Two National Bank Financial Ltd. acquisitions announced in quick succession are evidence of Montreal-based National Bank of Canada’s desire to solidify the leadership position of its brokerage arm within Quebec and to continue its strategy to grow outside its home province.

On Feb. 6, NBF entered into a definitive agreement to buy Aquilon Capital Corp. , a Toronto-based investment-management firm that specializes in managing private portfolios for wealthy clients.

The next day, NBF announced it had struck a deal to acquire Groupe Financier Everest, a Montreal-based brokerage firm.

Both deals are seen to be modest in size but consistent with NBF’s overall strategy of making strategic acquisitions that fit with the investment dealer’s culture and approach to wealth management.

“We’ve never bought simply for the sake of buying,” says Gordon Gibson, senior vice president and managing director of NBF in Montreal. Rather, he says, NBF looks for firms whose financial advisors embrace a portfolio-management, long-term approach to wealth management, as opposed to a focus on short-term trading.

Financial details were not releas for either transaction, and both deals are contingent on receiving regulatory approval.

“NBF is looking at making acquisitions opportunistically,” says Brenda Lum, a financial analyst with DBRS Ltd. in Toronto. “If the deal makes sense, it’ll make it.”

Aquilon Capital, established in 1980, has more than $500 million in assets under management in 1,500 accounts. NBF announced that approximately 15 Aquilon employees, including eight advisors who specialize in providing discretionary financial services to high net-worth clients, will join NBF.

“This acquisition will strengthen NBF’s wealth-management presence in Toronto,” says Luc Paiement, NBF’s co-president and co-CEO. “Aquilon’s unique advi-sory expertise and client base of individuals and families who seek customized solutions make it a natural fit.”

Groupe Financier Everest, a 13-year-old investment dealer, has $550 million in AUM. The firm offers clients broad-based financial advice and securities brokerage services, as well as group and life insurance.

Groupe Financier Everest grew to its current size mostly as a mutual fund dealer, Gibson says. But unlike some other Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada members, the average account size at Groupe Financier Everest and the level of sophistication in its wealth-management approach made the small Montreal firm a “great fit” with NBF.

Both Aquilon and Group Financier Everest will be folded into NBF and will eventually be rebranded as NBF services.

NBF will continue to seek out acquisitions, but only if they are a good match, Gibson says: “We’re looking at a number of opportunities. There are probably a number of small firms out there that would be available. But, the question is, do they fit our mould?”

In recent years, NBF has undergone a slow but steady cultural shift toward high net-worth accounts from catering to all kinds of clients. As well, NBF’s expansion outside of Quebec is a key element of the parent bank’s strategy to expand its brand across Canada.

NBF has $123 billion in AUM and 3,600 employees, including 715 investment advisors working out of 84 personal wealth-management offices across Canada. IE