CI Financial is buying the Toronto investment firm First Asset Capital.

On Oct. 23, CI announced that it had entered into an agreement to purchase the privately-held company for an undisclosed amount. First Asset offers actively managed and factor-based exchange traded funds (ETFs) through investment dealers and advisors in Canada, and currently has about $3 billion of assets under management.

CI has indicated that First Asset will continue to operate as a separate business, marketing and servicing its own products under its own name and under the direction of its current president and CEO Barry Gordon. CI says that both Gordon and his management team have made a long-term commitment to the company.

"With First Asset, we broaden and diversify our lineup of operating businesses and gain a successful firm with a proven management team and high growth potential," says CI president and CEO Stephen MacPhail. "We are excited about the growth potential of actively managed ETFs and we will be working with First Asset to build on its leadership in this sector. In addition, First Asset provides CI Financial with a future distribution platform for its actively managed investment products, including access to an ETF platform."

Pending regulatory approval, the transaction is expected to close before the end of the year.