Toronto, Ontario, July 4, 2008 - IA Clarington
Investments Inc. ("IA Clarington" or the "Company") today announced
that Catapult Financial Management Inc. ("Catapult"), a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Aston Hill Financial Inc. ("Aston Hill",
TSXV: AHF), has been appointed as sub-advisor to IA Clarington
Tactical Income Fund (formerly IA Clarington Income Trust Fund)
("Tactical Income Fund") effective July 4, 2008 and to IA
Clarington Global Income Fund ("Global Income Fund"), replacing the
current sub-advisors to the Global Income Fund, effective September
15, 2008. The portfolio management team will be headed by the
award-winning portfolio manager, Ben Cheng.
"We are very pleased to add Ben to our roster of portfolio
managers, further demonstrating our commitment to offering our
clients access to leading money managers and a diverse range of
products to meet their income needs," said Eric Frape, Senior Vice
President, Product and Business Development at IA Clarington. "Ben
is a proven and highly successful manager with a strong track
record in balanced mandates that further solidifies our
capabilities in the income fund category."
The name change from IA Clarington Income Trust Fund to IA
Clarington Tactical Income Fund will occur on July 4, 2008. At the
same time, the investment strategies of the Tactical Income Fund
will be amended to reflect that it will generally seek to invest
approximately two-thirds of its portfolio in equity securities and
trust units and about one third in fixed income securities, cash
and cash equivalents. The name change and change of strategies
reflect the gradual narrowing of the income trust sector. The
overall investment objective of the fund has not
changed.
Mr. Cheng has extensive portfolio management experience in both
equity and fixed income markets and, prior to joining Aston Hill,
built an impressive track record as a portfolio manager at a very
large Canadian mutual fund manager. At that company, Mr. Cheng
managed more than $7 billion in two mutual funds, each of which
received a Canadian Investment Award during his tenure as portfolio
manager. Mr. Cheng is a CFA Charterholder and holds a Bachelor of
Commerce degree from the University of Toronto.
Working closely with Mr. Cheng on the overall management of the
portfolio is Joanne Hruska, based out of Calgary and President of
Catapult. Ms. Hruska has broad investment expertise dating back to
1994, as well as having developed a specialty in Canadian junior
oil and gas companies. Ms. Hruska holds a CFA designation and a
Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of
Calgary.
About Catapult and Aston Hill
Aston Hill is the parent company of Catapult. Mr. Cheng is the
President of Aston Hill. Its Chief Executive Officer is Eric
Tremblay, who possesses a wealth of business development,
marketing, fund raising and investor relations experience in the
oil & gas and income trust sectors, having spent almost 13
years as a senior officer of a large Canadian income trust. Mr.
Tremblay graduated from Ryerson University in Toronto with a
Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aerospace
Engineering.
Aston Hill, together with its subsidiaries, is an investment
manager specializing in high yield income products and the purchase
and development of Canadian oil and gas assets and securities for
retail and institutional clients, and currently manages
approximately $750 million in assets.
About IA Clarington
IA Clarington Investments Inc., a subsidiary of Industrial
Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc., markets a wide
range of investment products, including mutual funds, segregated
funds, principal protected notes and closed end funds managed by
leading portfolio managers. IA Clarington and its subsidiaries
managed approximately $7.9 billion in assets as at May 31, 2008.
The Company's website address is www.iaclarington.com.
Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses
all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the
prospectus before investing. Mutual fund securities are not covered
by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation or by any other
government deposit insurer. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their
values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.
The IA Clarington Funds and the IA Clarington Target Click Funds
are managed by IA Clarington Investments Inc. IA Clarington is a
trademark of IA Clarington Investments Inc. and the IA Clarington
logo is a trademark of Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial
Services Inc.