AGF Completes Acquisition of 100% of FFCM

BOSTON and TORONTO, May 29, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AGF Management Limited (TSX:AGF.B) today announced it successfully completed its acquisition of 100% of FFCM, LLC (FFCM) earlier this month to further strengthen their quantitative investing and ETF platform brought to market under the AGFiQ banner.

"Today, we further build on our strategic plan to diversify across the investment spectrum," said Judy Goldring, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, AGF. "Through organic growth and acquisition we have been able to launch new platforms and develop innovative products."

In November 2015, AGF acquired the majority of the equity of FFCM, a Boston-based boutique asset manager and ETF strategist whose expertise is delivered through a family of factor-based alternative and smart-beta ETFs and a number of ETF managed solutions.

The acquisition resulted in the launch of AGFiQ Asset Management (AGFiQ), a quantitative investment platform powered by the intellectually diverse, multi-disciplined team that combines the complementary strengths of investment professionals from AGF, Highstreet Asset Management (Highstreet) - which became a part of the AGF family through an acquisition in 2006 - and FFCM.

AGFiQ came to market as a combined platform in late 2017 and has since delivered nine ETFs to the Canadian marketplace and secured over $US 400 million in institutional funding for an AGFiQ custom solution in the United States over the last three months.

"We had the foresight to see that by combining the research acumen, investment capabilities and intellectual capital of Highstreet and FFCM we could effectively expand our presence in the quantitative investment space," added Goldring.

"This is a natural next step in our partnership and reinforces that we are a part of the AGF family," said Bill Carey, Chief Executive Officer, FFCM. "Partnering with AGF has allowed us to grow our research, marketing and product development capabilities, while also bringing us operational scale and efficiencies."

"This acquisition supports the long-term diversification of our investment capabilities allowing us to deliver value-added and differentiated opportunities within our yield, global and quantitative platforms to provide our global client base with the outcomes they seek," said Kevin McCreadie, President and Chief Investment Officer, AGF Investments Inc.   

About AGF Management Limited 
Founded in 1957, AGF Management Limited (AGF) is a diversified global asset management firm with retail, institutional, alternative and high-net-worth businesses. As an independent firm, AGF brings a disciplined approach to delivering excellence in investment management and providing an exceptional client experience. AGF's suite of diverse investment solutions extends globally to a wide range of clients, from financial advisors and individual investors to institutional investors including pension plans, corporate plans, sovereign wealth funds and endowments and foundations.

AGF has investment operations and client servicing teams on the ground in North America, Europe and Asia. With $37 billion in total assets under management, AGF serves more than one million investors. AGF trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol AGF.B.

About AGFiQ Asset Management

AGFiQ Asset Management is the quantitative investment platform for AGF powered by an intellectually diverse, multi-disciplined team that combines the complementary strengths Highstreet Asset Management Inc. (Highstreet), located in London, Ontario and FFCM, LLC (FFCM), located in Boston, and are supported by a team of 20 investment professionals from across AGF and its affiliates, managing AUM of approximately C$5.7 billion. AGFiQ's portfolio and investment management team has extensive experience in quantitative investing and research with a core investment discipline focused on factor-based investing. AGFiQ is grounded in the belief that investment outcomes can be improved by assessing and targeting the factors that drive market returns. 

Media Contact

Amanda Marchment
Director, Corporate Communications
416-865-4160
amanda.marchment@agf.com