{"id":77294,"date":"2025-08-17T22:08:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T22:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/77294\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T22:08:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T22:08:32","slug":"canada-u-s-trade-war-volatility-creates-opportunity-for-scotiabanks-wealth-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/77294\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada-U.S. trade war volatility creates opportunity for Scotiabank\u2019s wealth business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Scotiabank head of Global Wealth Management Jacqui Allard.Hallie Arden\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Trade<\/a> war disputes with the United States are creating unexpected opportunities for Bank of Nova Scotia\u2019s BNS-T<\/a> wealth management businesses as financial advisers field calls from clients, including some who live abroad and are seeking advice.<\/p>\n

Volatile markets and uncertainty about the U.S. economy are heightening the demand for advice as Scotiabank looks to amplify its wealth management operations domestically, and internationally.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time you have a period of market volatility like we\u2019ve seen, is when you need advisers out talking to clients to calm fears, explain how portfolios are diversified and keep them focused on the long term, not the short term,\u201d Scotiabank head of Global Wealth Management Jacqui Allard said during an interview in Toronto. <\/p>\n

In recent months, Ms. Allard has travelled more extensively to Mexico and South American markets, where she oversees Scotiabank\u2019s wealth and asset management business in over a dozen countries. It is just part of her role at Canada\u2019s fourth-largest bank, where she also leads teams in Canadian wealth management and the bank\u2019s global asset management and insurance businesses. <\/p>\n

Advice has become the anchor of financial services for Canada\u2019s largest banks since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Canadians have reached out to investment advisers when tumultuous markets have rattled nerves, asking whether they should consider moving investment dollars. <\/p>\n

The bank doesn\u2019t operate a wealth business in the U.S., but it enables Canadian-based advisers to advise Canadian clients on their U.S-domiciled investments. And while Scotia isn\u2019t offering blanket advice to investors, the relationships are a foot in the door to ease any growing concerns that may arise for clients in today\u2019s uncertain markets. <\/p>\n

Some Canadians who live south of the border, but who have maintained banking relationships with their advisers here, have even asked for advice on whether they should transfer money back to Canada \u2013 or whether to return home entirely.<\/p>\n

Opinion: Beneath the bluster, the U.S. is losing the trade war<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been less than two years since Ms. Allard replaced Glen Gowland, who led global wealth for nearly five years before he became Scotiabank\u2019s vice-chair in Jan. 2024. He has since retired.<\/p>\n

At that time, investors weren\u2019t seeking advice on the impact of U.S politics. Rather, when Ms. Allard stepped onto the stage during her first Scotiabank investor day in December, 2023, the bank\u2019s new chief executive officer, Scott Thomson, was still putting his own mark on the bank\u2019s strategy. <\/p>\n

During her presentation to shareholders, Ms. Allard confidently laid out the bank\u2019s ambitious five-year plan to increase the number of financial advisers on staff while ramping up sales of retail investment funds to existing clients in Canada. She also unveiled plans to launch a wealth management strategy in Mexico and the Caribbean, particularly for high-net-worth clients.<\/p>\n

With more than $396-billion in assets under management, Scotia Global Wealth Management consists of several major divisions: Scotia Global Asset Management \u2013 which houses the bank\u2019s portfolio managers and investment fund business, a wealth advisory and private banking business in Canada, and an international wealth division that manages about $43-billion in assets for clients outside Canada. The international business is one of the bank\u2019s fastest-growing, increasing earnings by more than 20 per cent last year.<\/p>\n

Over the past decade, wealth management has become a top priority for Canada\u2019s largest banks as more than $1-trillion in personal wealth is set to be inherited by younger generations. To capture that wealth, banks have had to retool their brokerage and financial planning businesses to offer more than just advice on stocks.<\/p>\n

Scotia\u2019s Global Wealth Management arm has increasingly become a major profit driver for the bank. Last quarter, it posted higher profits, up 17 per cent year over year to $407-million, as of June 30.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s big banks are weathering the trade war so far, raising dividends and reporting growth<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, just 20 months into her role, Ms. Allard and her team have started to deliver on the promises she made on stage. They have boosted the bank\u2019s focus on financial planning, doubled the number of financial advisers and investment specialists in Canada to nearly 1,300 individuals, and elevated Scotia Smart Investor, an online financial planning tool for do-it-yourself investors that has brought in an additional $3.2-billion in investment fund sales to the bank\u2019s asset management division. <\/p>\n

