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Four analysts and top management from twenty sector firms examine the investing in Canada sector in this special 129-page Investing in Canada issue from The Wall Street Transcript, available at (212/952-7433) or http://www.twst.com/info/info490.htm.

TWST: Let's look at stocks. What are your favorite names in Canada?

Mr. Brewington: My two favorite names in Canada right now are Investors Group (TSE:IGI.TO) and CI Fund Management (TSE:CIX.TO). Investors Group had a tremendous platform with a very broad depth of products and services, but had a single distribution platform by using their own captive sales force. Mackenzie Financial, which was recently acquired by Investors Group, on the other hand, was a mutual fund company that had a relatively complete product menu, but was distributing through the financial advisor network only. And now this combined operation has a much larger scale, much larger cross-selling capability, has cost synergies, revenue synergies, and much broader distribution.

TWST: Let's go back to Investors Group for a moment. Are there any risks associated with it? How are the acquisitions going?

Mr. Brewington: Any time you have a major acquisition, there is, what I would call, integration risk. Certainly Investors Group and Mackenzie have worked exceptionally well together in managing the integration risk. One of the biggest challenges I have seen is their channel conflict, trying to cross-sell products into two different channels, because the two different channels are unique. (In one you have a captive sales force that is being compensated differently than financial advisers in the other.) They've worked together to ensure a smooth transition. In terms of the Maxxum/Mackenzie integration, the Maxxum platform was integrated into Mackenzie over the past six months, and they've been rationalizing and realigning client services, and transfer agency systems in addition to back office support software. There has been an elimination of redundancies and corporate overhead activities, in addition to negotiation of better common third-party vendor relationships. The integration seems to be very successful so far; and they're targeting annual synergies of $100 million per year.

TWST: Is there a final comment you would like to make to investors on Canadian asset managers?

Mr. Brewington: Well, like I said, a lot of the fund companies are really focusing more on client retention, relationship building, services and support, instead of just focusing on product development now. This means, I think, that fund companies are making sure that they have the range of solutions and the ability to meet investor needs in a single fund complex. Good examples would be the iProfile managed accounts program at Investors Group. These companies are more than just mutual fund managers now. These are relationship-driven companies that are looking to have long-lived assets and would like their clients to be with them for generations, similar to, let’s say, the trust industry in the US. The industry is moving rapidly toward a new stage of industry maturity, and, driven by new technology, the expectation of a lower return environment and new growth opportunities, successful firms must develop a broader set of capabilities to be successful. The successful integrated global business model will remain elusive, constrained by significant costs and complexity; this creates a window of opportunity for local providers to transition into a more complete firm in order to maintain and grow market share.

This special issue includes:

1) Investing in Cananda - In an in-depth (4,700 words) Analyst Interview, Nick Majendie, Director and Senior Vice President of Canaccord Capital Corporation, examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.

2) Canadian Telecommunications - In an in-depth (3,700 words) Analyst Interview, Peter Rhamey, Managing Director at BMO Nesbitt Burns, Inc., examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.

3) Canadian Software & IT Services - In an in-depth (4,200 words) Analyst Interview, Paul Bradley, Technology-Software Analyst at Canaccord Capital Corporation, examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.

4) Canadian Asset Management - In an in-depth (3,800 words) Analyst Interview, Bruce Brewington, Vice President at Putnam Lovell, examines the outlook for the sector and shares specific stock recommendations.

5) CEO interviews (average 2,500 words). Top management of twenty sector firms examine the outlook for their firm and the sector.