BMO, CI announce changes to cut investor costs

The two fund companies are following the industry-wide shift

BMO, CI announce changes to cut investor costs
BMO Investments Inc. (BMOII) and CI Investments (CI) have made changes to let investors enjoy lower fees.

BMOII has added a new fund series F4 to five of its BMO ETF portfolios. It has also allowed investor access to global exposures at a lower cost by adding series F to certain index funds. The BMO Risk Reduction Funds —fixed-income and equity solutions that have downside protection — have also been expanded with Series F and Advisor Series units.

BMOII has also reduced management fees by up to 45 basis points on selected Series A, Series D, Series F, Series T5 and Advisor Series of 12 BMO mutual funds; these include the BMO Canadian Equity ETF Fund, the BMO Target Education 2020 Portfolio, and the BMO Global Dividend Class funds. Administration fees were also cut for 9 BMO mutual funds, and an across-the-board cut on trailing commissions was applied to the BMO Target Education Portfolios.

The changes made by BMOII were effective on or about April 24.

Meanwhile, CI Investments has launched a preferred pricing program and a private wealth program to automatically give fee discounts to eligible investors. The CI private wealth program will automatically accept eligible client-name accounts.

The two programs will use the same pricing model. A flat fee rate will be applied to all eligible assets following a dollar-one pricing scheme. Upon reaching various thresholds, an investor’s qualified assets held in CI’s Class A (ISC) and F, as well as those in Evolution Private Managed Accounts' Class E (ISC) and F (United Funds), will be switched automatically to the appropriate fee tier, letting the investor enjoy the discount.

Assets held by CI investors will be assessed weekly. Positive market value changes will count in determining fee tier levels, and negative fund performance will not be held against investors. The price discounts for most funds will start at the $150,000 per account level, and individual accounts of extended family groups with aggregate asset levels of $250,000 or more can be linked for additional discounts.

CI launched its new programs on May 1.


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