But she is not declaring victory just yet.<\/p>\n

Scotiabank continues to have the smallest number of investment advisers compared to its bank peers, as well as the lowest percentage of clients who have purchased a bank mutual fund product.<\/p>\n

However, Ms. Allard is optimistic that will change in time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been investing in our advisory force and that is really starting to pick up speed and bear fruit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

With close to 30 years in the business, Ms. Allard is no stranger to running wealth and asset operations in and outside Canada. Prior to joining Scotia, she was the executive vice-president responsible for consumer lending and international banking businesses at Royal Bank of Canada, which included RBC\u2019s Caribbean Banking and U.S. cross-border banking business.<\/p>\n

Before RBC, she was the chief information officer of the investment division at Manulife Financial Corp., and president of Manulife Asset Management Canada.<\/p>\n

In November, 2024, Ms. Allard\u2019s current role expanded to include oversight of Scotiabank\u2019s global insurance businesses.<\/p>\n

In Canada, the wealth management arm has multiple advice channels that cater to different levels and types of investors. It includes Scotia iTrade, the bank\u2019s trading platform for self-directed investors, securities dealer Scotia McLeod, which advises affluent and high-net-worth clients, and Scotia Private Investment Counsel and Jarislowsky Fraser Private Wealth, which offer institutional investment mandates to clients with $5-million or more in investible assets. In 2018, the bank added MD Financial Management \u2013 a lucrative wealth management business that specializes in advice for Canadian physicians and their families. <\/p>\n

The platform also includes private banking, estates and trusts, insurance and financial planning services as part of what the Scotiabank calls its \u201ctotal wealth\u201d approach.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the bank invested in Conquest Planning Inc., an independent financial and retirement planning technology that is gaining popularity among advisers who work at some of the largest banks and independent wealth managers.<\/p>\n

Scotiabank expects $61-million profit from KeyCorp holdings in third quarter results<\/a><\/p>\n

Along with adding to the financial planning team, the technology helped the bank increase the number of financial plans being completed by advisers by 30 per cent year-over-year.<\/p>\n

Now, the bank has started to roll out Conquest to its international markets, Ms. Allard says. And the timing could not be better as clients are seeking more advice around economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n

For example, advisers have had some interest from international clients in using Canada to house their offshore assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepending on the market, these clients have a significant amount of their assets offshore \u2013 anywhere from 40 per cent to 60 per cent, and in some cases 80 per cent,\u201d Ms. Allard said. \u201cHistorically the offshore market of choice for a Latin American is the United States.\u201d <\/p>\n

International wealth is a much newer business segment for the bank and one that was built through a series of acquisitions in different geographies, she adds. Ten years ago, the bank launched its \u201ctotal wealth\u201d strategy in Canada, which creates full financial plans for clients and involves estate, insurance and tax specialists to map out short- and long-term goals. <\/p>\n

That strategy is now being rolled out to certain segments of the more than 12 million existing retail and commercial clients that Scotiabank international banking serves in nearly 1,000 branches outside Canada. The regions represent about US$6.1-trillion in wealth, according to the Boston Consulting Group global wealth report. <\/p>\n

In Canada, one of the biggest prospects for growth is to cross-sell Scotiabank investment products to more existing clients. <\/p>\n

Currently, Scotia Global Asset Management is the fourth-largest retail fund manager in Canada. The assets under management are not broken out separately by the bank, but the majority of the assets are held by clients who bought Scotiabank funds through independent advisers outside the bank. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the lowest penetration of our own retail client base in terms of investments,\u201d Ms. Allard said. \u201cSo, there is massive opportunity there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: An earlier version of this story stated that Glen Gowland is Scotiabank’s current vice-chair. He became vice-chair in January 2024 and retired at the end of that year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Scotiabank head of Global Wealth Management Jacqui Allard.Hallie Arden\/The Globe and Mail Trade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-77294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}