December 15, 2004

TORONTO, ONTARIO - At a gala held on Friday December 3, 2004 at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Joseph C. Canavan was named Person of Influence of the Decade by the Canadian Investment Awards.

This award is presented only once each decade to an individual who has proven superior performance and made an outstanding contribution to the financial community during the previous 10 years.

Mr. Canavan has been recognized for his pioneering investment strategies to create wealth and prosperity for Canadian families. His career in the industry started over 20 years ago at Burns Fry Ltd. He then moved to Fidelity Investments, where he was named Vice President and Director of National Sales. During his four years with Fidelity, assets grew from $60 million to over $6 billion by bringing regional investing into the Canadian marketplace.

In 1994, at 32 years of age, Mr. Canavan launched GT Global (Canada), and a unique investment philosophy centered on thematic or sector investing. One year later, he also introduced momentum investing to the Canadian marketplace. Under Canavan's leadership, GT became the fastest-growing mutual fund company in Canada, gaining over $2.4 billion in assets in just over two years. In 1997, as founder the very successful Synergy Asset Management, Mr. Canavan continued to break new ground in the industry by introducing style diversification as an investing philosophy.

In 2003, Mr. Canavan entered a new era as President and CEO of Assante Wealth Management after its acquisition by CI Mutual Funds. Assante has been recognized as a leader of holistic wealth management in Canada. By providing clients with integrated wealth planning and managed portfolio solutions, Assante is leading the way into the next decade of secured Canadian wealth.

Mr. Canavan also exemplifies other criteria for the award with his support of numerous non-profit organizations. He volunteers his time as a board member of, among others, the Children's Aid Society, The National Ballet of Canada and most recently, The Investment Funds Institute of Canada. He is also an emeritus member of the board of Trails Youth Initiatives and a founding member of Emagine, a non-profit organization that encourages e-business and entrepreneurial companies to donate a percentage of their holdings to charities.

Mr. Canavan was selected for this award through a peer voting process by senior industry executives from fund management, banking, distribution, media, analysts and suppliers.

"It's truly a honour to be recognized by my peers for such an extraordinary award," Mr. Canavan said after accepting the award. "I look forward to the next decade, and to working at Assante Wealth Management to create wealth and prosperity for Canadian families."

The mandate of the Canadian Investment Awards is to focus on recognizing long-term results using rigorous criteria realigned this year for longer-term focus and a nationwide panel of professional investment analysts to identify excellence in a number of investment categories. Visit www.investmentawards.com for complete program information.

For further information, please contact:
Sabine Steinbrecher, Founder and President,
Canadian Investment Awards, Inc.
(800) 694-8674 x 229
sabine@investmentawards.com