Quebec City-based Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. (IA) is acquiring Toronto-based wealth-management firm HollisWealth Inc. from Bank of Nova Scotia, the companies announced on Monday.
The agreement, which is subject to regulatory approvals, marks IA’s latest move to beef up its advisor network and expand its wealth-management operations.
HollisWealth is one of the largest independent advisor networks in Canada with approximately $34 billion in assets under administration (AUA), 800 licensed advisors, 400,000 active client accounts and more than 300 locations across Canada.
“This strategic acquisition will place us near the top of the largest non-bank wealth-management advisory firms in Canada with $75 billion in AUA,” says Yvon Charest, president and CEO of IA, in a statement. “The addition of 800 client-focused advisors across Canada will give us a truly national network and additional scale, which will create new growth opportunities and allow for continued investment and innovation in client solutions.”
The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions by IA as the firm pursues aggressive growth of its wealth-management operations. Since 2000, IA has completed 25 wealth-management acquisitions, including Jovian Capital Corp. in 2013 and brokerage firm Burgeonvest Bick Securities Ltd. last year.
HollisWealth was formed when Scotiabank acquired DundeeWealth Inc. in 2011. That acquisition also included Dynamic Funds; however Dynamic Funds is not part of the IA transaction and will remain part of Scotiabank.
“Scotiabank is proud to have been a part of the growth of HollisWealth,” says James O’Sullivan, group head of Canadian banking at Scotiabank, in a statement. “We believe that IA will be a great fit for our HollisWealth advisor model and look forward to having an ongoing relationship with IA as HollisWealth will continue to be a distribution partner for Dynamic Funds.”
HollisWealth advisors will continue to benefit from the backing of a large financial services institution, Charest says, while maintaining an entrepreneurial culture.
The transaction is expected to close in the third calendar quarter of 2017.
IA also announced on Monday a common share offering, which will help to finance the acquisition. The offering of 2.5 million shares, at a price of $55.65 per share, will generate aggregate gross proceeds of $139 million and is expected to close on Dec. 14.
Photo copyright: niloo138/123RF