Bank of Montreal 2004 Annual Report Download - page 4

BMO Financial Group at a Glance
2004 Key Initiatives
Canadian Operations
•Achieved net income growth of 5.9%.
•Achieved good balance sheet growth, with deposit growth of 9.1% and loans and
acceptances growth of 7% including the effects of securitizations.
•Improved cash productivity by 90 basis points to 60.1%.
•Took significant steps toward enhancing our customer focus and relationship management,
with improved sales and service and the expanded release of Optimizer, our leading-edge
relationship management software.
• Continued to distinguish ourselves in business banking with a number-two position
in small business lending market share and commercial deposits growth of 14.1% .
• Redesigned our online banking web site to make it faster and easier for all our
banking customers.
U.S. Operations
•Improved cash productivity by 270 basis points to 70.8%.
•Launched a unified brand for all U.S. businesses.
•Increased the number of bank branches in the Chicago area by 15.
•Increased total loans by 19% from a year ago to US$12.2 billion.
•Continued to expand in the Chicago area, acquiring New Lenox State Bank and
Lakeland Community Bank.
Focus for 2005
Canadian Operations
•Continue to focus on revenue growth and improvements in productivity,
while also building our distribution capabilities .
•Improve cash productivity ratio by at least 150 basis points.
•Improve customer loyalty in both the personal and commercial
banking segments.
•Maintain our personal banking market share and increase our business
banking market share relative to our major competitors.
•Introduce further enhancements to our sales and service delivery model
to better meet customers’ needs.
U.S. Operations
•Accelerate our growth in the Chicago area and the U.S. Midwest
through strong organic growth and acquisitions.
•Consolidate 25 separate Illinois bank charters into one national bank
charter within the next 12 months, which over time will help us improve
customer service, move towards a more efficient business model and
lower our costs.
Canadian Operations
•BMO Harris Private Banking named best private bank in Canada by Euromoney Magazine.
•BMO Nesbitt Burns launched a Wealth Advisory practice for clients with diverse individual
and family financial management needs.
•
BMO InvestorLine awarded top place in The Globe and Mail’s annual ranking of online brokers.
•BMO InvestorLine named best online brokerage by Watchfire GómezPro.
•BMO Mutual Funds launched six new mutual funds, including a diversified mix of income,
U.S. dollar and global tax advantage funds.
•BMO Mutual Funds launched BMO Education Savings Gift Certificates.
U.S. Operations
•Harris Private Bank revised its trust and investment fee schedule based on a competitive
pricing review.
•Reduced discretionary spending in both the traditional private banking business and
Harris myCFO
TM1
.
•Harrisdirect ranked number one in Customer Service by SmartMoney.
•Consolidated Harrisdirect and Harris AdvantEdge Investing
® 1
brands under the unified
Harrisdirect brand.
•Harris Insight Funds
® 1
had 15 of its 18 funds ranked first or second quartile for the one-year
period ended September 2004.
•Continue to enhance client offerings and deepen client relationships.
•Optimize business models through specific revenue-generating
initiatives and ongoing expense management.
•Continue to focus on the effectiveness of our sales force.
•Pursue sustainable productivity improvements.
Canadian Operations
•Continue to reinforce our leadership in client service and
award-winning offerings.
•Focus on broadening client relationships.
U.S. Operations
•Continue to organically grow our strategic foothold in selected
high-growth wealth markets.
•Focus on broadening client relationships through introduction to
our wide suite of wealth management offerings.
•
Improve profitability in our U.S. businesses.
•Employed the cross-border capabilities of BMO Nesbitt Burns and Harris Nesbitt in all
product areas to deliver unique, effective solutions to clients.
•Improved our cash productivity ratio by 110 basis points to 50.4%.
•Improved our return on equity to 18.4% from 14.3%.
Canadian Operations
•Participated in 374 Canadian corporate debt and equity transactions that raised a total
of $61 billion.
•Advised on $10.6 billion of completed Canadian mergers and acquisitions.
•Ranked Top Overall Research Team in the Brendan Wood International Survey of institutional
investors for the 24th consecutive year, and ranked first for Overall Quality of Sales Service.
•Canadian Securitization unit ranked first in market share of asset-backed commercial paper
conduit outstandings.
•Ranked first in Canadian block trading.
U.S. Operations
•Expanded and upgraded Harris Nesbitt’s pool of expertise through a number of key senior-
level hires, including head of Mergers and Acquisitions and head of U.S. Equity Capital Markets.
•Aligned nationwide client relationship and product coverage with 10 priority industry sectors.
•Completed the integration of Gerard Klauer Mattison into Harris Nesbitt, providing an
enhanced service offering.
•Improve client alignment to realize all revenue opportunities.
•Optimize risk-taking to maximize returns.
•Drive new product development.
Canadian Operations
•Continue to reinforce our leading position.
•Strengthen and broaden relationships with target investment and
corporate banking clients across the full range of our capabilities.
U.S. Operations
•Accelerate growth of fee-based business.
•Expand mid-market banking client base.
•Strengthen and broaden relationships with target investment banking
clients across the full range of our capabilities.