(April 9 – 14:10 ET) – Dundee Wealth Management is reporting improved financial results for the year ended December 31, 2000.

Dundee’s net earnings were $11 million or 14¢ a share, compared with $7.5 million or 11¢ a share in 1999. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were $1.17 a share in 2000, compared with 99¢ a share in the prior year.

Total revenue for the year was $285.5 million, up from $182.3 million in the prior year. Mutual fund management fee revenue was $114.5 million in 2000 on average assets under management during the year of $6.1 billion. The average management fee was approximately 1.87%. Average assets under management during the same period of 1999 were $5.4 billion with an average management fee of approximately 1.77%, resulting in mutual fund management fee revenue of $96.8 million.

Mutual fund assets under management at December 31, were $6 billion. Gross sales of mutual funds increased 95% to $868 million in 2000 from $443-million in 1999. But this was outpaced by total redemptions of $1.2 billion in 2000, down slightly from $1.3 billion in 1999.

Total redemption fees received during the year 2000 were $15.4 million compared with $15.2 million during the same period of 1999. During 2000, the company also earned $3.7 million from the management of other fiduciary assets, up from $2.9 million for 1999.

While the assets and management fees are up, performance fees are down. In 2000, the company earned $3.2 million in performance fees, down from $8.2-million in 1999. The company earns performance fees if annual investment returns of certain funds exceed the applicable benchmarks.

Financial services revenue during 2000 was $147.1 million, compared with $58.1 million in I999. The company’s brokerage operations generated commission and trailer revenues during 2000 of $94.4 million, compared with $39.1 million in 1999. Retail brokerage operations generated approximately 87% of total commission and trailer revenues, up from 77% in 1999; with the rest coming from the institutional business.

During 2000, the company earned a total of $52.7 million in other financial services revenue, including principal trading revenues of $21.9 million, corporate finance revenues of $11.8 million and interest on margin accounts and other miscellaneous revenues of $19 million.

During 2000, the company paid an average of 68% of certain financial service revenues in compensation costs to advisors. This was up sharply from 1999 when it paid an average of 57%. The change in the contribution margin reflects an overall increase in total retail sales commissions compared with institutional sales commissions. Trailer fees paid to third-party brokers were $22 million in 2000, up from $19 million in 1999.