TD Wealth is unifying its private investment counsel (PIC) and private investment advice (PIA) businesses to deliver a single discretionary investment management platform for high-net-worth (HNW) clients.
The new platform will operate within the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) framework.
It’ll serve as a one-stop shop for private banking, trusts, high-net-worth planning, tax and other full-service investment management offerings, Ryan McNally, head of private wealth management at TD Wealth, said in an interview.
“You’ve got two platforms that are increasingly presenting in a similar way to our clients. Yet, we were operating on two technology stacks, two different approaches to regulation, and two different sets of processes in terms of onboarding clients, transferring money and day-to-day servicing of clients,” McNally added. “By unifying them both together, we’re taking the best elements of each and making it a more integrated offering for our clients.”
PIC was previously a registered portfolio manager and an exempt market dealer, while PIA was registered as an investment dealer and CIRO member.
PIC has now been brought under PIA’s registration and will operate under the TD Private Wealth Management banner, McNally said. The move had been in the works for more than a year, and TD Wealth sought guidance from the Ontario Securities Commission and CIRO.
As a result of the two business lines being unified, clients will have access to a broader range of investment options. The consolidated wealth management platform will also see the use of the same technology and internal processes, reducing administrative friction.
“By not needing to sustain and invest in two separate platforms, it actually frees up our dollars” to invest in digital interfaces for clients, financial planning tools and AI to save advisors time preparing for annual client reviews, McNally said.
In the past, advisors and portfolio managers working under PIC and PIA were coached differently, McNally said. Going forward, “there’s one set of best practices, one guidebook in terms of tools and enablement. … Our management team across the country will have one way of teaching and supporting [advisors] versus two versions.”
McNally is hoping the unified investment management platform will also attract more talent.
“I will be very actively looking to ensure that portfolio managers from other dealers are intrigued by this offering.”
This story has been updated to include McNally’s comments.