Net income and assets under management dropped on a consecutive basis for the third quarter at Canadian wealth manager CI Financial, but rose on a year-over-year basis.

Net income was C$90.8 million, down 8 per cent from the previous quarter, while assets under management dropped 9 per cent to C$67.4 billion. On a year-over-year basis, however, net income rose 20 per cent and assets under management edged up by 1 per cent.

In the third quarter, gross sales of the firm’s funds plummeted 27 per cent compared to the previous quarter, to C$1.8 billion. Redemptions also fell by 13 per cent, but with redemptions of C$1.9 billion net sales were still in negative territory, at minus C$91 million.

CI said it had “continued to control expenses so that they remained in line with assets under management” in the third quarter. Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of average assets were 0.40 per cent, flat compared to the prior quarter.

"During the quarter, we focused on factors that we can control," said Stephen MacPhail, president and chief executive of the asset manager. "We emphasized regular communications with our clients, and continued to build our investment management teams, sales and marketing presence, and training programs across all aspects of our operations.”