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FIERA SCEPTRE CLOSES ARRANGEMENT AND LAUNCHES OPERATIONS AS A LEADING INDEPENDENT, MULTI-PRODUCT CANADIAN INVESTMENT MANAGER

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  Published in Stocks and Investing on Wednesday, September 1st 2010 at 4:41 GMT by Market Wire
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"The Power of Thinking: Optimal Performance. Intelligent Innovation."

MONTREAL and TORONTO, Sept. 1 /CNW Telbec/ - Fiera Sceptre Inc. (TSX: FSZ) ("Fiera Sceptre" or the "Firm") today announced that it has completed the previously announced statutory plan of arrangement pursuant to which the businesses of Sceptre Investment Counsel Limited ("Sceptre") and Fiera Capital Inc. ("Fiera Capital") were combined to create a leading, publicly traded independent money manager with approximately $30 billion in assets under management (the "Arrangement").

"We are proud to start operations today as Fiera Sceptre, one of only a few independent, multi-product Canadian investment firms," said Jean-Guy Desjardins, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Fiera Sceptre. "At Fiera Sceptre, we focus on our clients. We are dedicated to delivering optimal performance through intelligent innovation and we have a strong commitment to risk management. Through our combined team, we offer proven depth and expertise in equity and fixed income management, asset allocation and alternative investments."

Pursuant to the Arrangement, each of the approximately 14.2 million common shares of Sceptre was exchanged by Sceptre shareholders for one new Class A Subordinate Voting Share of Fiera Sceptre and a payment of $0.60 in cash. Fiera Capital exchanged the entirety of its operating assets and related liabilities for approximately 21.4 million Class B Special Voting Shares of Fiera Sceptre.

Concurrently with the completion of the Arrangement, Fiera Sceptre completed a non-brokered private placement of 833,333 Class A Subordinate Voting Shares to a private company controlled by Jean C. Monty, for proceeds to Fiera Sceptre of approximately $5 million.

In addition to his role as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Jean-Guy Desjardins is the controlling shareholder of Fiera Sceptre. Desjardins Financial Group, Canada's largest cooperative financial group, also remains an important shareholder of Fiera Sceptre.

Sylvain Brosseau is President and Chief Operating Officer of Fiera Sceptre and David Pennycook is Vice-Chairman and Executive Vice-President. Pierre Blanchette is confirmed as Vice-President, Finance of the Firm. He replaces David Morris, former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Sceptre, who leaves the Firm following the successful completion of the Arrangement.

"We would like to thank David Morris for his contribution to Sceptre and for his hard work in making this transaction a success," said David Pennycook, Vice-Chairman and Executive Vice President of Fiera Sceptre.

Vote of Unitholders of Mutual Funds

Following completion of the Arrangement, Fiera Sceptre has become the manager and trustee of the Sceptre Mutual Funds. This change in manager and trustee of each of the Sceptre Mutual Funds was approved at the meeting of the unitholders of each Fund, held on August 20, 2010.

Fiera Sceptre

Fiera Sceptre is a leading publicly traded, independent money manager with approximately $30 billion in assets under management. The Firm is one of only a handful of full service, multi-product investment firms in Canada, offering clients a proven top tier track record in equity and fixed income management as well as depth and expertise in asset allocation and alternative investments. [ www.fierasceptre.ca ]

Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain certain forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's expectations or beliefs regarding future events including business and economic conditions and Fiera Sceptre's growth, results of operations, performance and business prospects and opportunities. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue", "target", "intend" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology.

By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and a number of factors could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. In evaluating these statements, readers should specifically consider various factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement.

These factors include, but are not limited to, market and general economic conditions, the nature of the financial services industry and the risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Fiera Sceptre's interim and annual consolidated financial statements and its Annual Report and Annual Information Form filed on [ www.sedar.com ]. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document, and Fiera Sceptre assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.