Speaking at the National Bank Conference, IGM Financial (TSE:IGM) President and CEO James O’Sullivan described 2025 as a “very strong year” for the company, pointing to improving flows across its platform, record earnings growth, and a stepped-up return of capital to shareholders. O’Sullivan also emphasized continuity in leadership as IG Wealth Management CEO Damon Murchison prepares to assume the top job at IGM, while O’Sullivan transitions to a role at Power Corporation and remains chair of IGM’s board.
2025 results: net flows, record earnings, and higher shareholder returns
O’Sullivan said IG and Mackenzie together generated almost CAD 9 billion in net flows in 2025 (later characterized as CAD 8.8 billion on a net basis). He added that strategic investments also posted strong asset growth, including:
- Rockefeller client assets up 34%
- Wealthsimple client assets up 75%
- ChinaAMC up almost 30%
- Northleaf at roughly CAD 35 billion in assets, with what he called its best fundraising year ever at almost CAD 6 billion
Leadership transition framed as “continuity”
Asked whether Murchison’s appointment as CEO would bring any near-term strategic shift, O’Sullivan said he did not expect “any sharp turns left or right.” He described the succession plan as unusual in the level of embedded continuity: Murchison remains CEO of IG Wealth while adding the IGM CEO role; O’Sullivan said he will remain involved as board chair at IGM.
AI strategy: investment, partnerships, and a focus on advisor value
O’Sullivan positioned artificial intelligence as the next major theme for IGM, drawing an analogy to how the broader Power group approached fintech over the past decade: investing directly, partnering with emerging players, and shifting culture to avoid what he called the “historical challenge of incumbency.” He cited IGM’s stake in Wealthsimple and past involvement with Personal Capital, as well as commercial partnerships with Conquest Planning, Nesto (mortgages), ClearEstate (estates and wills), and a developing insurance initiative called PolicyBook.
O’Sullivan said investors should “expect an announcement or two” in the coming months related to AI, adding that the company is “serious about AI and not just interested.” He described AI as both an efficiency opportunity and a way to improve outcomes for clients and advisors, while noting that how the benefits are ultimately shared among suppliers, clients, advisors, and shareholders “is to be determined.”
On the advisory side, O’Sullivan argued AI will be least able to replicate what Murchison calls “emotional advice”—the coaching and discipline provided during volatile markets that keeps investors aligned with their plan. He also offered an example from Mackenzie’s investment teams, pointing to the firm’s global quantitative equity group in Boston led by Arup Datta, which he said oversees about CAD 20 billion in assets with 11 people across more than 20 mandates. O’Sullivan said the group uses large language models and machine learning to process data and run its “machine” twice daily, after which the team reviews outputs and decides which trades to implement. He characterized that boutique as showing “green across the screen in terms of alpha.”
Outlook on 2026: flow drivers and market sensitivity
While noting humility about the company’s market sensitivity, O’Sullivan said the improvement in flows during 2025 was stronger than expected coming out of 2024. He cited several macro factors he believes supported investor behavior: inflation settling around 2% (absent “what’s going on right now”), interest rates landing lower than previously feared, and persistent wage growth. He also said “retirement readiness” is Canadians’ number one concern and that Canadians are making deliberate decisions about where to allocate disposable income.
He cautioned that the backdrop is not “knock-your-socks-off” but described “real growth in flows” that he expects the industry to continue participating in.
IG’s high-net-worth push and Mackenzie’s momentum
O’Sullivan said IG Wealth’s progress in high-net-worth client growth reflects a deliberate move upmarket, in part informed by the anticipated impact of fintech on the mass market. He credited Murchison with building a “flywheel” of wealth solutions around advisors, including financial planning tools, wills and estates support, tax insight through a partnership with an accountancy firm, and philanthropic advice. He also pointed to IG’s advanced financial planning team of tax and estate specialists and said the firm has been segmenting its client base to create capacity for advisors to recruit and serve high-net-worth clients.
At Mackenzie, O’Sullivan said earlier outflows were driven by a particular boutique that “stopped doing well” and entered redemptions, but that momentum has improved as other boutiques gained traction. He said institutional flows have been led by Global Quantitative Equity in Boston, while retail flows have been supported by mutual funds and “increasingly by active ETFs.” He also observed that higher opening assets heading into the year can create a favorable earnings setup across the industry, though he noted market volatility beginning around March 13 changed asset levels relative to plan.
On IGM’s strategic investments, O’Sullivan said the company now has “the businesses we want,” describing them as long-term and strategic rather than financial holdings. He emphasized “horizontal connectivity”—commercial and governance-driven collaboration between portfolio companies—such as Wealthsimple with Mackenzie, ChinaAMC with Mackenzie, and IG with Rockefeller. When asked which part of the story may be underappreciated, he suggested ChinaAMC may be getting less attention recently, while reiterating his long-term view of its opportunity tied to China’s capital markets and reforms encouraging retirement savings.
About IGM Financial (TSE:IGM)
Mackenzie Investments (“Mackenzie”) is a Canadian investment management firm with approximately $244 billion (CAD) in assets under management as of December 31, 2025. Mackenzie seeks to create a more invested world by delivering strong investment performance and offering innovative portfolio solutions and related services to more than one million retail and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels. Founded in 1967, it is a global asset manager with offices across Canada as well as in Beijing, Boston, Dublin, Hong Kong and London.
