On July 16, 2026, Justice Markus Koehnen of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice directed CI Mutual Funds Inc. and AIC Limited to compensate Class Members with damages plus interest surpassing $170 million.

The Market Timing class action, launched in 2006, claimed that certain mutual fund managers allowed sophisticated offshore hedge fund investors to trade frequently in their funds. This practice substantially diluted the investments of long-term investors, including retail unitholders, many of whom were retirees.

Rochon Genova has represented the long-term investors since the start of this case, including before the Supreme Court of Canada on appeal from an earlier certification motion. The Supreme Court certified the case in 2013. A later case management order split the trial into two phases: a trial on liability, followed by a trial on damages. The liability trial occurred in February, March and June 2022.

On February 13, 2023, Justice Koehnen released reasons for judgment on the liability trial. Justice Koehnen found that both CI and AIC breached their duty of care to prevent market timing in their funds. The liability decision, indexed as Fischer v. IG Investment, 2023 ONSC 915, is available online.

The damages trial was heard before Justice Koehnen between March 28 and May 16, 2025. Closing submissions took place on July 30, August 6 and August 7, 2025. In total, Class Counsel spent 41 days in trial on liability (24 days) and damages (17 days). On June 16, 2026, Justice Markus Koehnen of the Superior Court of Justice issued reasons for judgment on the damages trial.

The Court accepted the evidence of the Plaintiffs' expert, Professor Eric Zitzewitz, and determined that the Next Day NAV method of calculating damages was the appropriate methodology to use, as it measures the specific harm that the time zone arbitrage at issue caused, harm referred to as dilution.

Justice Koehnen determined that the profits method, the method of calculating damages advocated for by CI's expert, was not appropriate as it measures the wrong thing. The Court determined that on a balance of probabilities, the prerequisites of using the profits method had not been met.

Ultimately, with respect to CI, the Court awarded the Plaintiffs $60,480,000 in damages for the harm resulting from CI's failure to take appropriate steps to prevent market timing by certain Identified Accounts.

The Court also awarded the Plaintiffs damages caused by specific Additional Accounts at CI that were identified by the Plaintiffs' expert, Professor Zitzewitz, as having engaged in market timing that harmed the unit holders.

With respect to AIC, the Court awarded the Plaintiffs a total of $37,900,659 in damages, which includes damages caused by the Identified Accounts, and Additional Accounts at AIC that were identified by the Plaintiffs' expert as having engaged in market timing.

The Court determined the Plaintiffs are also entitled to pre-judgment interest in the amount of 2.8% per annum, to be applied to the damages figures set out above, in addition to costs against both Defendants.

Peter Jervis, a senior partner at Rochon Genova who led the prosecution of this case, stated: This damages decision sends a clear message that those who fail to safeguard investors from harmful market practices will be held accountable. That this result was achieved after two decades of hard-fought litigation is a testament to the perseverance of the Representative Plaintiffs and Class Counsel, and to the strength of our judicial system in delivering access to justice in complex cases.

Joel Rochon, the Managing Partner of Rochon Genova added: The decision is an important victory not only for the Class Members, but for the integrity of Canadian capital markets. Mutual funds are a cornerstone of the retirement savings of millions of everyday Canadians, and investors are entitled to expect that fund managers will protect them from practices that unfairly dilute the value of their investments.

The Plaintiffs in this action were represented by Peter Jervis, Joel Rochon, Sarah Fiddes and Jessica Marshall.

SOURCE Rochon Genova