Imperial U.S. Equity Pool. Annual Management Report of Fund Performance

Transcription

1 Imperia US Equity Poo Annua Management Report of Fund Performance for the financia year ended December 31, 2014 A figures are reported in Canadian doars uness otherwise noted This annua management report of fund performance contains financia highights but does not contain the compete annua financia reports of the investment fund If you have not received a copy of the annua financia reports with this annua management report of fund performance, you can get a copy of the annua financia reports at your request, and at no cost, by caing us to-free at , by writing to us at CIBC, 18 York Street, Suite 1300, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2T8, or by visiting wwwcibccom/mutuafunds or the SEDAR website at wwwsedarcom Unithoders may aso contact us using one of these methods to request a copy of the investment fund s proy voting poicies and procedures, proy voting discosure record, or quartery portfoio discosure Management Discussion of Fund Performance Investment Objective and Strategies Investment Objective: Imperia US Equity Poo (the Poo) seeks to provide ong-term growth through capita appreciation by investing primariy in equity securities of US issuers incuding preferred shares, warrants, securities convertibe into equity securities, and other common share equivaents Investment Strategies: The Poo invests primariy in high-quaity sma-, medium-, and arge-capitaization US corporations in order to achieve its investment objectives and empoys a combination of investment styes that may incude core, growth, vaue-oriented, and passive strategies when making investment decisions Risk The Poo is a US equity fund that is suitabe for medium- to ong-term investors who can toerate medium investment risk For the period ended December 31, 2014, the Poo s overa eve of risk remains as discussed in the simpified prospectus Resuts of Operations CIBC Asset Management Inc (CAMI or the Portfoio Advisor) and mutipe portfoio sub-advisors provide investment advice and investment management services to the Poo CAMI directy provides investment management services to this Poo for which CIBC Goba Asset Management Inc previousy acted as portfoio sub-advisor CAMI and these portfoio sub-advisors use different investment styes and the percentage of the Poo aocated to them wi change from time to time American Century Investment Management, Inc (ACI) US Equity A-Cap Traditiona Vaue, approimatey 175% ACI US Equity A-Cap Growth/Momentum, approimatey 175% CAMI US Equity Inde, approimatey 15% Metropoitan West Capita Management, LLC (MetWest) US Equity Large-Cap Reative Vaue, approimatey 15% Cornerstone Capita Management, Inc (Cornerstone) Contrarian Growth, approimatey 125% Sustainabe Growth Advisers, LP (SGA) Sustainabe Growth, approimatey 125% Pzena Investment Management, Inc (Pzena) Deep Vaue, approimatey 10% The commentary that foows provides a summary of the resuts of operations for the period ended December 31, 2014 A doar figures are epressed in thousands, uness otherwise indicated The Poo's net asset vaue increased by 15% during the period, from $3,568,444 as at December 31, 2013 to $4,094,232 as at December 31, 2014 Positive investment performance was partiay offset by net redemptions of $290,423 in the period, which incuded redemptions of $856,039 due to rebaancing of a portfoio product that hods units of the Poo, resuting in an overa increase in net asset vaue Cass A units of the Poo posted a return of 216% for the period The Poo s benchmark, the S&P 500 Inde (the benchmark), returned 239% for the same period The Poo s return is after the deduction of fees and epenses, unike the benchmark US equity markets posted soid gains over the period despite heightened voatiity in the fourth quarter of 2014 In the second haf of the year, oi prices fe significanty, reaching their owest eves since 2009 This had a negative impact on the energy sector but contributed to increased consumer spending The decine in oi prices was primariy the resut of weaker-than-epected demand, higher than anticipated production from US shae formations, and the Organization of Petroeum Eporting Countries' (OPEC s) decision not to cut production In contrast to most other regions, US economic growth continued to improve In addition, infation remained beow the US Federa Reserve Board's (the Fed's) target for raising interest rates, athough the Fed indicated that it coud raise rates starting in mid-2015

