TD Bank 2009 Annual Report Download - page 7

TD BANK FINANCIAL GROUP ANNUAL REPORT 2009 TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS 3
THIS YEAR WE SAW THE INTEGRATION OF TD’S U.S. RETAIL
OPERATIONS. HOW DID THE INTEGRATION GO AND WHAT’S
NEXT FOR TD BANK, AMERICA’S MOST CONVENIENT BANK?
In November, after more than a year of incredibly hard work, we
completed a very complex integration, bringing together the best
of TD with the best of Commerce and TD Banknorth to create one
unified bank. From Maine to Florida, all our U.S. retail operations
are now united under one brand – TD Bank, America’s Most
Convenient Bank.
This integration was not a simple “rip and replace” merger, but
rather a build-out of the best of both legacy organizations, as well as
TD. We did experience delays with our overnight processing in the
first few days after our systems integration. This was disappointing
given the thousands of successful integration-related projects we
completed without a hitch. These delays did have an impact on
our customers – and for that, we’re sorry. In true TD style, our
organizational strengths were highlighted as employees worked
tirelessly to resolve the integration challenges – to make things
right for our customers and to recover with flair.
With the integration now complete, TD Bank, America’s Most
Convenient Bank, will continue to own the service and convenience
space while at the same time leveraging other TD products and
services to take market share and grow the business. As an integrated
North American bank, our considerable scale and breadth of product
offerings are giving us the opportunity to succeed in the most
competitive markets – that’s being demonstrated in New York City,
Boston and Washington, D.C. Look for us to continue building on
this momentum in 2010.
TD FOCUSES ON DELIVERING LEGENDARY CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCES. HOW DID YOU ADAPT YOUR STRATEGY
AMID THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN?
We always listen very carefully to our customers so we can understand
what’s on their minds. Clearly many people were worried about
their financial future – and remain so. For TD to continue to be the
undisputed leader in customer service, we knew we had to define
what that meant in tough times. In short, we must continue to find
ways to deliver the same level of service to customers who are facing
hardships as we do to customers with opportunities.
And we’re working hard to do that. Earlier this year we launched
TD Helps, a program that provides our customers with practical
solutions to get through this downturn. By the end of the year, our
program had helped over 30,000 customers. This clearly makes
good business sense for us. But it means much more than that. For
the most part, these customers have done everything right, and
through no fault of their own, they’ve come across some serious
financial adversity. We’re proud to use our strength as a bank to
do something for them. And we’ll remain proud to stand by our
customers and clients and help them build a better future.
WHAT’S YOUR OUTLOOK FOR 2010 AND WHAT SPECIFIC
OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU SEE?
There are some positive signs that we are in a recovery. But we can’t
kid ourselves. We expect that underlying economic conditions will
remain lacklustre for the foreseeable future. Large structural shifts
are taking place in the global economy. A rebalancing is underway.
Nevertheless, there’ll no doubt be opportunities to take advantage
of our position of strength through this market dislocation to continue
to grow market share. We’ll aim to continue growing our under-
represented businesses in Canada, such as small business banking
and insurance. At the same time, our goal is to leverage our wealth
management and wholesale banking capabilities across our U.S.
footprint, as we take advantage of our newly consolidated U.S. retail
platform. An enormous amount of hard work went into completing
the U.S. integration, and in 2010 we’ll see more opportunities to
cross-sell our products and services.
It’s also very important to think about TD’s unique and inclusive
employee culture. And I can tell you that TD’s employment brand
has never been stronger. We’re able to attract the best people on both
sides of the border, whether at the executive level or at the entry level.
We relentlessly measure employee engagement, and we’re very
committed to increasing that on a constant basis. And we’re receiving
accolades that recognize us as a best employer. I think our extraordinary
workplace is a true source of strength for us and a competitive
advantage as we move forward.
Overall, while we remain cautious, I’m confident that our business
model will survive the downturn and that we’ll continue to drive
forward our vision of being the better bank and emerge from these
challenging times with momentum on our side.
Our Retail Strategy
Continues to Deliver
Our retail businesses continue to
provide a strong, consistent earnings
anchor for our shareholders. We’ve
hit almost $4 billion in adjusted retail
earnings for two years in a row –
quite an achievement considering the
economic conditions during this time.
And over the past five years, our
adjusted retail net income has more
than doubled.
We Live and Breathe
Risk Management
At TD, we only take on risks that we
understand and that can be managed
within an acceptable level – that’s
consistent across all of our businesses.
And we work hard to make sure all
of our employees understand this too.
During the financial crisis, our approach
to risk management has been put to the
test. We were one of the few global
institutions that did not require support
from the government.
Ed Clark
President and Chief Executive Officer
05 06 07 08 09
0
$4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
RETAIL NET INCOME
(millions of Canadian dollars)
Adjusted Reported
Please see “How the Bank Reports” in the accompanying MD&A for information
on how adjusted results are calculated.