CI Financial reports assets under management

TSX Symbol: CIX

TORONTO, Jan. 3, 2012/CNW/ - CI Financial Corp. ("CI") today reported assets under management at December 31, 2011of $69.5 billionand total assets of $91.0 billion.

CI's assets under management declined 0.8% in the month of December and 4.5% for the year.  In comparison, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 1.7% in December and 8.8% in 2011. CI's average assets under management for fiscal 2011 were $72.2 billion, representing an increase of $6.5 billionor 9.8% over the average for fiscal 2010.

CI also reported assets under administration at Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Ltd. of $21.5 billion.

In other developments, CI Investments Inc. is launching two new income funds this month as part of its commitment to provide a wide selection of investment solutions to meet the diverse needs of Canadian investors. The new funds are Cambridge Income Fund, which invests in a mix of fixed-income and high-yield equity securities, and Signature High Yield Fund, which focuses on high-yield corporate bonds. Both funds will be available in CI Corporate Class versions as Cambridge Income Corporate Class and Signature High Yield Corporate Class, respectively.

Cambridge Income Fund is the first income mandate managed by CI's Cambridge Advisors portfolio management team. The lead portfolio manager is Robert Swanson, a veteran portfolio manager who joined Cambridge in September. Cambridge Advisors has achieved excellent results in its family of funds, with one example being Cambridge Canadian Asset Allocation Corporate Class, the top-performing fund in its category over the one and three years ending November 30, 2011* (Source: Morningstar PALTrak).

CI is scheduled to release its financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2011on February 16, 2012.

Additional information about CI's assets and financial position can be found below in the tables of preliminary statistics and on its website, , in the Statistics section. These are the only statistics authorized by CI and CI takes no responsibility for reporting by any external sources.

CI FINANCIAL CORP. December 31, 2011 PRELIMINARY MONTH-END STATISTICS

ENDING ASSETS	Dec. 31/11 (millions)	Nov. 30/11 (millions)	% Change	Dec. 31/10 (millions)	% Change
Assets under management	$69,512	$70,080	-0.8%	$72,825	-4.5%
Assets under administration*	21,500	21,652	-0.7%	22,497	-4.4%
TOTAL	$91,012	$91,732	-0.8%	$95,322	-4.5%

MONTHLY AVERAGE ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT	Dec. 31/11 (millions)	Nov. 30/11 (millions)	% Change
Monthly average	$69,336	$69,720	-0.6%

QUARTERLY AVERAGE ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT	Dec. 31/11 (millions)	Sept. 30/11 (millions)	% Change
Quarterly average	$69,314	$70,823	-2.1%

FISCAL AVERAGE ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT	Fiscal 2011 (millions)	Fiscal 2010 (millions)	% Change
Fiscal year average	$72,177	$65,719	9.8%

EQUITY		FINANCIAL POSITION (millions)
Total outstanding shares	283,567,039	Debt outstanding	$783
QTD weighted avg. shares	284,457,360	Net debt outstanding	$736
Yield at $21.10	4.3%
In-the-money options	2,624,652	Terminal redemption value of funds	$783
Percentage of all options	44%
All options % of shares	2.1%

* Includes CI and United Financial funds administered by Assante advisors.

ESTIMATED GEOGRAPHIC EXPOSURE OF AUM
Canada	51%	Asia	3%
United States	22%	Other	4%
Europe	9%	Cash	11%

CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX) is an independent, Canadian-owned wealth management company. CI offers a broad range of investment products and services, including an industry-leading selection of investment funds. CI is on the Web at .

* As of November 30, 2011, Cambridge Canadian Asset Allocation Corporate Class (Class A) had compound annual returns of 1 year: 3.2%, 2 years: 7.5%, 3 years: 11.8% and since inception: 2.7% (December 2007). Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. The indicated rates of return are the historical annual compounded total returns including changes in unit value and reinvestment of all distributions and do not take into account sales, redemption, distribution or optional charges or income taxes payable by any unitholder that would have reduced returns.  Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

For further information:

Stephen A. MacPhail
President and Chief Executive Officer
CI Financial
[phone]