2 Imperia US Equity Poo In the US Equity A-Cap Traditiona Vaue component of the Poo, stock seection in the information technoogy sector contributed to performance Individua contributors to performance incuded CareFusion Corp, which accepted a buyout offer from Becton, Dickinson and Co at a neary 30% premium to where CareFusion s stock was trading at the time of the offer An overweight position and stock seection in the energy sector detracted from the component s performance Individua detractors from performance incuded Apache Corp, which strugged in response to the sharpy ower price of crude oi ACI added a position in Bank of America Corp and increased the component s position in Wa-Mart Stores, Inc The sub-advisor beieves Wa-Mart's new chief eecutive officer wi reduce capita ependitures and focus more on returns Hodings in Hishire Brands and Consteium were eiminated, whie the component s position in Waste Management Inc was trimmed Hishire Brands was eiminated foowing its acquisition by Tyson Foods, Inc In the US Equity A-Cap Growth/Momentum component of the Poo, an overweight position and stock seection in the consumer discretionary sector detracted from performance Stock seection in the consumer stapes and industrias sectors aso detracted from performance Individua detractors from the component s performance incuded Haiburton Co The company s share price fe as energy equipment firms decined aong with the price of oi Stock seection in the teecommunication services and information technoogy sectors contributed to the component s performance Individua contributors to performance incuded Eectronic Arts Inc (EA) EA's share price rose as a resut of improving operating margins, driven by a higher percentage of video games being deivered digitay, and a gaming consoe refresh cyce During the period, ACI added positions in Comcast Corp and Actavis PLC Cabe and internet provider Comcast s core cabe assets are eperiencing improvements in new subscriber trends The sub-advisor s position in Verizon Communications Inc was eiminated as increased pricing competition in the wireess market has put pressure on the industry The composition of the US Equity Inde component of the Poo is meant to refect a portfoio with characteristics simiar to that of the benchmark Securities were added and sod during the period for inde-matching purposes In the US Equity Large-Cap Reative Vaue component, stock seection in the financias, consumer stapes, and heath care sectors detracted from performance Individua detractors from the component s performance incuded UBS Group AG Swiss bank UBS's share price fe as investors became concerned about itigation news surrounding arge banks Stock seection in the consumer discretionary sector contributed to the component s performance Individua contributors to performance incuded goba auto parts suppier TRW Automotive Hodings Corp The company's share price rose in response to news of robust financia performance MetWest added severa positions during the period, incuding BB&T Corp, FMC Technoogies Inc, Marriott Internationa Inc, Microsoft Corp, and Procter & Gambe Co (The) Positions in Epress Scripts Hoding Co, Godman Sachs Group Inc (The), Honeywe Internationa Inc, Quacomm Inc, and Sensata Technoogies Hoding NV were increased The sub-advisor eiminated the component s positions in Deere & Co, Hershey Co (The), Hess Corp, Home Depot, and Internationa Business Machines Corp (IBM), among other names The component s positions in Appe Inc, Diageo, EI du Pont de Nemours & Co, Occidenta Petroeum Corp, and PepsiCo Inc were among those that were trimmed during the period In the Contrarian Growth component, an overweight position and stock seection in the consumer discretionary sector detracted from performance Individua detractors from performance incuded Stratasys Ltd The company s earnings epectations fe in response to higher-than-epected epenses as the company enters an investment cyce Underweight positions in the materias and teecommunication services sectors contributed to the component s performance Individua contributors to performance incuded Micron Technoogy Inc The company benefited from consoidation in the memory chip industry, which has resuted in tight suppy, stabe pricing, and an improved earnings outook During the period, Cornerstone added positions in Facebook Inc, EOG Resources Inc, and Trimbe Navigation Ltd The sub-advisor beieves Facebook coud benefit from strong mobie engagement and monetization opportunities The sub-advisor increased the component s positions in Estée Lauder Companies Inc as the sub-advisor beieved the company's equity vauation had become more attractive Positions in Citri Systems Inc, Schumberger Ltd, Edwards Lifesciences Corp, and Ziow were eiminated during the period The position in appication, server, and desktop virtuaization company Citri was eiminated in response to increasing competition in the industry The company aso owered its earnings epectations In the Sustainabe Growth component, hodings in the information technoogy and heath care sectors detracted from performance Individua detractors from the component s performance incuded Sanofi SA Sanofi's share price decined after the company parted ways with