# IGM Investor's Group



## Banalanal (Mar 28, 2011)

There is a lot to like about this stock. Increasing EPS, increasing dividend, nice ROE, low debt, Canadian. But I never see Investor's Group advertise and have to think that even though they are the largest independent asset manager in Canada, they are at a huge disadvantage to RY and TD in attracting clients. Obviously with RY and TD already holding a customer's money, it is easy to advertise investing services.

Thoughts?


----------



## doctrine (Sep 30, 2011)

They have a large salesforce, but are still suffering from net outflow. However, at the moment, their net outflow is lower than their share buyback, thus their "net assets under management per share" is increasing.


----------



## Banalanal (Mar 28, 2011)

That's interesting. I would think there would be outflow in times of market volatility and duress, such as now, for an investment company. Where do they advertise anyways? Do they have stores or partnerships with banks?


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Banalanal said:


> There is a lot to like about this stock. Increasing EPS, increasing dividend, nice ROE, low debt, Canadian. But I never see Investor's Group advertise and have to think that even though they are the largest independent asset manager in Canada, they are at a huge disadvantage to RY and TD in attracting clients. Obviously with RY and TD already holding a customer's money, it is easy to advertise investing services.
> 
> Thoughts?


Hmmm ... I get flyers every couple of weeks from the local IGM rep. The local community paper has ads as well.

So I guess it depends on where you are and how the local agent is operating as to the advertising you'll see.


Cheers


----------



## scomac (Aug 22, 2009)

Eclectic12 said:


> Hmmm ... I get flyers every couple of weeks from the local IGM rep. The local community paper has ads as well.
> 
> So I guess it depends on where you are and how the local agent is operating as to the advertising you'll see.


Yes, it's up to the individual representatives as to how they go about soliciting business.

As an example, two local IG advisors host a phone-in radio program Monday evenings on one of our local radio stations. I'm sure that this has brought in lots of business for them as it makes a great first contact offering advice/solutions without any commitment.


----------



## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

Does anyone else think it odd that, on a forum that is strongly pro-DIY, a poster is suggesting that it's a good idea to buy stock in a company that essentially preys on people who are the opposite?


----------



## scomac (Aug 22, 2009)

OhGreatGuru said:


> Does anyone else think it odd that, on a forum that is strongly pro-DIY, a poster is suggesting that it's a good idea to buy stock in a company that essentially preys on people who are the opposite?


Where do you draw the line? Does it just end with asset management firms? What about banks and insurance companies that offer similar products/services? Fast food restaurants? Food processors?

You could make a case to boycott just about any sort of firm that makes a profit off of providing a good or a service that another individual might be inclined to do themselves.


----------



## Uranium101 (Nov 18, 2011)

the commission they are paying those sellers is huge.

it is a market to be in right now. RBC is expanding in this direction I believe. However, when consumers become more educated (or so I thought), they will soon learn that investing in low cost index funds beats actively managed funds in the long run.


----------



## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

We invest in companies that sell high mer mutual funds. I also like companies that sell cigarettes (PM) and alcohol, like corby. They make lots of $$$$$


----------



## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

Search "Investors Group" on this and other financial forums and read the litany of complaints about their marketing practices and high fees.


----------



## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

OhGreatGuru said:


> Search "Investors Group" on this and other financial forums and read the litany of complaints about their marketing practices and high fees.


and when you are done doing that, take a looksy at their last annual report. This company is a cash cow. They make 100s of millions of dollars and need almost none of it to re-invest in their own business. It can all go to dividends, acquisitions and uh... well more dividends.

By the way, they do advertise. The have a registered trademark on 
"The Plan". Remember those ads.


----------



## doctrine (Sep 30, 2011)

Yet it hard to argue with the stock, which has done quite well. Lots of people want mutual funds without doing the work themselves.


----------



## Banalanal (Mar 28, 2011)

The stock is a cash cow. It generates a ton of FCF. Has a fantastic dividend. Moderate low debt. A FCF/payout of 61% (could be lower but not terrible). Good ROE. It has a lot of great qualities hard to find in Canadian companies. Its assets under management increased from '08 to '09 to '10 and has decreased slightly from 2010 numbers. I don't think it unreasonable given the extreme market volatility, that AUM would have decreased slightly (125b Nov/2010 to 121b Nov/2011). The company has a history of increasing its dividends and buying back its shares. It's hard to say whether ETFs will negatively impact IGMs future but I think I would side in favour of the average person still not being independent or confident enough to invest for themselves, rather buying traditional MFs.

The company's size has to give them a reasonable advantage over its competition in marketing. And the costs of selling out of your MF's and leaving the company has to give them a "stickiness". Is that enough of a durable competitive advantage to equal a moat?

I think this stock is very close to buy a for me.


----------



## Oldroe (Sep 18, 2009)

IGM is big part of Power Corp. that owns several insurance company's. 

Power reports in U.S. dollars.

They also own very large European insurance company. So that's exposure to the euro and all it's problems.

Still believe IGM and Power to be very good buys will just be little hard on nerves.


----------

