TORONTO, Sept. 9 /CNW/ - Scotia Asset Management L.P. announced August total net sales of $239 million for ScotiaFunds, with total long-term net sales of $110 million. Total assets under management on a year-over-year basis increased by $3.5 billion, or 14.4 per cent from August 2009*.

ScotiaFunds led the industry in total net sales in August*. Underpinning ScotiaFunds' sales momentum is a bench strength in core solutions, with Scotia INNOVA Portfolios and Scotia Diversified Monthly Income Fund among the top selling funds in August. Building on the success of its popular balanced and dividend solutions, ScotiaFunds launched four new funds on August 31, 2010, including Scotia Partners Diversified Income Portfolio, Scotia Global Balanced Fund, Scotia Canadian Dividend Income Fund and Scotia Global Dividend Fund.

"Canadian investors continue to shift to more conservative investment solutions that offer the opportunity for capital appreciation and income potential with less downside risk," said Glen Gowland, President and CEO, Scotia Asset Management. "The new ScotiaFunds we launched will offer an expanded continuum of income-oriented and moderate-risk solutions that will appeal to a wide range of investors."

About Scotia Asset Management

Under the ScotiaFunds name, Scotia Asset Management L.P. provides a broad range of 36 mutual funds and 22 professionally managed portfolios. ScotiaFunds are available from Scotia Securities Inc., through Canadian Scotiabank branches, ScotiaMcLeod Direct Investing, ScotiaMcLeod, as well as leading investment dealers, independent brokers, advisors and financial planners.

Scotia Asset Management L.P. is wholly-owned, directly and indirectly, by The Bank of Nova Scotia. Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and Canada's most international bank. With close to 70,000 employees, Scotiabank Group and its affiliates serve approximately 14.6 million customers in some 50 countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a diverse range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With more than $523 billion in assets (as at July 31, 2010), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.

* Preliminary estimates. Source: IFIC.