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16 Bank of Montreal Group of Companies 1999 Annual Report
Private Client Group
the first nine months of its launch. Nesbitt Burns
added significant value to its retirement and invest-
ment planning software, Nesbitt Burns Pathfinder
®1
,
with the creation of an education planner. Along
with the introduction of a self-directed RESP, clients
now have access to powerful tools to save for their
children’s future educational needs.
When it comes to providing investment research,
Nesbitt Burns consistently delivers the best. Since
1980, Nesbitt Burns (or one of its predecessor firms)
has been ranked number one for research in inde-
pendent annual surveys.*
The Bank’s Private Client Group delivers custom-
ized products and services to meet the demanding
needs of affluent clients in both Canada and the
United States.Through Private Client Service Centres
strategically located across Canada,
clients can
accessthefullrangeofproductsandservicesoffered
by Jones Heward, The Trust Company
of Bank of
Montreal and private banking.
Determining the required mix of services and
products quickly and efficiently is critical. Our
sophisticated client-profiling process evaluates
investment objectives and risk tolerance while
identifying specific tax and estate planning needs.
Once identified, our team of skilled professionals —
including those with legal and planning expertise
—deliver an enriched private banking experience.
Through Harris Bank, a broad range of innov
ative
private banking services is being delivered to
affluent clients throughout the United States. With
over 100 years of experience in handling affairs for
wealthy families, Harris’ Private Bank has grown
to almost $50 billion in assets under administration.
From its Chicago headquarters it specializes in
providing an integrated offering of investment, trust
and banking services to clients with sophisti
cated
and complex financial needs. Offices have also
been established in the rapidly growing sunbelt
market, where we now have three offices in Florida
and five in Arizona. This distinctive ability to serve
Canadian “snowbird” needs in both Canada and the
United States is unique among North American
banks.
In addition, we have established an alliance
with
Bancomer, our Mexican affiliate, to provide
our broad array of products to their clients who
wish to invest in the U.S. market.
Harris is also out in front in the rapidly growing
field of electronic banking, where it became one of
the first U.S. banks to provide personal trust and
investment information online. With this capability
coupled to our electronic banking services, the
combined product offering is an industry leader.
The Way Forward
The Bank’s Private Client Group will continue to
focus on improving the range of our product offer-
ings while expanding our means of distribution. As
we fulfill our promise to deliver these services when
and where our customers want, we plan to have
125 Investment Advisors and 250 Investment Special-
ists
working in Bank of Montreal branches by fiscal
2000 year end to meet the needs of clients using the
traditional branch as their preferred access channel.
The Private Client Group has fully aligned its
business plan with the Personal and Commercial
and Investment Banking Groups. Making our
products and services readily available to clients
throughout the Bank allows us to achieve our
objective of steadily improving cost/revenue ratios.
Our commitment to cross-selling will provide
maximum profitability as we take products such as
IPOs from our Investment Banking Group and
deliver them through our extensive North American
distribution network. Leveraging the synergies
among the Bank’s three client-focused businesses
will create long-term shareholder value.
*Brendan Wood International Survey: Institutional Equity
Sales, Research and Trading in Canada
–
1999.
More information on Private Client Group is available on
page 52 of the Management Analysis of Operations.
investore®
investore is the place to shop for investments. There are currently five
investores (Toronto, Hamilton, London, Calgary and Richmond), plus one mobile
investore, in retail locations with combined weekly exposure to over 800,000
consumers. Customers can browse the resource centre, Internet and interactive
stations to shop for mutual funds, direct brokerage, full-service investing and
term investments. At investore we’re open retail hours when our customers want
to shop. On-site investment specialists provide customers with one-on-one investment
advice with no high-pressure sales in a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere.