mr. Bushell said. “I’m proud of what we accomplished as a firm and a team, earning the trust of so many clients and contributing to their livelihoods and goals. I look forward to seeing the next generation of investment leaders make their mark.”

As team leader, Mr. Bushell has moved away from day-to-day management of funds to focus on the group’s broad macroeconomic, market and asset allocation analysis, enhancing its investment processes, and fostering the development of its culture, performance and talent. This has included managing succession planning throughout the group and assisting in recommending his successor managers.

Mr. Lyon started in the investment industry in 1993 and his experience includes working as portfolio manager at BPI and CI GAM from 1997-2006. He rejoined CI GAM and the Signature team in 2015 and was later named Head of Equities, a role in which he oversaw the team’s equity portfolio managers and analysts. He will be retiring from CI GAM and the industry this fall.

Mr. Bushell is remaining at CI until July 5, 2021 to assist with the transition. The funds managed by Mr. Bushell and Mr. Lyon use a model in which the lead portfolio managers are responsible for their mandates’ broad asset class and sector allocations while specialist portfolio managers and analysts are responsible for security selection within their equity and fixed-income areas of expertise. There are no changes to the specialist portfolio managers and analysts responsible for security selection for these funds. The new lead portfolio manager assignments for these funds, which are effective June 10, 2021, are listed in the table below.

About CI Global Asset Management

CI Global Asset Management is one of Canada’s largest investment management companies. It offers a wide range of investment products and services and is on the Web at www.ci.com. CI GAM is a subsidiary of CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX, NYSE: CIXX), an independent company offering global asset management and wealth management advisory services with approximately $287.5 billion in total assets as at April 30, 2021.

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