MONTREAL — Fiera Capital Corp. says it swung to a loss in the third quarter, mainly because of higher expenses from recent acquisitions that closed in the quarter.

"Our focus during the third quarter was on integrating our recently closed acquisitions and building a strong global operations and IT platform," said company CEO Jean-Guy Desjardins in a statement Friday.

Fiera has recently closed its acquisitions of Foresters Asset Management Inc., Integrated Asset Management Corp., and Natixis Investment Managers Canada Corp., which together added $15 billion to its assets under management.

Desjardins said that going forward the company's spending focus will be on distribution capabilities, invest further in its technology platform, and manage its financial leverage.

The Montreal-based asset management firm said it had a net loss of $4.6 million for the quarter ending Sept. 30, compared with net income of $1.1 million for the same quarter last year.

The company says adjusted earnings for the quarter worked out to $32.6 million, or 32 cents per share, up from $27.5 million or 29 cents per share last year.

Third quarter revenue was $160 million, up from $137.1 million last year mainly because of its recent acquisitions.

Analysts had expected earnings of $31.5 million or 29 cents per share according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.