MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA and TORONTO, ONTARIO and CHICAGO, ILLINOIS--(Marketwired - June 25, 2013) - BMO Financial Group today announced that it will be establishing a base for its institutional asset management business in Melbourne, Australia, operating as BMO Global Asset Management. The proposed office will focus on sales and serving the needs of Australia's institutional investors. BMO Financial Group has had a presence in Australia since 2004, when BMO Capital Markets Limited opened a representative office in Melbourne offering investment and corporate banking services to global clients doing business in the Asia Pacific region.
"With BMO's growing presence in Asia Pacific, we can offer our current and potential clients more investment options to choose from and easier access to our global network and wide breadth of expertise," said Gilles Ouellette, President and Chief Executive Officer, Private Client Group, BMO Financial Group. "Australia is a dynamic market that holds tremendous potential. This is a great opportunity to expand our existing relationships with investors, as well as build new, long-term partnerships."
"Australians have more money invested in managed funds per capita than any other economy so there's tremendous upside for our asset management business in the region," said Barry McInerney, Co-CEO, BMO Global Asset Management. "Since the Australian superannuation system was made mandatory in 1992, it has grown significantly and is the fourth largest in the world."
McInerney noted that, with the opening of the BMO Global Asset Management office, Australian investors will benefit through greater access to a world-class team of asset managers and a group of professionals committed to service excellence.
To lead BMO Global Asset Management's efforts in Australia, the organization has appointed Ravi Sriskandarajah as Managing Director, BMO Global Asset Management. Mr. Sriskandarajah has more than 15 years of asset management experience and was most recently Head of Institutional Distribution in Australia for one of the world's largest asset managers. Mr. Sriskandarajah will be based out of Melbourne and will spend a significant amount of time in Sydney as well. He will represent an expert team of multi-disciplined asset managers based in Toronto and Chicago, and a global network of investment specialist boutiques based in Miami, Toronto, London, Mumbai, and Hong Kong.
BMO Global Asset Management's expansion into Australia follows the 2012 opening of an office in Abu Dhabi. BMO Global Asset Management's assets under management have grown from USD $466 million to more than USD $1.5 billion (as of May 31, 2013) in the Middle East and North African regions in just 18 months.
About BMO Global Asset Management
BMO Global Asset Management provides asset management services through BMO Asset Management Inc. and BMO Asset Management Corp.'s multi-disciplined teams based in Toronto and Chicago/Milwaukee and our network of world-class boutique managers strategically located across the globe. These boutiques include Monegy, Inc., Pyrford International Ltd., Lloyd George Management and Taplin, Canida & Habacht, LLC.
BMO Global Asset Management has over CAD $130 billion in assets under management as of April 30, 2013, including discretionary and non-discretionary assets, and is able to deliver service excellence from various research, business and sales offices throughout North America as well as in in London, Abu Dhabi, Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Our approach has led us to be recognized by Pension & Investments as one of the world's largest 100 asset managers based on combined assets under management as of December 31, 2012.
BMO Global Asset Management is the brand name for various affiliated entities of BMO Financial Group that provide investment management, retirement plan services, and trust and custody. Certain of the products and services offered under the brand name BMO Global Asset Management are designed specifically for various categories of investors in a number of different countries and regions. Products and services are only offered to such investors in those countries and regions in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
About BMO Financial Group
Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly-diversified North American financial services organization. With total assets of CAD $555 billion as at April 30, 2013 and more than 46,000 employees, BMO Financial Group provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions.
