CI Global Asset Management Launches North America’s First Bitcoin Mutual Fund; Carries Industry-Low Management Fee of 0.40%

TORONTO (April 5, 2021) – CI Global Asset Management (“CI GAM”) today announced the launch of CI Bitcoin Fund (“the Fund”), North America’s first mutual fund to provide dedicated exposure to bitcoin. Through the Fund, investors can access the bitcoin market at an industry-low management fee of 0.40% (Series F) and with an initial minimum investment of just $500.

Today, CI is the only firm globally offering investors access to bitcoin in both mutual fund and ETF structures.

“CI Bitcoin Fund provides another convenient, secure and cost-effective option for Canadian investors to add bitcoin to their portfolios,” said Kurt MacAlpine, Chief Executive Officer of CI Financial Corp., the parent company of CI GAM. “As investor interest in digital assets continues to grow, it was a natural next step for CI to extend our bitcoin investment capabilities to a mutual fund platform, in addition to the CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF.

“In offering a broad suite of crypto products, we are truly democratizing access to bitcoin and other digital assets,” Mr. MacAlpine said. “We are very excited by the prospects for these investments as we continue to build on our leadership in this space.”

The Fund’s investment objective is to provide investors exposure to bitcoin through an institutional-quality fund platform. It invests all or substantially all of its assets in the CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (“the ETF”), which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker BTCX. BTCX invests directly in bitcoin with its holdings priced using the Bloomberg Galaxy Bitcoin Index (the “BTC”), which is designed to measure the performance of a single bitcoin traded in U.S. dollars. The BTC index is owned and administered by Bloomberg Index Services Ltd.

BTCX uses high-quality service providers in the digital assets sector, including Galaxy Digital Capital Management LP (“GDAM”), which serves as the bitcoin sub-advisor for the ETF. GDAM executes bitcoin trading on behalf of the ETF and is the asset management arm of Galaxy Digital, a diversified financial services firm dedicated to the digital asset and blockchain technology sector. The GDAM team has deep institutional experience managing third-party capital across traditional and alternative asset classes, strong relationships with institutional service providers and counterparties, and exceptional connectivity throughout the blockchain and digital assets ecosystem.

CI Bitcoin Fund is available to retail investors in Canada in Series A, F and P units, with Series A carrying a management fee of 0.90% and Series F, 0.40%, which is the same management fee as BTCX. In addition to the industry-low management fee, benefits of the Fund and BTCX include convenient access to bitcoin, secure storage of bitcoin holdings in a segregated cold storage system, the digital asset management expertise of GDAM, and eligibility for registered plans.

CI GAM’s digital asset lineup also includes CI Galaxy Bitcoin Fund (TSX: BTCG), a closed-end investment fund that CI GAM launched in December 2020 and which it intends to merge into BTCX. It has also obtained receipts for the preliminary prospectuses of CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF (the “Ether ETF”) and CI Ether Fund, a mutual fund. The Ether ETF will invest directly in Ether, the cryptocurrency built on the Ethereum blockchain, while CI Ether Fund will invest in units of the Ether ETF.

More information is available at www.ci.com/bitcoin.

About CI Global Asset Management

CI Global Asset Management is one of Canada’s largest investment management companies. It offers a wide range of investment products and services and is on the Web at www.ci.com. CI GAM is a subsidiary of CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX, NYSE: CIXX), an independent company offering global asset management and wealth management advisory services with approximately $236.5 billion in total assets as at February 28, 2021.

CI Bitcoin Fund is a mutual fund that provides unitholders exposure to bitcoin. Given the speculative nature of bitcoin and the volatility of the bitcoin markets, an investment in the Fund may be deemed speculative and is not intended as a complete investment program and is appropriate only for investors who have the capacity to absorb a loss of some or all of their investment. An investment in the Fund is considered high risk.

The securities offered have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities nor will there be any sale of such securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with an investment in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Please read the prospectus before investing. Important information about mutual funds and ETFs is contained in their respective prospectus. Mutual funds and ETFs are not guaranteed; their values change frequently, and past performance may not be repeated. You will usually pay brokerage fees to your dealer if you purchase or sell units of an ETF on recognized Canadian exchanges. If the units are purchased or sold on these Canadian exchanges, investors may pay more than the current net asset value when buying units of the ETF and may receive less than the current net asset value when selling them.

This communication is provided as a general source of information and should not be considered personal, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice, or construed as an endorsement or recommendation of any entity or security discussed. Individuals should seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding any particular investment. Investors should consult their professional advisors prior to implementing any changes to their investment strategies.

Certain statements in this document are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements (“FLS”) are statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” or “estimate,” or other similar expressions. Statements that look forward in time or include anything other than historical information are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results, actions or events could differ materially from those set forth in the FLS. FLS are not guarantees of future performance and are by their nature based on numerous assumptions. Although the FLS contained herein are based upon what CI Global Asset Management believes to be reasonable assumptions, CI Global Asset Management cannot assure that actual results will be consistent with these FLS. The reader is cautioned to consider the FLS carefully and not to place undue reliance on FLS. Unless required by applicable law, it is not undertaken, and specifically disclaimed that there is any intention or obligation to update or revise FLS, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CI Global Asset Management is a registered business name of CI Investments Inc. ©CI Investments Inc. 2021. All rights reserved.

Contact

Murray Oxby
Vice-President, Corporate Communications
CI Global Asset Management
416-681-3254
moxby@ci.com