Bank of Montreal 2013 Annual Report Download - page 18

‰ Continued to expand our businesses and capabilities in the
United States:
o Continued to roll out Premier Services in the United States, a
unique planning-focused wealth management and banking offer-
ing. Over the past two years, Premier Services customer holdings
have increased significantly.
o Continued to leverage our robust thought leadership website, The
Resource Center, which provides current and prospective clients
with valuable industry insights from BMO experts, as well as third-
party content via our exclusive partnerships.
o Posted our best-ever investment banking performance in the
United States, with a record year for Equity Capital Markets, Debt
Capital Markets, and Acquisitions & Divestitures.
‰ Introduced compelling offers in Canada to establish and strengthen
client relationships:
o The momentum of our Five-Year Fixed 25-year amortization mort-
gage product continued, helping customers become mortgage-free
faster, pay less interest and protect themselves against rising
interest rates. The success of this product is building a foundation
for new and expanded long-term customer relationships.
o Launched seven new exchange traded funds (ETFs) to help
investors build their own portfolios more effectively.
o Furthered our commitment to new Canadians with the launch of
the BMO NewStart Program, a program that addresses
new Canadians’ unique deposit, lending, credit card and advice
needs. This program continues to grow, with over 100,000
customers currently in this priority segment.
o Launched enhanced BMO World Elite MasterCard®, recognized for
the richness of its customer offer, including no blackout periods,
VIP airport lounge access and one of the highest credit card travel
redemption rates in the industry.
4. Expand strategically in select global markets to create
future growth.
‰ Only Canadian bank and one of only three North American banks with
an established subsidiary bank in China.
‰ Expanded our international wealth management platform including
the acquisition of a wealth management business with offices in
Hong Kong and Singapore.
‰ BMO Global Asset Management established a new office in Australia
that focuses on sales and serving Australia’s institutional and
retail investors.
‰ Ranked among the top 20 global investment banks and the
13th largest investment bank in North America based on fees by
Thomson Reuters.
5. Ensure our strength in risk management underpins everything
we do for our customers.
‰ Continued to build out the Risk-IT infrastructure in line with regulatory
expectations for improved risk data aggregation and information
management systems.
‰ Strengthened our stress testing capabilities by advancing our
enterprise-wide stress testing framework and embedding stress
testing in our strategy and business planning processes.
MD&A
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Bank of Montreal’s public communications often include written or oral forward-looking statements. Statements of this type are included in this document, and may be
included in other filings with Canadian securities regulators or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or in other communications. All such statements are made
pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of, and are intended to be forward-looking statements under, the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
and any applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements may involve, but are not limited to, comments with respect to our objectives and priorities
for 2014 and beyond, our strategies or future actions, our targets, expectations for our financial condition or share price, and the results of or outlook for our operations or
for the Canadian, U.S. and international economies.
By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that
predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections will not prove to be accurate, that our assumptions may not be correct and that actual results may differ materially from
such predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections. We caution readers of this document not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements as a number of
factors could cause actual future results, conditions, actions or events to differ materially from the targets, expectations, estimates or intentions expressed in the forward-
looking statements.
The future outcomes that relate to forward-looking statements may be influenced by many factors, including but not limited to: general economic and market
conditions in the countries in which we operate; weak, volatile or illiquid capital and/or credit markets; interest rate and currency value fluctuations; changes in monetary,
fiscal or economic policy; the degree of competition in the geographic and business areas in which we operate; changes in laws or in supervisory expectations or
requirements, including capital, interest rate and liquidity requirements and guidance; judicial or regulatory proceedings; the accuracy and completeness of the information
we obtain with respect to our customers and counterparties; our ability to execute our strategic plans and to complete and integrate acquisitions; critical accounting
estimates and the effect of changes to accounting standards, rules and interpretations on these estimates; operational and infrastructure risks; changes to our credit
ratings; general political conditions; global capital markets activities; the possible effects on our business of war or terrorist activities; disease or illness that affects local,
national or international economies; natural disasters and disruptions to public infrastructure, such as transportation, communications, power or water supply; techno-
logical changes; and our ability to anticipate and effectively manage risks associated with all of the foregoing factors.
We caution that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all possible factors. Other factors could adversely affect our results. For more information, please see the
discussion below, which outlines in detail certain key factors that may affect Bank of Montreal’s future results. When relying on forward-looking statements to make
decisions with respect to Bank of Montreal, investors and others should carefully consider these factors, as well as other uncertainties and potential events, and the
inherent uncertainty of forward-looking statements. Bank of Montreal does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be
made from time to time by the organization or on its behalf, except as required by law. The forward-looking information contained in this document is presented for the
purpose of assisting our shareholders in understanding our financial position as at and for the periods ended on the dates presented, as well as our strategic priorities and
objectives, and may not be appropriate for other purposes.
Assumptions about the level of default and losses on default were material factors we considered when establishing our expectations regarding the future perform-
ance of the transactions into which our credit protection vehicle has entered. Among the key assumptions were that the level of default and losses on default will be
consistent with historical experience. Material factors that were taken into account when establishing our expectations regarding the future risk of credit losses in our
credit protection vehicle and risk of loss to Bank of Montreal included industry diversification in the portfolio, initial credit quality by portfolio, the first-loss protection
incorporated into the structure and the hedges into which Bank of Montreal has entered.
Assumptions about the performance of the Canadian and U.S. economies, as well as overall market conditions and their combined effect on our business, are
material factors we consider when determining our strategic priorities, objectives and expectations for our business. In determining our expectations for economic growth,
both broadly and in the financial services sector, we primarily consider historical economic data provided by the Canadian and U.S. governments and their agencies. See
the Economic Developments and Outlook section of this document.
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