IG Wealth Management to sell longtime Portage Avenue HQ

The downtown IG Wealth Management building will soon be up for sale.

The Winnipeg-based financial services company is moving its headquarters after nearly 40 years at 447 Portage Ave., across from the former Hudson’s Bay flagship store.

By current timelines, staff will move into a newer downtown tower — 360 Main St. — in 2028.

Roughly 1,100 employees will make the transition, according to Nancy McCuaig, executive vice-president of IGM Financial, IG Wealth Management’s parent company.

“We’re just starting the floor-planning process as we speak,” McCuaig said Wednesday.

IG Wealth Management is renovating six floors in 360 Main St., a 30-storey tower housing law and accounting firms.

It’ll also lease a conference and event space at neighbouring tower 300 Main St., which holds apartments and an Earls restaurant.

IGM estimates it’ll take two years to redesign the downtown space, hence the delayed move, McCuaig said.

Meantime, the 19-storey Portage Avenue structure could be listed this fall. A price is being determined, McCuaig said.

“We’ll sell the building for the best price and the best outcome,” she added.

The building — called One Canada Centre — was built for Investors Group in 1987. The construction price tag was $37.8 million, according to the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation.

The building’s city-assessed value is now $55.2 million.

It’s the only facility IG Wealth Management owns, McCuaig noted.

“This is… about creating the kind of space that we really need now.”

 

“Building ownership is not really a core competency (of ours),” she said. “Where we want to differentiate and excel as an organization, it’s servicing our clients.”

IG Wealth Management has approximately one million clients and, as of June 30, some $176 billion in assets under advisement.

Its leadership has been considering a move for years. The time felt right, McCuaig said: space became available in Winnipeg’s “financial district,” and IG Wealth Management is marking its 100th anniversary.

“It’s a great signal to the next period of our growth,” she said.

IG Wealth Management made headlines last month for announcing a restructuring as it increases artificial intelligence use. A second-quarter $95-million charge on its books includes severance payments.

The restructuring and the move are not related, McCuaig said.

She’s anticipating renovations on Main Street to be financially “substantial,” costing multimillions of dollars. A final cost hasn’t been set because of the ongoing design process, she said.

IG Wealth Management is downsizing its real estate footprint. Its workers are hybrid (a mix of in-office and remote work); the company doesn’t need all its current space, McCuaig said.

“This is … about creating the kind of space that we really need now,” McCuaig said, adding the Main Street locale will include more collaboration zones.

“We wanted to absolutely make sure that this was good for our employees (and) reflected our continued commitment to Winnipeg and Winnipeg’s downtown.”

“Building ownership is not really a core competency… Where we want to differentiate and excel as an organization, it’s servicing our clients.”

Four of the six floors IG Wealth Management will occupy were vacant, while the latter two had been used by a law firm, according to an IGM spokesperson.

RFA Asset Management is the property manager of 360 Main St.

Artis Real Estate Investment Trust, the tower’s former owner, merged with RFA Capital Inc. in February to make RFA Financial. RFA Asset Management is a branch of the new company.

Relocation decisions such as IG Wealth Management’s are made “carefully and with a long-term perspective,” Kim Riley, president of RFA Asset Management, wrote in a statement.

“The significance of this lease extends beyond the building itself. Bringing hundreds of employees to the heart of the city will drive activity for nearby retailers, restaurants, and businesses,” Riley said.

Employees from Mackenzie Investments, an IG Wealth Management sister company, will be part of the move.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com