RBC opens financial advisory office in Brazil
São Paulo, Brazil, January 12, 2009 —
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), the largest financial institution
in Canada, today announced the opening of a new investment
advisory business in Brazil. The firm's new headquarters in
São Paulo's premium financial district of Itaim marks
RBC's start in the domestic investment advisory services industry
in Brazil, a country where it has had a presence since 1919.
The move complements RBC Wealth Management's strong presence
across Latin America amid the firm's ongoing expansion in
the region, which included the opening last year of new offices
in Chile and Panama, and expansion of existing platforms in
Mexico and Uruguay through the opening of new offices. The
firm also has offices in Argentina and Venezuela.
"This marks a new era for RBC in Brazil," said
Michael Moodie, head of Americas Region, RBC Wealth Management.
"We continually look for opportunities to grow in select
markets where our history and brand are strong and where we
can meet the needs of our clients. In Brazil, our goal is
to be perceived as one of the best advisory firms in the country."
Under the direction of José Lima, general manager,
RBC Brasil DTVM, the new entity will allow RBC Wealth Management
to provide investment advice through an open platform of third-party
domestic securities — mutual funds, multi-market hedge funds,
and equities — to high net-worth residents of Brazil, Latin
America's largest economy. RBC advisors will work with local
fund managers and advise clients on asset allocation of domestic
financial instruments. In the future, the business may also
offer international clients access to domestic financial products
and services. A native of Brazil, Lima joined RBC in 2001
and most recently served as general manager for RBC Wealth
Management's Latin American sales offices.
"This enhancement will be of great benefit for our clients
and offers RBC a terrific market opportunity," Lima said.
"The long-term outlook for Brazil's economic growth is
very positive. Its economy is the region's largest, its funds
industry is very developed with hundreds of billions of dollars
in assets, and it has a sophisticated financial system and
a stock exchange as large as the Toronto Stock Exchange."
Initially, close to a dozen financial advisors will be assisting
clients in RBC's São Paulo and Porto Alegre offices,
with plans to hire additional advisors as the year progresses.
"Despite the current market environment, we are actively
seeking to expand our global footprint and points of distribution
in key areas outside of North America in geographies that
complement our strengths," said Michael Lagopoulos, international
head of RBC Wealth Management. "RBC is a strong and stable
bank. Our consistent financial strength and discipline in
managing risk should provide our clients around the world
with confidence."
RBC is the fifth largest financial institution in North America
and 12th largest in the world by market capitalization, and
was named last year by Euromoney as one of the top 10 wealth
management firms in Latin America. Canada is rated by the
World Economic Forum as having the world's soundest banking
system. In fiscal year 2008, RBC generated over US$4.4 billion
of earnings.
About RBC Wealth Management
RBC Wealth Management directly serves affluent and high net
worth clients in Canada, the United States, Latin America,
Europe and Asia with a full suite of investment, trust and
other wealth management solutions. The business also provides
asset management products and services directly and through
RBC and third-party distributors to institutional and individual
clients, and has nearly C$500 billion of assets under administration,
more than C$220 billion of assets under management and more
than 4,000 financial consultants, advisors, private bankers
and trust officers.
About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and its subsidiaries
operate under the master brand name RBC. We are Canada's largest
bank as measured by assets and market capitalization, one
of North America's leading diversified financial services
companies and among the largest banks in the world, as measured
by market capitalization. We provide personal and commercial
banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate
and investment banking and transaction processing services
on a global basis. We employ more than 80,000 full- and part-time
employees who serve more than 17 million personal, business,
public sector and institutional clients through offices in
Canada, the U.S. and 48 other countries. For more information,
please visit www.rbc.com.
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Media contacts:
Outside Brazil
Kevin Foster,
RBC, (212) 428-6902, kevin.foster@rbc.com
Stephanie Lu,
RBC, (416) 974-5506, stephanie.lu@rbc.com
In Brazil
Dora Lopes,
CDN Communications, 55 (11) 3643-2793, dora.lopes@cdn.com.br
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