Royal Bank of Canada announced Friday that it has completed the acquisition of Washington, D.C.-based Ferris, Baker Watts, Inc. (FBW).

FBW is a full-service broker-dealer with 42 branch offices in eight states and the District of Columbia, and approximately US$19 billion in assets under administration. The firm will become part of RBC Wealth Management, U.S. Division.

“FBW enhances our wealth management presence in a key region of the country and adds more than 300 experienced, professional financial consultants who have a strong customer service culture that mirrors our own,” says John Taft, head, RBC Wealth Management, U.S. Division.

The acquisition enhances the mid-Atlantic presence of RBC as part of its national wealth management network in the U.S., and will establish a new seventh region for RBC Wealth Management comprised of FBW locations.

FBW is a full-service firm with more than 300 financial consultants, serving individual, corporate and institutional clients nationally from 42 retail branches located in the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. The firm maintains a focus on building and preserving wealth for individual investors.