financial representative

business analyst

programmer analyst

manager

analyst

CI Financial

Unless you're in need of industry experience and simply looking to enter the asset management business, it would be difficult to recommend joining CI Investments.

Management is less than inspiring and has proved to be incapable of listening to feedback from employees.

The acquisition of Sentry Investments in 2017 has been a failure on multiple levels. An overwhelming majority of existing sales staff have walked away since joining. Culture at CI feels much less competitive than other firms, while nepotism is alive and well. The "integration with CI" has left previously loyal clients wondering why certain product lines have been unsupported and neglected.

Compensation is easily the worst on the street. Variable pay structure for sales would be laughable if it wasn't such a large part of overall pay. There's little to no transparency on how bonuses are paid. When it comes time to be paid, they'll try and back out. Expect to make about half of what the competition is paying.

Too many new and existing strategic partnerships make for a bloated product lineup that doesn't align with their client's values or priorities in the current market environment. Various legacy pricing programs make buying and selling funds a complicated, administrative nightmare. A major overhaul is necessary in this area to make it easier to do business.

Support from Client Services is not what it once was. Turnover is high and the department is understaffed as a whole. Without proper processes in place, the sales teams are not efficient. Advisors being misinformed and acting on incorrect information has hurt the reputation of the firm. Accountability is something left to be desired.

Technology also seems to be a major problem. CI has failed to provide their employees with reliable tools to do the job. Phones and computers go down on a regular basis. IT is so overwhelmed with ongoing issues that staff are left to wait on hold for hours to get their attention.

Dealing with other departments like HR or Compliance is a total nightmare. For such a large organization, it's shocking to witness firsthand how they continue to operate in such an unprofessional manner. It's no surprise they're having difficulties hiring new talent.
The growth by acquisition strategy, which might have worked for CI in the past, has led to a frustrated and suffering sales organization. This is evident in their stock price. Analysts look no further. There's a lot of good reasons the stock price has tanked.

Redemptions are at an all time high and net sales will remain negative until leadership can be replaced with those that have a better grasp of reality. Stay away at all costs.

My experience in working there was very positive. I learned a lot and gained a lot of experience by working on the mutual fund administration side and then working on the another side in resolving not in good order items for the processing department when I was in the resolution department where I had to conduct myself in a professional manner to resolve non-financial and financial matters in talking to financial advisors and their assistants and in some cases the client services of other financial institutions. The management that I have experienced there were very proactive. If I had made an error or conducted a call in a wrong way, they were able to help me in a constructive way and by not discouraging me. For the co-workers, that I worked with in the two different departments, they are what made my day. I took pleasure in not just being their co-worker but building my relationship with them outside of work. I was in a way the social convenor for the group that I was with in the resolution department by organizing stuff like group lunches, after work social events, etc. The hardest part that I endured in my time in the resolution services department was that sometimes financial advisors or assistants that got irate over the phone because you had to let them vent and even though in some cases where they might curse at you in anger, you had to keep your cool and not take it personally as you are representing the company. The most enjoyable part of the job were the people I worked with, my director and my manager. I enjoyed the social events that the company held especially the Christmas and Summer parties and the breakroom for the employees where they had entertainment for employees to enjoy while on break such as a pool table, table soccer, table hockey, TVs and a mini-row of computers for people who wanted to browse the internet on their lunch break.

This company does not value true talent and hires people for low wages without any intention of promoting them.The manager for private client service was not an example for anyone, arriving to work late and lead his team into the ground.The turnover rate is so high here it has led me to conclude they do it on purpose. The culture breeds an over worked, low wages, ineffective management, negative energy with zero chance of ever being promoted.
They claim its hard to work in private client service, the truth is the job is easy, its the dysfunctional management team that enjoys making your life awful. The offices and washrooms are so filthy and unsanitary it makes you literally nauseous, which confounds me because you would think they want to uphold a good image.The truth is CI needs to overhaul management and their HR department if they want to compete. As of now it is clear they are lagging behind all their competitors and its obvious to me its because they don't uphold strong values of effective leadership, strong talent and good energy. My prediction based on what I saw is clients and stakeholders have already become so disillusioned by the low quality of their service they have already lost most of them and CI's reputation will continue to falter. I would not recommend to anyone to work here, run for the hills before taking an opportunity.