its chief eecutive officer and indicated that revenue growth from its diabetes portfoio was epected to be fat in 2015 An underweight position in the energy sector and stock seection in the consumer discretionary sector contributed to performance Individua contributors to performance incuded Lowe's Cos Inc, which benefited from improving empoyment and income trends, as we as measures taken by management to improve profit margins SGA added severa positions during the period, incuding Equini Inc, Aon pc, Amazoncom Inc, Whoe Foods Market Inc, and Priceine Group Inc Equini provides data centre services, incuding co-ocation ecosystems that reduce atency issues and information technoogy reated epenses SGA beieves Aon s heath echange business may provide improved earnings growth in coming years Novo Nordisk A/S, Tiffany & Co, Praair Inc, Appe, and Ide Laboratories, Inc were among the positions eiminated by the sub-advisor Novo Nordisk was eiminated on share price strength and as a resut of its overap with other portfoio hodings in the diabetes therapy industry 2

3 Imperia US Equity Poo In the Deep Vaue component, overweight positions in the energy and consumer discretionary sectors detracted from performance Individua detractors from the component s performance incuded BP PLC The company strugged in response to the decine in oi prices An overweight position and stock seection in the information technoogy sector contributed to the component s performance Individua contributors to performance incuded Hewett-Packard Co The company benefited from significant improvement in its share of the persona computer (PC) and server markets, doube digit revenue growth in its strategic enterprise services business, and the decision to spin off its PC and printer businesses Pzena added positions in Corning Inc, Murphy Oi Corp, Interpubic Group of Cos Inc, Bater Internationa, and Ford Motor Co Corning was added to the component based on what Pzena beieves is its attractive vauation Murphy Oi is trading at an etremey ow vauation reative to its peers, which the sub-advisor beieves is unsustainabe given its abiity to grow its oi and gas producing wes at a rate that is severa times greater than other independent E&P companies The component s positions in News Corp, Inte, Bank of America, Abbott Laboratories, State Street Corp, UBS, and MetLife Inc were increased Invesco Ltd, Dephi Automotive PLC, Entergy Corp, and Googe Inc were among the positions eiminated, as their stocks had reached what the sub-advisor beieved to be their fair vaue The component s positions in Hewett-Packard, Baker Hughes Inc, TE Connectivity Ltd, Laboratory Corp of America Hodings, and BP were trimmed Recent Deveopments On January 21, 2015, the Bank of Canada owered its target rate by 025% to 075%, ending its ongest period of inactivity since the 1950s This decision is in response to the recent sharp drop in oi prices, which wi be negative for growth and underying infation in Canada On January 1, 2014, CIBC Asset Management Inc, CIBC Asset Management Hodings Inc, CIBC Private Investment Counse Inc, and CIBC Goba Asset Management Inc (CGAM) were amagamated to form one ega entity, CIBC Asset Management Inc, a whoy-owned subsidiary of Canadian Imperia Bank of Commerce (CIBC or the Manager) This amagamation has no impact on the business, operations or affairs of the Poo CAMI wi continue to act as portfoio advisor of the Poo and wi directy provide investment management services to the Poo, for which CGAM previousy acted as sub-advisor CAMI is the asset management arm of CIBC Internationa Financia Reporting Standards (IFRS) Investment companies that are pubicy accountabe enterprises or investment funds to which Nationa Instrument Investment Fund Continuous Discosure is appicabe, are required to adopt IFRS for the first time for interim financia reports and annua financia statements reating to annua periods beginning on or after January 1, 2014 As a resut, the Poo adopted IFRS as of January 1, 2014 and is pubishing its first annua financia statements, prepared in accordance with IFRS for the year ended December 31, 2014 The 2014 interim financia reports and annua financia statements incude 2013 comparative financia information and opening Statements of Financia Position as at January 1, 2013 As at December 31, 2014, the impact of the Poo's transition to IFRS is summarized as foows: Under IFRS, the Poo measures the fair vaue of its investments using the guidance in IFRS 13 Fair Vaue Measurement, which requires that if an asset or a iabiity has a bid price or an ask price, then its fair vaue is to be based on a price within the bid-ask spread that is most representative of fair vaue It aso aows the use of mid-market pricing or other pricing conventions that are used by market participants as a practica epedient for fair vaue measurements within a bid-ask