NEW GLOBAL OPERATING MODEL BETTER ALIGNS THE FOCUS OF FIERA CAPITAL'S PUBLIC MARKETS, PRIVATE MARKETS AND PRIVATE WEALTH OPERATIONS, BY FURTHER ENABLING AGILITY, OPERATING SCALABILITY AND INCREASED FOCUS ON INVESTMENT EXCELLENCE STRENGTHENING ITS ENVIABLE POSITION AS A TRUSTED INVESTMENT ADVISOR TO ITS CLIENTS GLOBALLY.
MONTREAL, June 17, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Fiera Capital Corporation (TSX: FSZ) ("Fiera Capital" or the "Company"), a leading independent asset management firm, today announced a change to its global management structure, effective July 1, 2020. Fiera Capital will shift away from a geographically focused operating model, to a global approach, pursuant to which Fiera Capital will now organize its business activities across three operating groups: Public Markets, Private Markets and Private Wealth, instead of its existing regional structure.
Jean-Philippe Lemay, in addition to his current role as Global President and Chief Operating Officer, will lead the Public Markets group. John Valentini, President and CEO of Fiera Private Alternative Investments, will lead the Private Markets Group, a role he is currently assuming as part of his functions. Finally, Peter Stock, currently Executive Vice President, Strategic Development, will assume the lead of the Private Wealth Group and will be based in New York City. Peter Stock has been with Fiera Capital since 2011. He was instrumental in building Fiera Capital's presence in the United States and has been actively involved in corporate development initiatives over the last decade.
This new management structure that encompasses many of Fiera Capital's key business functions, will now be re-aligned along global reporting lines. While Fiera Capital expects to generate cost synergies by reducing redundancies and increasing operating efficiency, savings generated in 2020 will be redeployed during the current fiscal year to certain key functions, in order to help accelerate future growth. Expected cost savings should be realized in 2021 and beyond, most notably within the Public Markets operating group. Additional investment will also be made in structuring and developing an integrated Global Distribution function across both Public and Private Markets asset classes, in order to offer holistic and diversified investment solutions to our Institutional clients and Strategic Partnerships on a global basis. The creation of a Global Private Wealth group is also expected to leverage existing best practices on a global basis and enhance operating scalability of Fiera Capital's Private Wealth operations. Fiera Capital expects all the foregoing actions to translate into positive contribution to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the range of $5 million to $10 million starting in the 2021 financial year.
"Fiera Capital has been guided by its values of integrity, innovation, investment excellence, collaboration and ambition since its creation in 2003. Our new global management structure aims to build on the strength of this existing foundation by driving increased collaboration and partnership between our investment and distribution teams in order to fully deploy our extensive suite of investment capabilities for the ultimate benefit of our clients," said Jean-Guy Desjardins, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. "Our new structure will better equip our global leadership team to have better line of sight on key business challenges and opportunities, thereby allowing them to scale solutions on a global basis and accelerate the execution of our 2022 strategic plan."
"We are excited to announce this important evolution of our global operating structure which is the result of a thorough review of our operations initiated as part of our 2022 strategic plan and is not related to the current COVID-19 situation. Over the last few years, we significantly added to our competitive suite of public and private market investment strategies through organic initiatives and strategic acquisitions. The new structure announced today will allow us to leverage the at-scale operating model of our successful Canadian business more broadly and remove operational duplication to create a stronger, more synergistic and more unified Fiera Capital," said Jean-Philippe Lemay, Global President and Chief Operating Officer. "By capitalizing on our robust investment platform, integrating our distribution model globally and continuing to invest in our technology platforms, we are making great strides to deliver investment excellence as a trusted investment advisor to our clients and improve Fiera Capital's long-term business and financial performance."
Fiera Capital expects to record severance and restructuring related charges in the range of $19 million to $21 million before taxes during the second quarter of 2020.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document may contain certain forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or future performance, and reflect management's expectations or beliefs regarding future events, including business and economic conditions and Fiera Capital's growth, results of operations, performance and business prospects and opportunities. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue", "target", "intend" or the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology.
With respect to Fiera Capital's management's expectations regarding contribution to EBITDA starting in financial year 2021, financial performance is based on information available to management and certain assumptions, including realization of estimated expense savings relating to redundancies, estimated amount of investment required to develop Fiera Capital's integrated Global Distribution function and assumptions regarding the organic growth in assets under management. Actual results could differ depending on a number of factors, including the ability to hire key personnel at anticipated compensation terms and conditions and general market conditions.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and a number of factors could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. In evaluating these statements, readers should specifically consider various factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement.
These factors include, but are not limited to, market and general economic conditions, the nature of the financial services industry, and the risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Fiera Capital's interim condensed and annual consolidated financial statements, and its latest Annual Report and Annual Information Form filed on www.sedar.com. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document, and Fiera Capital assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.
Non-IFRS Measures
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), is not a standardized measure prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), does not have any standardized meaning and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Please refer to the "Non-IFRS Measures" Section of the Company's MD&A for the definition and the reconciliation to IFRS measures, available at www.fieracapital.com
About Fiera Capital Corporation
Fiera Capital is a leading independent global asset management firm with approximately C$158.1 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2020. The Company provides institutional, retail and private wealth clients with access to full-service integrated money management solutions across traditional and alternative asset classes. Fiera Capital's depth of expertise, diversified investment platform and commitment to delivering outstanding service are core to our mission of being at the forefront of investment management science to create sustainable wealth for clients. Fiera Capital trades under the ticker FSZ on the Toronto Stock Exchange. www.fieracapital.com
Headquartered in Montreal, Fiera Capital, with its affiliates in various jurisdictions, has offices in over a dozen cities around the world, with regional hubs in New York (U.S.), London (UK), and Hong Kong.
In the U.S., asset management services are provided by the Company's U.S. affiliates who are investment advisers that are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or exempt from registration. Registration with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training. For details on the particular registration of, or exemptions therefrom relied upon by, any Fiera Capital entity, please consult this webpage.
Additional information about Fiera Capital Corporation, including the Company's annual information form, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
SOURCE Fiera Capital Corporation
Analysts and investors: Mariem Elsayed, Director, Investor Relations and Public Affairs, Fiera Capital Corporation, 514 954-6619, [email protected]; Media inquiries: Marion Hourdel, Coordinator, Corporate Communications, Fiera Capital Corporation, 514 954-3329, [email protected]
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