(January 11) – CIBC says that it will begin to offer in-branch sales and investment advice for more than 1,200 third-party mutual funds this week across the country.
CIBC Financial Planning Inc. will distribute selected mutual funds from Mackenzie Financial Corp., Fidelity Investments Canada Inc., Trimark Financial Corp., Templeton Management Ltd., AGF Funds Inc., C.I. Investment Management Inc., AIM Funds Inc. and Talvest.
“This new initiative continues our commitment to offering customers more choice,” says Ted Cadsby, vice-president of managed investment products for CIBC. “We are expanding our mutual fund offer for one simple reason: our research shows that clients expect us to offer them a complete range of investment options and qualified advice on other mutual funds in addition to CIBC mutual funds.”
The possibility of banks selling third-party funds has been looming for some time now. TD Bank began third-party sales – without offering investment advice – in 1996. Last year it initiated a limited program of advising on funds from AGF and Fidelity. CIBC claims that it will be the first bank to go national.