spread The Poo has adopted accounting poicies for the vauation of investments to utiize mid-market prices that aign more cosey with the cacuation of net asset vaue (NAV) used to price unithoder transactions (Transaction NAV) IFRS 10 Consoidated Financia Statements provides an eception to the consoidation requirements and requires an investment entity to account for its subsidiaries at fair vaue through profit or oss The Manager has concuded that the Poo meets the definition of an investment entity as at December 31, 2014, December 31, 2013, January 1, 2013 and throughout the periods ended December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2014 Under Canadian generay accepted accounting principes (GAAP), the Poo accounted for its redeemabe units as equity Under IFRS, Internationa Accounting Standard 32 Financia Instruments Presentation (IAS 32) requires that units or shares of equity which incude a contractua obigation for the issuer to repurchase or redeem them for cash or another financia asset be cassified as a financia iabiity As at December 31, 2014, December 31, 2013 and January 1, 2013, the Poo s units did not meet the criteria in IAS 32 for cassification as equity and therefore have been recassified as financia iabiities on the Statements of Financia Position IFRS requires the presentation of a Statement of Cash Fows, incuding comparatives for 2013 The Poo has not previousy presented this statement as was permitted under Canadian GAAP Other recassifications, presentation differences, and additiona discosures are required in the financia statements to compy with IFRS Reated Party Transactions CIBC and its affiiates have the foowing roes and responsibiities with respect to the Poo, and receive the fees described beow in connection with their roes and responsibiities Manager CIBC is the Manager of the Poo CIBC receives management fees with respect to the day-to-day business and operations of the Poo The Poo pays the Manager a maimum annua management fee rate of 025% of the net asset vaue of the Poo, as described in the section entited Management Fees 3

4 Imperia US Equity Poo Trustee CIBC Trust Corporation (CIBC Trust), a whoy-owned subsidiary of CIBC, is the trustee (the Trustee) of the Poo The Trustee hods tite to the property (cash and securities) of the Poo on behaf of its unithoders Portfoio Advisor The portfoio advisor provides, or arranges to provide, investment advice and portfoio management services to the Poo CAMI, a whoy-owned subsidiary of CIBC, is the portfoio advisor of the Poo Portfoio Sub-Advisor CAMI has retained ACI to provide investment advice and portfoio management services to the Poo Athough not an affiiate, CIBC currenty owns a 41% equity interest in ACI A portion of the portfoio advisory fees CAMI receives from the Manager wi be paid to ACI Discretionary Managers As at the date of this report, units of the Poo are offered through discretionary investment management services provided by certain subsidiaries of CIBC (coectivey, the Discretionary Managers) The Discretionary Managers may incude CIBC Trust and CAMI The Discretionary Managers arrange to purchase, switch, and redeem units of the Poo on behaf of their cients who have entered into discretionary investment management agreements with one of the Discretionary Managers The Discretionary Managers are the registered unithoders of the Poos for the purposes of receiving a unithoder materias and having the right to vote a proies with respect to units of the Poo Units of the Poo are aso offered to investors in connection with certain products offered by affiiated deaers pursuant to the terms of the account agreements governing such products There are no compensation arrangements with these deaers in respect to the sae of units of the Poo However, CIBC Trust receives fees from its cients for offering discretionary management services and, from these fees, CIBC Trust may pay affiiated deaers and other CIBC members for services provided in connection with the cient s discretionary investment managed account, which may hod units of the Poo CIBC receives fees from CIBC Trust for the services of CIBC advisors that assist investors with opening discretionary investment management accounts where CIBC Trust acts as the Discretionary Manager and for acting as the investors ongoing reationship manager CIBC is responsibe for the remuneration of the CIBC advisors and may pay the CIBC advisors out of such fees Further detais of the arrangement between CIBC and CIBC Trust may be found in the discretionary investment management agreement between CIBC Trust and investors CAMI receives fees from their cients for offering discretionary investment managed accounts, which may hod units of the Poo, and may pay a portion of such fees to their investment counseors Brokerage Arrangements and Soft Doars The Portfoio Advisor and any