Royal Bank of Canada is looking to build up its asset management business through acquisitions outside Canada, the head of the bank's wealth management segment was quoted by Reuters as saying.

"Our first priority is to grow our global asset management business, which delivers approximately 45 percent of our segment's earnings, with roughly 6 per cent of the segment's employees," George Lewis was reported saying at a conference in Montreal.

RBC has about C$200 billion ($196 billion) of assets under management. The bank's goal is to move into the top 20 in the years ahead, which would require about C$500 billion of AuM, Lewis said.

"To reach our top 20 goal in this high-margin, low-capital intensive business, we need to and are actively looking to expand our business through acquisitions, with a particular focus on European and U.S.-based firms that have excellent investment performance and distribution in their home markets, as well as in emerging markets,” he said.

RBC’s wealth management division, meanwhile, has expanded in recent years. In the UK, the firm has recently rolled out an onshore business and is looking to grow via a mixture of organic and select acquisitions, RBC recently told WealthBriefing.