CIBC puts mass affluent in retail channel

FWR Staff

11 April 2005

Some well-to-do Canadians could be in for a more casual reception down at the bank. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce – CIBC for short – has merged parts of its wealth management division with its retail banking unit. The changes, publicized yesterday and effective immediately, were made in the name of “efficiency, accountability and productivity,” according to the bank.

The Toronto-based bank’s new Retail Markets division combines the bank’s old retail business with wealth groups catering to “mass affluent” investors including Imperial Service, a brokerage-based consulting program, and Private Wealth Management, the lower end of its private banking business.

“CIBC's separation of the Imperial Service and the private banking management structures helped us to create the country's leading banking and advisory capability for affluent Canadians,” says Gerry McCaughey, CIBC’s COO and successor-in-waiting to CEO John Hunkin. “Having firmly established these capabilities, the integration of these parts of Wealth Management with Retail Markets will deliver product benefits for our clients.”

Sonia Baxendale has replaced CIBC vice-chairman Jill Denham to head up the bank’s new and bigger retail business. Formerly a senior executive on the wealth management side, Baxendale “brings demonstrated expertise in both the distribution and product businesses to her new role,” says McCaughey.

The parts of CIBC that haven’t been put in the retail bin – namely high-end private banking, its Wood Gundy private-client and online brokerage businesses and several asset management groups – are now under Victor Dodig, a new hire from UBS Canada.

In recent years CIBC has pulled back from an attempt to become a major name in U.S. investment banking and gone back to its retail roots, partly as a result of embarrassments surrounding its dealings with Enron.

CIBC had about $226 billion in assets at the end of 2004. –FWR

(People articles mark appointments and personal milestones in the wealth management arena.)