Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management
Global Wealth Management
Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management provides clients with the focused and personalized service they expect from a local investment manager with added benefits from the vast resources, expertise and support of a global financial institution.
In fiscal 2018, we added meaningful scale in our global wealth management operations, which has been an important driver of our stronger financial performance and a key element of the stability that we expect to deliver for our shareholders over the long term.
Top 10 wealth manager in the UK & Europe by assets
UK & Europe
In the UK & Europe, Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management has 188 investment professionals and fund managers who provide highly tailored discretionary portfolio management, advisory and execution stockbroking, wealth planning, and fund management services to individual investors, institutions and charities. With almost 70% of revenue from recurring, fee-based business, this operation continues to serve as an excellent model for the growth and business mix that we hope to achieve in our other geographies.
In September 2017, we closed our acquisition of Hargreave Hale in a transaction that established a substantially larger wealth management business in the region. With this development, Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management advanced to become a top 10 wealth management business in the UK by assets, with even stronger growth potential from a larger asset base and an expanded national footprint.
When measured in local currency, total client assets in this business reached £24.8 billion at the end of fiscal 2018, an increase of 69.0% from a year ago. Revenue for the year increased by 49.4% to $201.4 million, and excluding significant items, this business recorded pre-tax net income of $37.4 million.
As we move ahead with a carefully orchestrated integration process, we look forward to unlocking greater operational efficiencies and enhanced revenue opportunities for our combined businesses.
On track to become a leading independent Canadian wealth management business
Canada
Our Canadian wealth management business has Investment Advisory teams operating from a network of offices across the country who provide a full range of investment advisory and wealth planning strategies, with an emphasis on bespoke services, to meet the unique needs of their respective clients.
Throughout fiscal 2018, we continued to advance our strategy of adding new Investment Advisory teams in this business. At the end of the fiscal year, total client assets increased by 17.7% to $15.6 billion. Total revenue grew 27.7% year over year, driven by increased private client participation in new issue activity, strengthening valuations for small-cap equities and the addition of new advisors to our platform. This business also delivered a significant improvement in profitability and, excluding significant items, contributed pre-tax net income of $20.2 million, up from $2.0 million one year ago.
We have steadily improved the quality of our offering to improve the client experience and help our Investment Advisory teams capture a greater share of wealth. As part of our development efforts, discretionary assets under management in this business increased by 6.8% and the average book size per Investment Advisory team grew by 16.9% when compared to a year ago.
Our culture of independence and a platform which encourages advisors to operate in ways that best fit their business and client needs have helped us to further advance our recruiting strategy in this business. Looking ahead, we remain focused on developing and supporting our existing teams while continuing to invest in bringing new ones to our platform.
Australia
Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management has offices in Melbourne and Sydney, and our team of seven advisors provides comprehensive wealth management solutions to growing numbers of clients in Australia and Southeast Asia. The exceptional performance of our capital markets business in the region has also been helpful for our wealth management brand. With our increased investment in our Australian operations, we look forward to exploring opportunities to expand our wealth management business in the region.
(1) Assets under administration, management and management contract.
(2) Assets under administration, management and management contract in C$ billions and £ billions.
(3) Assets under administration and management.