portfoio sub-advisors make decisions, incuding the seection of markets and deaers and the negotiation of commissions, with respect to the purchase and sae of portfoio securities, certain derivative products (incuding futures) and the eecution of portfoio transactions Brokerage business may be aocated by the Portfoio Advisor and any portfoio sub-advisors to CIBC Word Markets Inc (CIBC WM) and CIBC Word Markets Corp, each a subsidiary of CIBC CIBC WM and CIBC Word Markets Corp may aso earn spreads on the sae of fied income and other securities and certain derivative products (incuding forwards) to the Poo A spread is the difference between the bid and ask prices for a security in the appicabe marketpace, with respect to the eecution of portfoio transactions The spread wi differ based upon various factors such as the type and iquidity of the security Deaers, incuding CIBC WM and CIBC Word Markets Corp, may furnish goods and services, other than order eecution, to the Portfoio Advisor and any portfoio sub-advisors in partia echange for processing trades through them (referred to in the industry as soft doar arrangements) These goods and services are paid for with a portion of the brokerage commissions and assist the Portfoio Advisor and any portfoio sub-advisors with investment decision-making services for the Poo or reate directy to the eecution of portfoio transactions on behaf of the Poo As per the terms of the portfoio sub-advisory agreement, such soft doar arrangements are in compiance with appicabe aws In addition, the Manager may enter into commission recapture arrangements with certain deaers with respect to the Poo Any commission recaptured wi be paid to the Poo During the period, the Poo did not pay any brokerage commissions or other fees to CIBC WM or CIBC Word Markets Corp Spreads associated with fied income and other securities are not ascertainabe and, for that reason, cannot be incuded when determining these amounts Poo Transactions The Poo may enter into one or more of the foowing transactions (the Reated Party Transactions) in reiance on the standing instructions issued by the Independent Review Committee (IRC): invest in or hod equity securities of CIBC or issuers reated to a portfoio sub-advisor; invest in or hod debt securities of CIBC or an issuer reated to CIBC, non-echange-traded in a primary offering and in the secondary market; invest in or hod debt securities of CIBC or issuers reated to a portfoio sub-advisor purchased in the secondary market; make an investment in the securities of an issuer for which CIBC WM, CIBC Word Markets Corp, or any affiiate of CIBC (a Reated Deaer) acts as an underwriter during the offering of the securities at any time during the 60-day period foowing the competion of the offering of such securities (in the case of a private pacement offering, in accordance with the eemptive reief order granted by the Canadian securities reguatory authorities and in accordance with the poicies and procedures reating to such investment); 4

5 Imperia US Equity Poo purchase equity or debt securities from or se them to a Reated Deaer, where it is acting as principa; undertake currency and currency derivative transactions where a reated party is the counterparty; and purchase securities from or se securities to another investment fund or a managed account managed by the Manager or an affiiate of the Manager The IRC reviews the Reated Party Transactions for which they have issued standing instructions at east annuay The IRC is required to advise the Canadian securities reguatory authorities if it determines that an investment decision was not made in accordance with conditions of its approva Custodian CIBC Meon Trust Company is the custodian of the Poo (the Custodian) The Custodian hods a cash and securities for the Poo and ensures that those assets are kept separate from any other cash or securities that the Custodian might be hoding The Custodian aso provides other services to the Poo incuding record-keeping and processing of foreign echange transactions The Custodian may hire sub-custodians for the Poo The fees and spreads for services of the Custodian directy reated to the eecution of portfoio transactions initiated by CAMI as the Portfoio Advisor are paid by CAMI and/or deaer(s) directed by CAMI, up to the amount of the credits generated under soft doar arrangements from trading by CAMI on behaf of the Poo during that month A other fees and spreads for the services of the Custodian are paid by the Manager and charged to the Poo on a recoverabe basis CIBC owns a 50% interest in the Custodian Service Provider CIBC Meon Goba Securities Services Company (CIBC GSS) provides certain services to the Poo, incuding securities ending, fund accounting and reporting, and portfoio vauation Such servicing fees are paid by the Manager and charged to the Poo on a recoverabe basis CIBC indirecty owns a 50% interest in CIBC GSS 5

