Royal Bank of Canada announced a key executive change on
Tuesday, naming Doug Guzman as the new head of its wealth
management and insurance division.
Toronto-based RBC, Canada's largest bank by assets, is making
the change at a time when it is seeking more growth in the U.S.
wealth management market, largely through its acquisition of Los
Angeles-based City National Corp.
Mr. Guzman, currently managing director and head of global
investment banking in RBC's capital markets division, will assume
his new role on Nov. 1. He replaces George Lewis, who will become a
senior portfolio manager in the bank's global asset management
operations.
In announcing the change, RBC Chief Executive Dave McKay
stressed that wealth management is a "strategically important
business for RBC." Banks are pushing more heavily into wealth
management because it offers a steady stream of fee income.
Earlier this year, RBC announced plans to buy City National for
$5.4 billion in part for the U.S. lender's stable of affluent
clients, a bid to add heft to its U.S. wealth management
business.
Mr. Guzman, who previously worked as an investment banker at
Goldman Sachs, will also join an RBC executive team in charge of
setting the bank's overall strategy. In addition, he will become
deputy chair of RBC's capital markets division.
Mr. Guzman's appointment comes at a time for change for RBC's
wealth-management division. The bank is currently undertaking an
overhaul of its international wealth management business, which Mr.
Lewis has said is slated for completion by the end of this
year.
"You will see at the end of that restructuring program a
narrower footprint in that business," said Mr. Lewis on a
conference call in May.
In its fiscal second quarter, RBC booked restructuring costs of
22 million Canadian dollars ($17.4 million) on an after-tax basis
for its U.S. and International wealth management division. It also
recorded a provision for credit losses totaling C$32 million during
quarter—mostly due to one account in that business.
Last November, RBC said it was pulling out of wealth-management
in the Caribbean, and closing some private-banking offices in
Canada and the U.S. that serve foreign clients, because it wanted
to focus on North America and Asia where it can achieve scale.
Write to Rita Trichur at rita.trichur@wsj.com
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