iA Financial Group announces the acquisition of assets of Laurentian Bank Securities' retail full-service investment broker division

iA Financial Group (TSX: IAG) announced today that it has entered into an agreement, through its subsidiary iA Private Wealth Inc. ("iAPW" or “iA Private Wealth”), to acquire assets of the retail full-service investment broker division of Laurentian Bank Securities Inc ("LBS").

LBS' retail full-service broker division represents over $2 billion in assets under administration. Approximately 16,000 client accounts will be transferred to iAPW upon completion of the transaction and some 30 advisors are invited to join iAPW afterwards.

"iA Private Wealth is a leading independent wealth manager in Canada with a deep and committed focus on supporting advisors in delivering the highest standards of professional financial advice," said Stephan Bourbonnais, Executive Vice-President, Wealth Management at iA Financial Group and President and CEO of iAPW. “This acquisition will support iA Private Wealth's strong growth and expand its presence. We look forward to welcoming these new advisors and helping them continue to secure their clients’ financial future with confidence."

This acquisition, the amount of which is not disclosed, will have only a marginal impact on iA Financial Group's solvency ratio.

The closing date of the transaction is expected to be this summer, subject to, among other things, receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals.

Forward-Looking Statements
This document may contain statements relating to strategies used by iA Financial Group or statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “would”, “suspect”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “believe”, “estimate” and “continue” (or the negative thereof), as well as words such as “objective”, “goal”, “guidance”, “outlook” and “forecast”, or other similar words or expressions. Such statements constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities laws. In this document, forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, information concerning the closing and the closing date of the transaction, future operating results and expected benefits of the transaction. These statements are not historical facts; they represent only expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events and are subject to change.

Although iA Financial Group believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. More specifically, the transaction is subject to the risk and uncertainty of whether and to what extent iA would realize the expected benefits of the transaction.

More specifically, the transaction is subject to the following risks and uncertainties: (i) that iAPW and LBS may be unable to complete the proposed transaction because, among other reasons, conditions to the closing of the proposed transaction may not be satisfied or waived, including that a governmental authority may prohibit, delay or refuse to grant approval for the consummation of the transaction; (ii) uncertainty as to the timing of completion of the proposed transaction; (iii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the agreement; and (iv) whether and to what extent iAPW and iA Financial Group would realize the expected benefits of the transaction.

Additional information about the material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and about material factors or assumptions applied in making forward-looking statements may be found in the “Risk Management” section of the Management’s Discussion and Analysis for 2023, the “Management of Risks Associated with Financial Instruments” note to the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 and elsewhere in iA Financial Group’s filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators, which are available for review at sedarplus.com.

The forward-looking statements in this document reflect iA Financial Group’s expectations as of the date of this document. iA Financial Group does not undertake to update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this document or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.