Letter to Shareholders DEAR SHAREHOLDERS,  Your company had an excellent year in 2012. In the face of continued volatility in financial markets and lingering doubts  about the strength of the global economy, CI Financial delivered strong results. Most notably, our assets under management  grew 9% year over year to reach a new record, our net sales increased 200%, and our cash flow supported an increase in  the dividend and a continued strengthening of our fi nancial position.  Although 2012 marked the fourth year of recovery following the global financial crisis, investor confidence was still  sensitive to the latest news. Equity markets fell sharply in the second quarter and were choppy over the following months  in response to concerns over the ongoing European debt issues, the pace of growth in the U.S. and China, as well as the  U.S. presidential election and the “fi scal cliff.”  In the fourth quarter, however, share prices staged a decisive rally that continued into the first quarter of 2013. For the year,  the S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 7.2%, while the S&P 500 Index rose 13.5% and the MSCI World Index was up 14.1%  (all in Canadian dollars). It’s worthwhile noting that the Canadian index underperformed U.S. stocks for the second year  in a row and remains below both its 2011 high and its all-time high reached in 2008. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Dow Jones  Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index powered to new closing highs in March 2013. These moves signalled a meaningful  shift in sentiment, as investors seemed to accept that the recovery is genuine and Europe has its debt problems more or  less under control. At CI, we stuck to our game plan, investing in our portfolio management teams, product lineup, technology, the training  and development of staff, and sales and marketing. You can see our long-term strategy outlined in the next section. The  result of these efforts has been that CI has continued to grow and build on its success, while many competitors have  retrenched and shrunk. And with the recent turn in the markets, CI was well positioned to reap the rewards. In the fi rst  quarter of 2013, CI posted its highest level of first quarter net sales in seven years. 4