CI has a family feel with entrepreneurial spirit

When Debra Church talks about her colleagues at CI Financial Corp., she often refers to them as family. For more than two decades they’ve been there for her, supporting her through triumphs and tragedies. “There is true support here,” she says. “It’s hard to put into words. CI has been a place where I’ve witnessed great compassion, both to me personally and to other colleagues.”

That family atmosphere may seem unusual, given that CI Financial is a global wealth and asset management company with operations across Canada, as well as in the United States and Australia. CI currently manages and administers approximately $518 billion in client assets.

Church started 24 years ago with CI subsidiary Assante Wealth Management, managing its inbound call centre. She soon switched to human resources with CI and filled a variety of roles over the years. Today, she is a senior talent acquisition partner, responsible for establishing CI’s university recruitment program as a notable brand on campuses such as University of Toronto, Toronto Metropolitan University and University of Waterloo.

“We’re a big player in the industry, but everybody knows each other here and we have a true open door policy,” she says. “If you want to meet somebody, tap on their door or send them an email for a coffee chat. It’s really that simple.”

That open door policy is part of what Manisha Burman calls CI Financial’s “entrepreneurial spirit.” Burman is CI’s executive vice-president and chief human resources officer. She says maintaining that small office feel is crucial to the way CI conducts business.

“Regardless of your level and what role you have, you can do meaningful work at CI,” says Burman. “We make decisions quickly and empower the experts. Our business benefits because we can outpace our competitors. Our employees benefit because they feel the impact of the work they do, which is highly engaging.”

The result, says Burman, is a company that can manoeuvre like a small company, but with the profile of a larger firm with sophisticated capabilities and offerings. “It’s the best of both worlds, both for our clients and our employees,” she says.

Empowering employees means nurturing them and taking an interest in their careers as well, says Burman. “We’re working on a system where we’re looking at all employees, identifying who’s ready for that next leg of their career, and what they need to get there. We also have a learning platform and an assessment tool so that employees can get very specific feedback on a regular basis around their performance and development.”

Church says that mobilizing the diverse talents of CI employees has been a huge competitive advantage for the company. She is part of CI’s employee resource group for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) and multicultural employees, just one of the ways CI celebrates differences.

“We used to call CI the United Nations,” she says. “We have people here from all parts of the globe. They are all part of the CI family. That speaks to our openness, our ability to embrace differences and the ability to see talent for what it is.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Greater Toronto’s Top Employers winners, published December 3, 2024 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.