National Bank Of Canada has high hopes for a high-profile business it acquired when the Montreal-based bank purchased Wellington West Holdings Inc. this past summer.

The deal, which was completed for $333 million, included a 50% stake in Pro Ice Management Inc. , a Winnipeg-based financial advisory firm that provides “personal chief financial officer” services to about 40 National Hockey League players.

Through a related company, Pro Ice also does tax returns for another 100 players, including some who are retired, playing in Europe or playing in the minors.

Pro Ice has about $100 million in assets under administration for clients such as Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews; his teammate, Patrick Sharp; Sheldon Souray of the Dallas Stars; Doug Gilmour, former captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs; and Valeri Bure, a former sniper with the Calgary Flames.

Luc Paiement, executive vice president of wealth management with National Bank, says Pro Ice will play an integral role in helping the bank fulfil its overarching corporate goal of building up wealth-management assets outside its home province.

Whether Pro Ice will be integrated into National Bank’s Private Wealth 1859 high net-worth division or left as a stand-alone brand is yet to be determined.

“We have some brokers who deal with hockey players and [celebrities], so we already have a foot in that business,” Paiement says. “We will keep expanding it, and hopefully we will be able to use Pro Ice to give us some leverage. It’s a fun niche.”

In addition, National Bank is no stranger to the business of hockey, either, as it owns a 5% stake in the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens.

Paiement is confident Pro Ice will be able to build its business by accessing Private Wealth 1859’s full suite of products and services.

“Hopefully,” he says, “in five years, we’ll be able to say there are 25 employees [at Pro Ice] and they manage $1 billion in assets.”

With all due respect to Well-ington West, Grant Skinner, president and CEO of Pro Ice, says he’s looking forward to having the backing of one of Canada’s Big Six banks: “We’ve already been assigned a private banking [expert] from National Bank. It’s exciting.”

Skinner says he will definitely be adding to his staff, which currently sits at six, including his son, Tyler, who joined Pro Ice a couple of years ago as vice president.

“We’ll grow it slowly as we need to facilitate the support that’s required to meet the needs of clients,” Skinner says. “If you have $500 million [in AUA], do you need 30 people? I guess we’ll see. We’re in this business for a long, long time. We’re talking about executing a 35-year plan.”

Skinner, who got his start in his line of business by doing tax returns for Winnipeg Jets players in the 1980s and 1990s, says he’s confident the return of the NHL to the Manitoba capital this season will prove to be a significant boost to Pro Ice’s client base.

“It’s going to be tremendous,” he says. “We’ll have the NHL family coming through Winnipeg on a regular basis throughout the year. I used to say, ‘If you want to be in the fishing business, it helps to be near the wharf.’ Well, the wharf has come to Winnipeg again.”@page_break@Adds Skinner: “You meet with players, agents and others with contact in the NHL community. You run into a buddy of yours, and that triggers something. Every time you get in front of someone, it creates an opportunity [to build the business].”

Whether a hockey player is buying a house in Chicago, needs a prenuptial agreement before getting married in the Caribbean or helping his father sell the family farm in Prince Albert, Sask., Skinner and his team are there. Pro Ice also prepares quarterly statements of the players’ assets, identify appropriate insurance coverage, aid in applying for green cards to permit working in the U.S. and monitor monthly cash flows.

Skinner says National Bank essentially is offering his hockey player-clients a private-banking program, but with a lot more bells and whistles. Each player will have a program tailor-made to his individual circumstances.

“[The bank] will pay interest on a chequing account for the players,” Skinner says. “Usually, [these pay] virtually zero. It’s almost like [the bank is] adding a credit union flavour to it.”

Pro Ice’s work bears little resemblance to that of players’ agents, whose main job is negotiating contracts with general managers, Skinner says: “The agent’s relationship with the player ends when the player retires, but that’s usually when our relationship with them ramps right up. When they’re employees of a hockey team, their world is very focused and controlled; but once that’s over, they have to get on with the rest of their lives. They’re world-class athletes wondering, ‘Now, what do I do?’”

One downside — in the short term, at least — to Pro Ice’s new relationship with National Bank, Skinner notes, is that the bank doesn’t operate in the U.S., where Pro Ice has a number of clients. (Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and Bank of America act as Pro Ice’s partners for those players.)

However, when most Canadian players retire, they return home north of the border, Skinner says: “I’ve asked [National Bank] to get involved with these players, in terms of support and investment policy strategy, so — even though they won’t generate fees — in the long term, they’ll build relationships. When these kids come back to Canada, [National Bank] will be there with open arms.”

Skinner says he plans to relocate his operations from the outskirts of downtown to Wellington West’s headquarters, just a stone’s throw from Winnipeg’s historic corner of Portage Avenue and Main Street, in the next few months.

“[Wellington West is] going to have a lot of empty space come the end of December,” Skinner says, referring to the date when numerous staff severance packages come into effect.

National Bank has more than $100 billion in wealth-management AUA, including $72 billion of full-service business. With the acquisition of Wellington West, Paiement says, about half of the bank’s revenue now comes from Quebec and the other half comes from the rest of Canada.

“For us,” Paiement says, “there is more upside potential in [British Columbia] and Alberta than there is in Quebec.” IE