Bank of Montreal 2010 Annual Report Download - page 30

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
MD&A
Our Vision
To be the bank that defines great customer experience.
Our Guiding Principle
We aim to maximize total shareholder return and balance our commitments to financial performance, our customers, our employees, the environment
and the communities where we live and work.
Our Strategy in Context
Changes in the economic environment, and their effects on our customers, are rapid and ongoing. Our focus on providing clarity for our customers
by “Making Money Make Sense,” serves as a compass for us in all economic environments. It also drives our employees to deliver their best, every day.
We have emerged from the recent economic downturn with a strong financial position, supported by growth in our businesses. We believe that
strengths in our business model, balance sheet, risk management framework and leadership team will generate sustainable growth. We remain
steadfastly committed to our strategy, our customers and our shareholders.
Our Strategic Priorities and Progress
Maximize earnings growth across all North American personal
and commercial banking businesses, focusing on industry-leading
customer experience and sales force productivity.
• Our strategy is paying off, with P&C Canada achieving double-digit
growth in revenue and net income for each of the past two years, as well
as personal and commercial loyalty scores that are up from 2008 levels.
• Introduced offers that bring clarity to financial decisions, including
the Low-Rate Mortgage, BMO SmartSteps for Business, BMO Business
Bundles, AgriInvest and Harris Helpful Steps.
• Made good progress in growing our profitable payments business by
introducing our BMO World Elite MasterCard, entering into an exclusive
strategic credit card relationship with Sobeys in Canada and acquiring
the Diners Club North American franchise, which more than doubled
our corporate card business.
• Strengthened our network by continuing to invest in new branches and
launching an innovative new branch format. Commenced operations
in our new state-of-the-art customer contact centre, better positioning
us to deliver a seamless customer experience.
•
In the United States, maintained very strong personal banking customer
loyalty scores compared to the major banks with which we compete.
Received a Metro Chicago 2010 TNS Choice Award for excellence
in offering customer-focused solutions and establishing strong client
relationships in our personal banking business. Won several awards
from Greenwich Associates for our U.S. commercial banking team.
• Increased the scale of our U.S. commercial bank to position Harris as
the preferred bank for business in the U.S. Midwest.
•
Acquired certain assets and liabilities and successfully integrated
the operations of AMCORE Bank, N.A., a Rockford, Illinois-based bank,
in a transaction assisted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC), accelerating our growth strategy and adding quality locations and
a good customer base.
Accelerate the growth of our wealth management business through
client-focused financial planning and by investing for future growth.
• Delivered a planning-based client experience and improved
sales
efficiency with enhanced financial planning and investment advisor tools
and comprehensive financial planning client materials.
• Delivered an innovative program (Take Charge of Your Retirement) that
motivates clients to think about how their financial and non-financial
retirement goals are linked.
•
Expanded our Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) family of lower-cost and risk
diver sifying investment products to provide our clients with greater access
to innovative and industry-leading investment products and solutions.
•
Strengthened BMO InvestorLine’s capabilities and delivered an enhanced
online experience with improved functionality and educational materials.
• Effectively integrated and expanded our insurance businesses and
streamlined related sales processes and applications.
Enterprise-Wide Strategy
• Increased referral volumes across BMO Financial Group, contributing
to asset growth through deeper customer relationships.
Deliver strong, stable returns in our capital markets business
by providing highly targeted solutions to our core clients from
a single integrated platform.
• Focusing on clients is at the core of our strategy. We continued to
target clients where we are differentiated and we expanded valuable
relationships with a broader offering from across the capabilities of
BMO Capital Markets.
• Strengthened capabilities in the United States, including refocusing
our business on core clients, appointing a new head of U.S. Investment
and Corporate Banking and hiring strategically across the business to
position us for future growth.
• Aligned our capital and capabilities with client opportunity, with
the goal of creating a more integrated capital markets business and
more robust distribution capabilities.
• Continued to implement risk management initiatives, enhancing our
capabilities and introducing new methodologies to measure, monitor
and report risk with transparency and clarity across the organization.
Develop our business in select global markets to grow with
our clients, expand our capabilities and reach new customers.
• Successfully incorporated in China, where we can now provide banking
and investment products and be considered a preferred partner.
• Acquired a U.S.-based global securities lending team and completed
its integration into our existing North American Securities Lending
business, creating a strong presence in New York, London,
Hong Kong and Melbourne.
•
Continued to expand our presence in Asia, including additions to our
trading and investment banking product offering in China and develop-
ment of our investment and corporate banking business in India.
Sustain a culture that focuses on customers, high performance
and our people.
• Renewed our learning and leadership development programs
at BMO’s Institute for Learning to support our focus on customers,
talent and performance.
• Continued to develop our industry-leading talent management
practices and maintained our Employee Promise to current and
prospective employees, consistent with our brand and values.
• Reinforced the knowledge and understanding of risk and risk
management across the enterprise, strengthening our risk manage-
ment practices and building our capabilities for the future.
• Maintained our focus on productivity, high-quality service and
risk management in technology and operations, while preparing
to transform our technology capabilities in support of sustained
growth and our customer experience vision.
28 BMO Financial Group 193rd Annual Report 2010