6 Imperia US Equity Poo Financia Highights The foowing tabes show seected key financia information about the Poo and are intended to hep you understand the Poo s financia performance for the period ended December 31 The Poo's Net Assets per Unit¹ - Cass A Units Net Assets, beginning of period $ 1833 $ 1345 $ 1276 $ 1267 $ 1150 Increase (decrease) from operations: Tota revenue $ 048 $ 049 $ 039 $ 022 $ 036 Tota epenses (008) (006) (002) (002) (002) Reaized gains (osses) for the period (029) Unreaized gains (osses) for the period (033) 103 Tota increase (decrease) from operations 2 $ 394 $ 532 $ 107 $ 011 $ 147 Distributions: From income (ecuding dividends) $ 046 $ 045 $ 041 $ 015 $ 034 From dividends From capita gains Return of capita Tota Distributions 3 $ 046 $ 045 $ 041 $ 015 $ 034 Net Assets, end of period $ 2183 $ 1833 $ 1345 $ 1276 $ This information is derived from the Poo's audited annua financia statements The Poo adopted IFRS on January 1, 2014 Previousy, the Poo prepared its financia statements in accordance with Canadian Generay Accepted Accounting Principes (GAAP) as defined in Part V of the CPA Canada Handbook Under Canadian GAAP, the Poo measured fair vaues of its investments in accordance with CICA Handbook Section 3855 which required the use of bid prices for ong positions and ask prices for short positions As such, the net assets per unit figure presented in the financia statements may differ from the net asset vaue cacuated for fund pricing purposes An epanation of these differences can be found in the notes to the financia statements issued prior to January 1, 2014 Upon adoption of IFRS, the Poo measures the fair vaue of its investments by using the cose market prices, where the cose market price fas within the bid-ask spread As such, the Poo's accounting poicies for measuring the fair vaue of investments in the financia statements are consistent with those used in measuring the net asset vaue for transactions with unithoders Accordingy, the opening net asset figure as at January 1, 2013 was restated to refect accounting poicy adjustments made in accordance with IFRS A figures presented for periods prior to January 1, 2013 were prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP 2 Net assets and distributions are based on the actua number of units outstanding at the reevant time The tota increase (decrease) from operations is based on the weighted average number of units outstanding during the period 3 Distributions were paid in cash, reinvested in additiona units of the Poo, or both Ratios and Suppementa Data - Cass A Units Tota Net Asset Vaue (000s) 4 $ 4,094,232 $ 3,568,444 $ 2,509,842 $ 2,378,279 $ 1,629,604 Number of Units Outstanding 4 187,548, ,699, ,561, ,369, ,645,005 Management Epense Ratio 5 016% 011% 012% 012% 017% Management Epense Ratio before waivers or absorptions 6 034% 036% 036% 037% 041% Trading Epense Ratio 7 005% 007% 013% 008% 007% Portfoio Turnover Rate % 7826% 15992% 8026% 5159% Net Asset Vaue per Unit $ 2183 $ 1833 $ 1345 $ 1276 $ This information is presented as at December 31 of the period(s) shown 5 Management epense ratio is based on the tota epenses of the fund (ecuding commissions and other portfoio transaction costs), incurred by or aocated to a cass of units for the period shown, epressed as an annuaized percentage of the daiy average net asset vaue of that cass during the period 6 The decision to waive and/or absorb management fees and operating epenses is at the discretion of the Manager The practice of waiving and/or absorbing management fees and operating epenses may continue indefinitey or may be terminated at any time without notice to unithoders 7 The trading epense ratio represents tota commissions and other portfoio transaction costs before income taes epressed as an annuaized percentage of the daiy average net asset vaue during the period Spreads associated with fied income securities trading are not ascertainabe and, for that reason, are not incuded in the trading epense ratio cacuation 8 The portfoio turnover rate indicates how activey the portfoio advisor and/or portfoio sub-advisor manages the portfoio investments A portfoio turnover rate of 100% is equivaent to a fund buying and seing a of the securities in its portfoio once in the course of the period The higher a portfoio turnover rate in a period, the greater the trading costs payabe by a fund in the period, and the greater the chance of an investor receiving taabe capita gains in the year There is not necessariy a reationship between a high turnover rate and the performance of a fund 6

7 Imperia US Equity Poo Management Fees The Poo, either directy or indirecty, pays an annua management fee to CIBC to cover the costs of managing the Poo Management fees are based on the net asset vaue of the Poo and are cacuated daiy and paid monthy Management fees are paid to CIBC in consideration for providing, or arranging for the provision of, management, distribution, and portfoio advisory services Advertising and promotiona epenses, office overhead epenses, traiing commissions, and the fees of the portfoio sub-advisor(s) are paid by CIBC out of the management fees received from the Poo The Poo is required to pay appicabe taes on the management fees paid to CIBC Refer to the Simpified Prospectus for the maimum annua management fee rate For the period ended December 31, 2014, of the management fees coected from the Poo, 100% was attributabe to genera administration, investment advice, and profit Past Performance The performance data provided assumes reinvestment of distributions ony and does not take into account saes, redemption, distribution, or other optiona charges payabe by any unithoder that woud have reduced returns Past performance does not necessariy indicate how a fund wi perform in the future The Poo s returns are after the deduction of fees and epenses See the section entited Financia Highights for the management epense ratio Year-by-Year Returns The bar chart shows the annua performance of the Poo for each of the periods shown, and iustrates how the performance has changed from period to period The bar chart shows, in percentage terms, how an investment made on January 1 woud have increased or decreased by December 31, uness otherwise indicated Cass A Units Annua Compound Returns This tabe shows the annua compound return of each cass of units of the Poo for each indicated period ended on December 31, 2014 The annua compound tota return is aso compared to the Poo s benchmark(s) The Poo s benchmark is the S&P 500 Inde 1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years* or Since Inception* Inception Date Cass A units 216% 227% 163% 71% October 15, 1998 S&P 500 Inde 239% 257% 178% 73% * If a cass of units has been outstanding for ess than 10 years, the annua compound return since inception is shown 7

8 Imperia US Equity Poo S&P 500 Inde is a capitaization-weighted inde of 500 stocks, designed to measure performance of the broad US economy representing a major industries A discussion of the reative performance of the Poo compared to its primary benchmark(s) can be found in Resuts of Operations 8

9 Imperia US Equity Poo Summary of Investment Portfoio (as at December 31, 2014) The summary of investment portfoio may change due to ongoing portfoio transactions of the investment fund A quartery update is avaiabe by visiting wwwcibccom/mutuafunds The Top Positions tabe shows a fund s 25 argest positions For funds with fewer than 25 positions in tota, a positions are shown Cash and cash equivaents are shown in tota as one position % of Net Asset Vaue Portfoio Breakdown Information Technoogy 206 Financias 164 Consumer Discretionary 145 Heath Care 128 Industrias 90 Consumer Stapes 78 Energy 78 Futures Contracts - Equity 39 Other Equities 30 Materias 22 Cash & Cash Equivaents 21 Other Assets, ess Liabiities -01 % of Net Asset Top Positions Vaue United States S&P 500 Mini Inde Future, March Cash & Cash Equivaents 21 Appe Inc 17 Wat Disney Co (The) 15 Eon Mobi Corp 13 JPMorgan Chase & Co 12 Lowe's Cos Inc 12 Visa Inc, Cass 'A' 12 Procter & Gambe Co (The) 12 Saesforcecom Inc 11 Starbucks Corp 11 Googe Inc, Cass 'A' 11 Schumberger Ltd 10 Comcast Corp, Cass 'A' 10 Googe Inc, Cass 'C' 09 Facebook Inc 09 Godman Sachs Group Inc (The) 09 Microsoft Corp 09 Orace Corp 09 State Street Corp 08 Amazoncom Inc 08 Monsanto Co 08 Quacomm Inc 08 Mondeez Internationa Inc, Cass 'A' 08 Fastena Co 08 9

10 The management report of fund performance may contain forward-ooking statements Forward-ooking statements incude statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that incude words such as epects, anticipates, intends, pans, beieves, estimates, or other simiar wording In addition, any statements that may be made concerning future performance, strategies, or prospects and possibe future actions taken by the fund, are aso forward-ooking statements These statements invove known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actua resuts and achievements of the fund to differ materiay from those epressed or impied by such statements Such factors incude, but are not imited to: genera economic, market, and business conditions; fuctuations in securities prices, interest rates, and foreign currency echange rates; changes in government reguations; and catastrophic events We do not undertake, and specificay discaim, any obigation to update or revise any forward-ooking statements, whether as a resut of new information, future deveopments, or otherwise prior to the reease of the net management report of fund performance

11 Imperia Poos CIBC 18 York Street, Suite 1300 Toronto, Ontario M5J 2T Website wwwcibccom/mutuafunds