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Mutual fund company AIC Ltd., buffeted by the worldwide financial crisis, has trimmed its workforce by 20 per cent to keep costs down and better position itself in a tough economic environment.

The privately owned company, which has suffered a large number of redemptions since the market meltdown began, laid off 53 out of some 290 employees on Thursday, spokesperson Terri Oswald said.

"The areas that were affected were mostly marketing and information technology," said Oswald, adding that some employees on the investment side and in sales were also let go.

There were no layoffs of fund managers, but three analysts were cut.

"The key reason for the reduction is simply that the market conditions are so difficult right now," she said.

The company doesn’t see any more financial problems down the road and no more pink slips are contemplated, Oswald added.

"We’re trying to keep our cost structure so that we can continue to remain profitable through this storm that every other company is experiencing internet pay day loans."

AIC, which is controlled by billionaire Michael Lee-Chin, has been suffering from net redemptions for several years. Some of its stock portfolios were hit hard because of holdings in the battered financial sector.

Canadian investors redeemed a record $4.5 billion in mutual funds last month, making September the worst month for outflows since the Investment Funds Institute of Canada started collecting data in 1990.

AIC, Canada’s 19th largest fund company, saw net outflows of $86 million in September.

The downturn is expected to spur consolidation but AIC has said it is not up for sale.

The Canadian Press

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