In a conference call with analysts to review its third quarter results today, Assante Corp. executives revealed that the firm lost about 100 advisors in the most recent quarter.

None of the advisors that left the firm were shareholder advisors, said Assante CEO Martin Weinberg and CFO Denis Taillieu. They refused to reveal the quantity of assets under administration that has followed advisors out of the door. They admitted that some clients will follow these advisors, but said it’s very difficult to ascertain what proportion of clients may leave at this point, and that the impact so far is not material.

Assets under administration slipped to $21.6 billion at September 30, compared to $25.6 billion at September 30, 2000. Market conditions were primarily responsible for a $4.2 billion decrease in Canadian assets, said the firm. It saw an increase of $220 million in U.S. assets under administration.

Assets under management at September 30 totalled $5.1 billion, an increase of $692 million from the end of the same quarter in 2000. As a percentage of assets under administration, assets under management were 23.6% at September 30, compared to 17.2% at the same time last year.

Weinberg said that Assante doesn’t have specific numbers on how much of this increase is attributable to new money, and how much comes from AUA converted to AUM, but in the past, informal data mining has showed that about 70% is new money and 30% comes from converting existing assets.

The executives also revealed that about 800 of its advisors have assets under management with the firm. It put its sales force count at about 1,500 in Canada, including both advisors and their assistants. The firm’s headcount in employees has also been reduced to about 2,700 from 3,000 a year ago.

Weinberg indicated that its roll out of banking products has generated significant advisor excitement, but it’s too early to report how clients are receiving the products. The banking offerings are expected to expand in coming quarters, too.