I started with a large group of new recruits. The team of people that trained us was incredible- extremely knowledgeable, very organized and so supportive. However, as soon as the training finished, the actual working environment was like something out of a nightmare. Every day was made up of an endless stream of calls from aggressive, impatient financial advisors. When we could not find the answer to a client's question on our own, we were expected to ask a supervisor for help. The majority of the supervisors were extremely unapproachable and impatient, often berating reps in front of other colleagues. As a result, the very few supervisors that were approachable were constantly swarmed by reps who were uncomfortable approaching their own supervisor. The pressure to increase call volume was immense and unrelenting. Reps quit so regularly that the company maintained a constant stream of incoming training groups in order to compensate for the rapid resignation rate. Unless you are a short-term summer student or someone who is specifically aspiring to be a financial advisor, I would not recommend this workplace.

When I was first interviewed, I was told that the sales coordinator position is administrative- not true. It is a sales position in which you are to contact people to set up appointments, sometimes calling them daily to book appointments.  Also when I was interviewed I was told the compensation would be $52000 per year, then after hire told it would actually be $45000.  During the interview I was told I would receive coverage and benefits immediately on hire but this was not true.  There was no clear training on what was actually expected of me or how to do the tasks assigned or expected, someone at this position is expected to "figure it out" and do it right the first time, or be subject to yelling and passive aggression from other members of the team.  I was sent to Toronto for two weeks of training in which we learned nothing on how to actually do the reports or tasks we would be assigned, but instead "sold" on the different investment packages. Woe be to anyone to actually works the hours they're told to - if you don't voluntarily stay back at least an hour every day to show how hard you're working, you will be told you're not pulling your weight.  People working here are more like members of a cult for investments.

In this industry, you must pay attention to small detail. On a daily basis, you must process between 60 to 200 documents very carefully.. Errors and mistakes are not an option, you double-check all your work and make sure it is done in an orderly timely fashion. The majority of your day is spent in front of a computer. You learn all about investing in mutual funds and how to manage your client's funds. Also you gain an extensive knowledge on the different products and types of accounts ex. (RSP, RESP) offered at most financial institutions. You have endless opportunity for growth and management and co-workers are always available for your questions or assistance. The most difficult part of the job was processing a high volume of documents without making any errors. The best part of the job is that you start to obtain a certain level of understanding on how important it is to save or invest for your future, and you can apply that through an in-house account.

Overall, the company is ideal.  The upper management is focused and concern on the welfare and growth of their employees.  But I should say more on the regular or directly hired.  

It was a learning experience for the people are accommodating and approachable.  Facilities are available for employees both for work and relaxation.

The job is fun and fulfilling at the end of the day.  Although there was no formal or proper training for the new ones and things are mixed up since they are just starting to create a training guideline, work went well.   But I guess training should not only be applicable to new employees or rank and file but to immediate supervisors as well on how to handle and manage their people.  It will not only lead to a productive environment but would also develop self-esteem to its subordinates and motivation to do better at work.

They will pay you the bare minimum yet management expects the highest quality work. They don't value their employees and will cut employee benefits to fit the budget before they think to cut anything else. This breeds a toxic kind of person and most people who have worked at this company for more than five years are bad at their job. Promotions are based on playing the corporate game and sucking up to the right person, not based on skill or talent. This leads to a management team that is clueless and promotes more clueless people and feels threatened by people who are actually good at their jobs. Avoid at all costs, not a good place to work.

Excellent training if you "earn" it. A lot of bigger brother monitoring and coaching. Benefits and compensation is good.
If you don't have family already working at the company or as a financial advisor with a large CI book of business promotion is difficult but not impossible.
The entry level position is in a call centre, all your calls are monitored and reviewed daily. Unless you are perfect and do everything how they want it, you will have negative reviews which affect career advancement and future training. 
Very mundane role, but if you can prove yourself and get lucky you can move up in the company. Just be prepared to wait a while.

New  senior leadership has turned this company into a cliquey highschool environment with different rules for different people. The work itself was always challenging and interesting. Lots of opportunities if you are smart and resourceful to lead projects and  gain excellent  experience.  A lot of the good leadership has left which is sad. Still lots of good people remain. Some departments run extremely lean while others seem to be over staffed with not enough work. Lots of imbalance. Very stressful environment and high work load requiring lots of overtime. Was doing a job for 2/3 people for low pay.  

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