TD Bank's Wealth Arm Plans To Hire 200 Advisors In Canada - Report

Robbie Lawther

24 July 2018

Toronto-Dominion Bank plans to hire 200 advisors in Canada in 2018 aiming for a profit increase of 10 per cent at its wealth management operation, according to local reports.

The extra staff are part of TD Bank’s plans to expand the division that includes online investing, advice and asset management.

“We’ve laid some very strong foundations, but we’re still growing,” wealth management head Leo Salom told The Globe and Mail in an interview. “This year we will put on over 200 new advisors between our financial-planning arms and our private wealth management division, and the reality is next year we’ll probably do another similar number. There’s still a tremendous amount of opportunity in that space in Canada and in the US.”

Canada’s largest lender by assets has about 2,100 wealth planners and advisors for its domestic business. The expansion is designed to help the bank reach its goal of “double-digit growth rates” for the wealth management division in Canada and the US, which Salom believes will make a 9 per cent to 10 per cent annual earnings growth for the business over the next four years.

Toronto-Dominion posted a profit of $10.5 billion for 2017, and $1.2 billion of that profit came from wealth management in Canada and the US.

Recently, TD Bank agreed to buy Regina, Saskatchewan-based Greystone for around $792 million, which will add $36 billion of assets under management. TD Asset Management will oversee about $393 billion of client assets after the transaction is completed, expected in the second half of this year.