MINNEAPOLIS and WASHINGTON DC, June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Washington, D.C.-based Ferris, Baker Watts, Incorporated (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," said John Taft, head, RBC Wealth Management, U.S. Division.
"We believe that joining RBC, with its global resources and strong customer support capabilities, greatly expands the investment services that we will be able to provide our clients. Both FBW and RBC Wealth Management share the same philosophy and commitment to focusing on clients' interests as our top priority," said Roger L. Calvert, president and CEO of Ferris, Baker Watts.
"The RBC Wealth Management business in the U.S. was built by combining numerous strong regional brokerage firms to create the best of two worlds: a small firm culture linked to the financial strength and global resources of RBC," Taft said. "We are proud to welcome FBW's historic franchise and the talents and capabilities of their investment professionals to our growing U.S. wealth management platform."
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.
About Ferris, Baker Watts, Incorporated
Ferris, Baker Watts, Incorporated (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. With one of the largest retail brokerage networks in the Mid-Atlantic region, the firm maintains a focus on building and preserving wealth for individual investors and has US$19 billion in assets under administration. FBW was formed in 1988 following the merger of Ferris and Co. and Baker Watts (founded in 1900).
About RBC Wealth Management
RBC Wealth Management directly serves affluent and high net worth clients in Canada, the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia. RBC Wealth Management also provides asset management and trust products and services directly and through RBC and third-party distributors to all client segments, and has C$500 billion of assets under administration, more than C$240 billion of assets under management and more than 4,000 financial consultants, advisors, private bankers and trust officers.
About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and its subsidiaries operate under the master brand name of RBC. We are Canada's largest bank as measured by assets and market capitalization and one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies. We provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment banking and transaction processing services on a global basis. Our corporate support team enables business growth with expert professional advice and state-of-the art processes and technology. We employ approximately 75,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 16 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients throughout offices in Canada, the U.S. and 45 other countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.rbc.com/.
Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking statements under certain securities laws, including the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and in any applicable Canadian securities legislation, and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Ferris, Baker Watts Incorporated. (FBW) intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor created thereby. The words "may," "could," "should," "would," "outlook," "believe," "plan," "strategy," "opportunity," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," and words and expressions of similar import are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, and inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements, including statements about the expected expansion of investment services to clients, will not be achieved. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of important factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to the possibility that the anticipated benefits of the transaction are not realized as a result of such things as the strength of the economy and competitive factors in the areas where FBW does business; the impact of changes in the laws and regulations regulating financial services and enforcement thereof (including banking, insurance and securities); judicial judgments and legal proceedings; RBC's ability to integrate FBW with RBC successfully; reputational risks, and other factors that may affect future results of RBC and FBW, including changes in trade policies, timely development and introduction of new products and services, changes in tax laws, and technological and regulatory changes . We caution that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. Additional information about these and other factors can be found in our Q2 2008 Report to Shareholders and in our 2007 Annual Report to Shareholders.
Except as required by law, Royal Bank of Canada and FBW assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
