CI Financial's assets under management grow 2.2% in October

TSX Symbol: CIX

TORONTO, Nov. 2 /CNW/ - CI Financial Corp. ("CI") today reported gross retail sales of $743 million and net sales of $46 million for the month of October 2010. Total assets under management at October 31, 2010 were $68.2 billion, an increase of 2.2% over the month.

Sales consisted of $40 million in net sales of long-term funds and $6 million of net sales of money market funds. For the year-to-date, CI had gross retail sales of $8.3 billion and net sales of $1.3 billion.

Total fee-earning assets at October 31, 2010 were $90.9 billion, an increase of 2.1% during the month. Assets under management consisted of retail investment funds of $67.2 billion and pooled assets of $1.1 billion. CI also reported assets under administration at Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Ltd. of $22.1 billion, and other fee-earning assets of $604 million.

In other developments, CI's acquisition of Hartford Investments Canada Corp., announced on October 21, 2010, remains on schedule to close this December. Also in October, CI Investments Inc. announced the launch of CI Income Advantage Fund, which provides exposure to a diversified portfolio of income-generating securities through a tax-efficient structure. The fund is designed to meet Canadians' need for tax-effective income solutions and it complements CI Investments' existing, comprehensive lineup of income funds.

CI will report its results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2010 on November 9 on Canada Newswire and www.ci.com/cix.

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

CI FINANCIAL CORP. October 31, 2010 MONTH-END STATISTICS
MONTHLY SALES DATA                         MANAGED FUNDS	GROSS SALES    (millions)	REDEMPTIONS    (millions)	NET SALES    (millions)
Long-term funds Short-term funds	$677 $66	$637 $60	$40 $6
TOTAL FUNDS	$743	$697	$46

FEE-EARNING ASSETS	Sept. 30/10      (millions)	Oct. 31/10      (millions)	%      Change
Retail assets under management	$65,694	$67,162	2.2%
Pooled assets*	1,069	1,063	-0.6%
TOTAL assets under management	$66,763	$68,225	2.2%
Assante assets under administration*	21,650	22,084	2.0%
CI other fee-earning assets	592	604	2.0%
TOTAL FEE-EARNING ASSETS	$89,005	$90,913	2.1%

MONTHLY AVERAGE RETAIL    ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT	Sept. 30/10      (millions)	Oct. 31/10      (millions)	%      Change
Monthly average retail assets	$64,733	$66,631	2.9%

QUARTERLY AVERAGE RETAIL ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT	Sept. 30/10      (millions)	Oct. 31/10       (millions)	%      Change
Quarterly average retail assets	$63,528	$66,631	4.9%

FISCAL AVERAGE RETAIL ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT	Fiscal 2009      (millions)	Fiscal 2010    (millions)	%      Change
Fiscal year average retail assets	$55,430	$63,639	14.8%

EQUITY		FINANCIAL POSITION (millions)
Total outstanding shares	287,583,423	Debt Outstanding	$721
QTD weighted avg. shares	287,563,814	Cash and marketable securities	(176)
Yield at $21.35	3.7%	Net debt outstanding	$545
In-the-money options	6,683,723
Percentage of all options	99%	Terminal redemption value of funds	$802
All options % of shares	2.3%

* No longer includes 25% of $10 billion in assets managed by Altrinsic Global Advisors, LLC.
** Includes CI and United Financial investment fund assets administered by Assante advisors.

ESTIMATED GEOGRAPHIC EXPOSURE OF AUM
Canada	52%	Asia	3%
United States	24%	Other	4%
Europe	10%	Cash	7%

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.

This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to CI and its products and services, including its business operations and strategy and financial performance and condition. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, among other things, general economic and market factors, including interest rates, business competition, changes in government regulations or in tax laws, and other factors discussed in materials filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time.

For further information:

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