CI Mutual Funds Inc. announced Wednesday that it is replacing AIM Funds Management Inc. as the portfolio adviser to Clarica High Yield Bond Fund, effective June 1.

In addition, the fund is being renamed Signature Corporate Bond Fund, effective immediately.

The lead manager of the fund will be James Dutkiewicz, vice president and portfolio manager with CI’s Signature Funds group. Dutkiewicz has 11 years of experience in analyzing and trading bonds. He joined CI in January 2003 from YMG Capital Management Inc., where he was a corporate bond analyst and part of a team that managed $7.5 billion in fixed-income investments. Prior to that, he worked on the bond desk at Merrill Lynch Canada. He holds the CFA designation and a BA in economics from Wilfrid Laurier University.

The fund’s investment objective remains the same — to achieve a yield advantage by using fundamental value analysis to evaluate investments. The fund invests mainly in Canadian fixed-income securities that are rated below investment grade or not rated.

However, CI is changing the investment strategies of the fund to allow the fund to invest in investment-grade securities when the portfolio adviser believes it would not be prudent under prevailing market conditions or available investment opportunities to invest mainly in lower-grade securities.