RBC Wealth Management (WM) won Outstanding Global Private Bank: North America at the virtual PBI Global Wealth Awards 2021 for its strong Canadian presence and the on-going expansion of its City National Bank (CNB) unit in the US and s private client group (PCG) wealth advisory firm – not to mention its expanding services and partnerships. A Highly Commended (HC) trophy was also given for its growth strategy.
Canada is RBC WM’s traditional ‘home’ market where it enjoys leading positions thanks to its long-established wealth planning, retirement, tax, estate & trust planning, succession, insurance, risk and other expertise, which is on offer to the mass affluent. It actively collaborates with RBC’s Personal & Commercial Banking (P&CB) arms to make new products and technologies available to this segment in an integrated and simple manner, inviting them along the value chain as individuals’ personal wealth grows.
The RBC Dominion Securities (RBC DS) full-service brokerage business and its Private Bank (PB) are also key contributors to growth, and indeed its win at the PBI Awards 2021. The latter PB arm is a market leader versus its six major competitors, with:
Revenue market share (36%)
Deposit balance market share (34%)
Loan balance market share (30%)
The RBC DS investment advisors and brokerage business offers local, global and south-facing US options, and a leading 26% market share. It has C$400 billion (US$315.1 bn) in Assets under Administration (AUA) and serves over 275,000 households.
America
In the US, the CNB unit is focused on private and commercial banking for Ultra High Net Worth and HNW clients, their businesses and families. It has contributed to RBC’s strong performance, alongside its 2,000+ PCG wealth advisors who serve 330,000 households from 170 branches across 40 states.
Over the past four years, the business has increased overall client assets from US$276 billion to US$416bn, with earnings growth from US$79 million in 2015 to US$261m in 2020, despite a tough prior year due to Covid-19 and low interest rates.
The CNB unit has a high-touch, proactive advice model, which has been buttressed by efficiency and productivity gains elsewhere and in additional digital technological capabilities. It offers a broad range of lending, deposit, cash management, international banking, equipment financing and WM services. The opening of new locations in priority markets in New York and Washington D.C. has extended its reach and deepened its specialization focus on the entertainment and political ecosystems, among other business and entrepreneur specializations.
HC: Outstanding Private Bank for Growth Strategy
The growth strategy at RBC WM, which was Highly Commended (HC) by the PBI Awards 2021, includes an RBC iShares strategic alliance between RBC Global Asset Management and BlackRock Canada. This helps investors interested in mutual funds or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The iShares alliance has led the industry in sales over the last 12 months and continues to be the largest ETF complex in Canada. The US growth activities, described above, also contributed considerably to RBC WM’s commendation.
More recently, the firm has expanded its suite of Sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) offerings across the entire organization. This is because it naturally spies the numerous growth opportunities available in the green agenda, and longer-term as the world moves towards meeting ambitious carbon net zero targets.