CI Financial reports asset growth of 2.5% in February

TSX Symbol: CIX

TORONTO, March 1, 2012 /CNW/ - CI Financial Corp. ("CI") today reported assets under management at February 29, 2012 of $73.3 billion, an increase of $1.8 billion or 2.5% for the month of February.

Total assets were $96.0 billion, up $2.3 billion or 2.5% over the month. CI's assets under management at February 29, 2012 represented a gain of $3.9 billion or 5.6% over the average for the fourth quarter of 2011.

CI also reported assets under administration at Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Ltd. of $22.7 billion.

During February, CI acquired a significant minority interest in Lawrence Park Capital Partners Ltd., an alternative asset manager focusing on fixed-income strategies. CI is also making an investment in its Lawrence Park Credit Strategies Fund.

It was also announced in February that funds managed by CI Investments Inc. were the recipients of eight 2012 Lipper Fund Awards, which honour funds that have excelled in delivering consistently strong risk-adjusted performance, relative to peers. CI's winning funds were Cambridge Canadian Asset Allocation Corporate Class, Signature High Income Fund, Portfolio Series Income Fund and CI Japanese Corporate Class.

In reporting its fiscal results on February 16, CI also announced that it is increasing its dividend by 7% to $0.08 per share per month, effective March 15, 2012.

Additional information about CI's assets and financial position can be found below in the tables of preliminary statistics and on its website, www.cifinancial.com, in the Statistics section. These are the only statistics authorized by CI and CI takes no responsibility for reporting by any external sources.

CI FINANCIAL CORP.
February 29, 2012
PRELIMINARY MONTH-END STATISTICS

ENDING ASSETS	Feb. 29/12 (millions)	Jan. 31/12 (millions)	% Change	Feb. 28/11 (millions)	% Change
Assets under management	$73,250	$71,457	2.5%	$75,234	-2.6%
Assets under administration*	22,706	22,168	2.4%	23,324	-2.6%
TOTAL	$95,956	$93,625	2.5%	$98,558	-2.6%

MONTHLY AVERAGE ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT	Feb. 29/12 (millions)	Jan. 31/12 (millions)	% Change
Monthly average	$72,666	$70,875	2.5%

QUARTERLY AVERAGE ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT	Feb. 29/12 (millions)	Dec. 31/11 (millions)	% Change
Quarterly average	$71,740	$69,349	3.4%

FISCAL AVERAGE ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT	Fiscal 2012 (millions)	Fiscal 2011 (millions)	% Change
Fiscal year average	$71,740	$72,186	-0.6%

EQUITY						FINANCIAL POSITION (millions)
Total outstanding shares			283,726,332			Debt outstanding			$770
QTD weighted avg. shares			283,689,957			Net debt outstanding			$674
Current yield			4.4%
In-the-money options			4,804,687			Terminal redemption value of funds			$776
Percentage of all options			67%
All options % of shares			2.5%

* Includes CI and United Financial funds administered by Assante advisors.

ESTIMATED GEOGRAPHIC EXPOSURE OF AUM
Canada	51%	Asia	3%
United States	22%	Other	4%
Europe	9%	Cash	11%

CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX) is an independent, Canadian-owned wealth management company. CI offers a broad range of investment products and services, including an industry-leading selection of investment funds. CI is on the Web at www.ci.com/cix.

Stephen A. MacPhail
President and Chief Executive Officer
CI Financial
[phone]