The sale has been agreed but what about advisors and clients?
Laurentian Bank Securities Inc. is to sell assets of its full-service investment broker division to iA Financial Group’s iA private Wealth Inc.
The deal was announced Thursday and includes approximately $2 billion in assets under administration and 16,000 client accounts. Thirty advisors will be invited to transition to iA Private Wealth once the deal completes.
Laurentian Bank has been focusing on improving performance following some challenging times in 2023 with an IT outage that ultimately led to a change of senior leadership as both CEO and chair of the board of directors resigned, and a drop in year-end earnings. This led to talk of a potential sale of the financial institution.
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The sale of the LBS assets to iA Private Wealth is supportive of the bank’s strategic focus on simplification, and concentrating on areas of business where it can win and be more competitive. Net proceeds from the transaction are not expected to be material to the bank.
For iA Financial Group, the acquisition of the assets is expected to have only a marginal impact on its solvency ratio, however there will be a positive impact in other ways for the private wealth business.
"This acquisition will support iA Private Wealth's strong growth and expand its presence,” said Stephan Bourbonnais, Executive Vice-President, Wealth Management at iA Financial Group and President and CEO of iAPW. “We look forward to welcoming these new advisors and helping them continue to secure their clients' financial future with confidence."
The closing date of the transaction is expected to be this summer, subject to, among other things, receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals.
Sustainable future
iA Financial Group has unveiled its 2023 Sustainability Report, themed ‘Proven Values, Looking to the Future.’
The report sets out how the firm plans to continue its strategic move towards a greener, more inclusive future including protecting the environment, having strong governance, and providing positive employee and client experiences.
