Solidarity Fund QFL Invests $30 Million in Montrusco Bolton Investments: Voting Control Returns to Québec
Montréal, November 3, 2008 – The Solidarity Fund QFL (the “Solidarity Fund”) is proud to announce a $30 million investment in Montrusco Bolton Investments (“Montrusco”) to support its growth and, in the process, bring voting control of the company back into Quebec-based hands.
“This opportunity fits in perfectly with our strategy of taking a proactive role in Québec’s financial industry, by investing in companies with strong growth potential. Our investments help keep principal places of business in the Province and provide Québec portfolio managers with support in developing their expertise. Montreal-based Montrusco has deep roots in Québec and is a solid organization known for its investment management expertise. The Solidarity Fund’s investment will help strengthen the company, bring voting control back to Québec and allow Montrusco to actively pursue its planned expansion. We are also working on another project with Montrusco to enhance its product offering by adding a new category of fund to its line-up. We have a great deal of respect for the company’s management team and we are very proud to be able to contribute to the vitality of Québec’s financial industry,” said Gaétan Morin, the Solidarity Fund’s Chief Investment Officer.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Solidarity Fund, whose investment is very important to Montrusco’s growth. Thanks to the Solidarity Fund and to our partner, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc., we now have two reputable financial institutions behind us, enabling us to remain a private entity,” said Montrusco CEO Sylvain Boulé.
Nathaniel Dalton, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (NYSE:AMG), said he was very happy to have found a partner who shares their business management philosophy and who, in addition, is prepared to take concrete steps to support Montrusco’s development.
The Solidarity Fund helps Québec’s financial industry grow
The Solidarity Fund provides businesses with “patient” capital along with expert guidance from its specialized teams. The organization has made a number of strategic investments in Québec’s financial services industry, contributing to its vitality and helping its workforce, already known for its expertise, continue to grow. For example, the Solidarity Fund has been a partner of SSQ, Société d’assurance-vie for the last 15 years, and has recently concluded a $100 million investment in Corporation Financière l’Excellence, owned by Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services. It has also helped keep portfolio management firm Addenda Capital’s head office in Montréal in the context of its privatisation by Co-operators Group. In 2002, the Solidarity Fund also set up FinTaxi, thereby playing an important role in reshaping the taxi industry’s financing structure. To date, the Solidarity Fund’s direct and indirect investments in the financial sector have exceeded $545 million.
About Montrusco Bolton Investments
Montrusco Bolton Investments is a Montreal based portfolio management firm that offers services to private clients and institutional clients which include pension funds, foundations, religious communities, insurance companies and investment funds. The origins of the firm date back to 1946. Montrusco has two strategic partners : Affiliated Managers Group, Inc., since 2005, a Boston based asset management company with equity investments in a diverse group of boutique investment management firms, and, since 2008, the Solidarity Fund QFL. For more information visit : www.montruscobolton.com.
About the Solidarity Fund QFL
With net assets of $7.3 billion as at May 31, 2008, the Solidarity Fund QFL is a development capital company that through its RRSP channels the savings of Quebecers into investments in all sectors of the economy to help create and maintain jobs and to further Québec's economic growth. The Fund is a partner, either directly or through its network members, in 1,881 companies. It currently has more than 575,000 shareholders and has helped, on its own or with other financial partners, to create, maintain and protect over 126,000 jobs. For more information, visit www.fondsftq.com.
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Note
: The telephone number provided below is for the exclusive use of journalists and other media representatives. Source : Josée Lagacé
Senior Advisor, Press Relations and Communications
Fonds de solidarité FTQ
Telephone : 514 850-4835
Email : jlagace@fondsftq.com