Deferred sales charge purchase option to be discontinued

WINNIPEG, Sept. 19, 2016 /CNW/ - Investors Group will be discontinuing the deferred sales charge (DSC) purchase option for its mutual funds effective January 1^st, 2017. At the same time, fees on no-load (NL) funds will be reduced.

"DSC was created to provide discipline to long term investing but the marketplace has evolved," said Investors Group President and CEO Jeffrey R. Carney. "We remain confident that our comprehensive approach to financial planning will continue to encourage positive outcomes for clients."

Beginning in 2017, consumers will be able to purchase no-load funds at an annualized fee reduction of between 4 and 10 basis points on the majority of Investors Group mutual funds. This will be an annualized weighted average annual fee reduction of approximately 8 bps on the $11.4 billion in assets under management currently residing within the affected no-load series.

Additional details are available in the accompanying background document.

This is not a solicitation to purchase securities of these funds.  Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual funds investments.  Please read the prospectus of the mutual funds before investing.  Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.  These funds are distributed across Canada by Investors Group Financial Services Inc., (in Quebec, a financial services firm) and Investors Group Securities Inc. (in Quebec, a firm in financial planning).

Investors Group, founded in 1926, is a national leader in delivering personalized financial solutions to Canadians through a network of over 5,300 Consultants located throughout Canada.  In addition to an exclusive family of mutual funds and other investment vehicles, Investors Group offers a wide range of insurance, securities, mortgage and other financial services.  Investors Group is a member of the IGM Financial Inc. (TSX: IGM) group of companies.  IGM Financial is one of Canada's premier financial services companies with approximately $139 billion in total assets under management as of August 31, 2016.

^TMTrademarks, including Investors Group, are owned by IGM Financial Inc. and licensed to its subsidiary corporations.

Background
1)	Effective January 1, 2017, the DSC purchase option of Investors Group's funds will be closed to all new lump sum investments. (N.B. this option refers to the payment of a redemption fee on a declining basis if the client redeems their investments within a certain number of years).
	a.	The DSC purchase option will continue to be available for pre-authorized contribution plans established before January 1, 2017 until on or about June 30, 2017. DSC fees will not apply to purchases under pre-authorized contribution arrangements after December 31^st, 2016.  The DSC purchase option will still be available for reinvested distributions, switches from existing assets acquired under the DSC purchase option and for Management fee and expense reductions that are reinvested into shares of the classes. DSC purchase option changes apply to Series A, A- RDSP, TDSC, JDSC, and TJDSC, as well as the DSC purchase options available for Series C , Tc, Investors Canadian Money Market Fund, or any single series Investors Group Fund.
2)	Beginning in 2017, consumers will be able to purchase no-load funds at an annualized fee reduction of between 4 and 10 basis points on the majority of Investors Group Funds. This will be an annualized weighted average annual fee reduction of approximately 8 bps on the $11.4 billion in assets under management currently residing within the affected no load series.
	a.	This change represents a reduction of 4 - 10 bps in service fees on balanced and equity products and 5 bps in administration fees on fixed income.
	b.	For Series U equity and balanced products the reduction of 4 – 10 bps applies to the management fee.
	c.	The no-load purchase option changes apply to Series B, B-RDSP, TNL, JNL, TJNL, U, and TU.
	d.	Series U units of Investors Real Property Fund will remain open, but purchases of Series U units made after December 31, 2016 will no longer be subject to DSC fees, unless the investment was switched into Series U from an investment that was subject to a DSC schedule.
	e.	For the no-load purchase option of Series C and TC, eligibility for service fee refunds will be aligned with the DSC purchase option of those series.

SOURCE Investors Group Inc.

Ron Arnst, Investors Group, [phone], [email protected]