BNY Mellon Wealth Management Moves into Canada and Sees Hiring in 2011

BNY Mellon is making its first foray into Canada's wealth management market, hoping to tap into the fifth-largest population of millionaires worldwide with the planned acquisition of I3 Advisors of Toronto.

Within the next 12 months the global financial services company plans to hire new staff to fuel its expansion.

BNY Mellon anticipates no new hires immediately, says spokeswoman Susan Rivers. However, "looking into 2011 we definitely think we will be hiring as we see this as a long term growth strategy for Canada and mean to establish additional offices throughout the country."

Why Canada? There are no less than a million Canadian households with assets of more than $1 million, one of the highest concentrations in the world, Rivers says.

Once Ernst and Young's wealth management arm in Canada, I3 Advisors was established in 2005 under the leadership of June Ntazinda, its CEO. The firm has just 28 employees but more than C$3.5 billion in assets under advisement. Ntazinda will remain as chief executive following the closing and will report to Don Heberle, a BNY Mellon Wealth Management executive vice president.

The announcement comes on the heels of UBS' plans to double its advisor headcount in Canada from 50 to 100 by 2015.

BNY Mellon already has what it calls "a robust presence" in Canada, including CIBC Mellon offices in Toronto, London (Ontario), Calgary, Halifax, Montreal, and Vancouver; BNY Mellon Asset Management in Toronto; BNY Mellon Asset Servicing in Toronto; and asset manager Eagle Investment Systems in Toronto and Montreal.