A man walks in front of the Bank of Nova Scotia building the financial district in Toronto.Mark Blinch/The Globe and Mail
A Royal Bank of Canada RY-T executive is leaving Canada’s largest lender to run Bank of Nova Scotia’s BNS-T wealth management unit as the current group head Glen Gowland steps away from the role.
RBC executive vice-president of personal financing products Jacqui Allard is joining Scotiabank as the lender’s new group head of global wealth management. Mr. Gowland will take on the advisory role of vice-chair on Jan. 1, reporting directly to chief executive officer Scott Thomson.
Scotiabank is in the midst of a strategic overhaul under its newly minted chief executive as the lender seeks to augment its customer acquisition approach and its international division.
Mr. Gowland was promoted to group head of the bank’s wealth management unit when Scotiabank established the division as a stand-alone business in 2019. Prior to that move, he led the wealth unit as part of the bank’s Canadian banking arm, where he was tasked with integrating a pair of wealth managers that Scotiabank purchased for more than $3.5-billion in 2018.
Scotiabank scooped up investment firm Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd. for $950-million and doctor-focused wealth management company MD Financial Management for $2.6-billion, boosting the bank to the ranks of Canada’s third-largest asset manager. The deals added capabilities to manage high-net-worth customers with asset management, financial planning, private banking and other services.
“Glen is an exceptional business leader and is deeply committed to the success of Scotiabank,” Mr. Thomson said in a statement. He added that Mr. Gowland has “played an instrumental role” in growing the wealth franchise and in overseeing the acquisitions, “bolstering our wealth management capabilities in Canada and across our footprint.”
The change comes as the bank is adjusting its senior ranks under Mr. Thomson. In April, head of international banking Ignacio (Nacho) Deschamps – who was considered a contender for the top job before board member Mr. Thomson was appointed as CEO – left after seven years with the lender. The bank tapped an external hire, Francisco Aristeguieta – the former executive vice-president and CEO of Boston-based bank State Street Corp.’s institutional services unit – to lead its renewed focus on Latin America.
In June, Scotiabank appointed Canadian banking chief financial officer Sumit Malhotra as the new head of real estate and secured lending, succeeding long-time executive John Webster.
In her new role, Ms. Allard will lead a key division of the bank during a pivotal time as it embarks on a renewed strategy. She will join the lender on Sept. 1 as the deputy head of global wealth management, formally stepping into the role of group head on Jan. 1.
Most recently, Ms. Allard led RBC’s mortgage, unsecured lending and automotive businesses, as well as the Caribbean banking business division and the U.S. cross-border banking business. She had held a variety of executive positions since joining RBC in 2014, including head of wealth management solutions and client strategy, as well as leading strategy, transformation and marketing for the personal and commercial banking division.
Before moving to RBC, Ms. Allard was the head of operations and chief information officer for the global investment unit for Manulife Financial Corp., and the president of Manulife Asset Management Canada. Previously, she worked at State Street Corp. and Bank of Ireland, including positions in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Ireland and the U.K.
“Jacqui is a dynamic leader with an impressive background in driving growth and building operating models that deliver scale and exceptional client experiences,” Mr. Thomson said.