Richard Rousseau, executive vice president of National Bank Financial Group, was the bearer of good news at the organization’s Vernon branch Tuesday.
As part of National’s Canada branch tour, Rousseau announced the institution was named the Strongest Bank in North America, and ranked third in the world, in the June issue of the internationally renowned magazine Bloomberg Markets.
The publication ranked banks based on five key criteria – Tier 1 capital ratio; non-performing assets to total assets; loan loss reserves to non-performing assets; stability, measured in terms of the ratio of deposits to funding; and efficiency (costs to revenue).
National Bank was also recently named one of the 50 Best Employers in Canada for 2011 by Hewitt Associates.
Rousseau also used his visit to discuss one of the bank’s charity endeavours – called Our Big Dream – where advisors, friends, family and clients will cycle across Canada in September to raise money for the Free The Children’s Big Dreamers Award.
The 4,800-kilometre ride is divided up into more than 40 legs, making the event accessible to anyone in reasonable physical shape.
The eastbound legs of the cross-country fundraising marathon begin in Victoria on September 7, while the westward legs start from Halifax on September 18.
East and West will meet in Montreal on the Oct. 1 for a celebration bash. For more information, visit www.nationalbikerideforyouth.com.
National Bank also made financial news with its recent acquisition of Wellington West Holdings.
Wellington West is an employee-owned firm that has become one of the largest and fastest-growing independent full-service wealth management firms in Canada, with more than $10 billion in assets under administration and a strong capital markets franchise focused principally on the energy, mining and agriculture space.
The company’s 223 advisors, located in 50 branches across Canada, provide investment advisory services to more than 68,000 investors.
“National Bank is fortunate to have had Wellington West as a business partner for many years. Our two organizations share a distinctive entrepreneurial culture with complementary operations. The combination adds to National Bank’s geographic diversity and makes us a stronger national organization. This transaction marks the natural evolution of a mutually successful partnership,” said Louis Vachon National Bank’s president and chief executive officer.
