CIBC Asset Management Announces Portfolio Manager Changes

TORONTO, Dec. 7, 2012 /CNW/ - CIBC Asset Management Inc. (CAMI) today announced portfolio manager changes, furthering its commitment to bringing the highest-quality investment management, products and services to Canadian investors.

The changes include the addition of American Century Investment Management, Inc. (American Century), Cornerstone Capital Management, Inc. (Cornerstone), Pzena Investment Management, Inc. (Pzena) and Sustainable Growth Advisers, LP (Sustainable Growth) as portfolio sub-advisors to certain U.S. and global investment mandates, effective on or about January 2, 2013.

Imperial U.S. Equity Pool

Cornerstone will be added as a portfolio sub-advisor for the U.S. large-cap growth component of the Imperial U.S. Equity Pool. Pzena will be added as a portfolio sub-advisor for a new U.S. large-cap value component of the Pool. Sustainable Growth will be added as a portfolio sub-advisor for a new growth component of the Pool. American Century, CIBC Global Asset Management Inc. and Metropolitan West Capital Management, LLC (Metropolitan West) will continue to serve as portfolio sub-advisors for other components of the Pool.

Frontiers U.S. Equity Pool

Cornerstone will be added as a portfolio sub-advisor for the U.S. large-cap growth component of the Frontiers U.S. Equity Pool. Pzena will be added as a portfolio sub-advisor for a new U.S. large-cap value component of the Pool. Sustainable Growth will be added as a portfolio sub-advisor for a new growth component of the Pool. Metropolitan West and INTECH Investment Management LLC will continue to serve as portfolio sub-advisors for other components of the Pool.

Renaissance U.S. Equity Growth Fund and Renaissance Global Focus Fund

American Century has been appointed as portfolio sub-advisor for the Renaissance U.S. Equity Growth Fund and the Renaissance Global Focus Fund.

About the firms

American Century: A leading U.S. investment management firm, American Century is committed to delivering superior and consistent risk-adjusted performance through active management. Headquartered in Kansas City with offices in New York, California, London and Hong Kong, the firm manages approximately $123 billion in assets (as of October 31st, 2012). In August 2011, CIBC acquired a minority ownership position in American Century. www.americancentury.com

Cornerstone: At the core of Cornerstone's contrarian active approach is the ability to use deep fundamental analysis to identify perception gaps - when consensus expectations fail to recognize the true earnings growth potential of a given company. Cornerstone is based in Minneapolis and is a strategic partner of New York Life. www.cornerstonecapital.com

Pzena: Headquartered in New York City, Pzena has a deep value investment philosophy which emphasizes an understanding of business models and earnings power. Pzena's strong research team conducts in-depth proprietary investigations into companies in order to produce better judgments about the prospects of its investment universe. www.pzena.com

Sustainable Growth: With its proprietary research and attention to valuation measures, Sustainable Growth seeks to enhance performance with a focus only on those few high quality businesses that offer predictable, sustainable earnings and cash flow growth over the long term. Sustainable Growth is located in Stamford, Connecticut. www.sgadvisers.com

CIBC Asset Management, the asset management division of CIBC, is responsible for the CIBC and Renaissance Investments families of mutual funds, Imperial Pools, Frontiers Pools and the CIBC family of managed portfolio solutions - Axiom Portfolios, CIBC Managed Portfolio Services and CIBC Personal Portfolio Services. CIBC Asset Management manages more than $55 billion in assets.

SOURCE: CIBC - Investor Relations