The firms with the biggest books, the most assets, and the largest rosters

Canada’s largest bank also has the biggest average client book: $165.2 million in assets per advisor.

Leading the pack is RBC, and behind them is Richardson GMP, where advisors manage $137.1 million on average, says a Scotiabank analyst’s report.

Scotiabank analysts Sumit Malhotra, Matthew Rajnauth and Marco Giurleo combed through annual reports to compile a picture of Canada’s wealth management industry in 2015. (Scotiabank numbers are current as of February 2016.) They were also looking to see which institution would be well-placed to purchase Richardson GMP, should it go up for sale. The analysts say Raymond James Canada, National Bank and Industrial Alliance are the likeliest buyers.

The statistics confirm RBC’s dominance in the wealth management sphere: it has the highest AUA and, at $297.4 billion, the most total assets. It also has the biggest roster of advisors, at 1,800. Beyond that bank, the numbers show there are two size tiers in the industry: banks, and then everyone else. Note: data for Canaccord Genuity and Richardson GMP represent advisor teams.

Ranking of total AUA per advisor

RBC: $165.2 million
Richardson GMP: $137.1 million
CIBC: $115.3 million
TD: $114 million
BMO: $107.7 million
National Bank: $97.7 million
Scotiabank: $87.3 million
Raymond James: $71.5 million
Canaccord Genuity: $64.5 million
Echelon Wealth Partners (formerly Euro Pacific Canada): $42 million

While some banks have high assets-per-advisor totals, their overall book sizes are small. For instance, Richardson GMP’s $137.1-million AUA per advisor adds up to a total asset base of just $26.3 billion.

Compare that to Scotiabank, whose relatively modest $87.3-million AUA per advisor adds up to a firm-wide book side of $128 billion. That’s the third-largest in the country behind RBC and BMO.

Ranking of total AUA base by firm

RBC: $297.4 billion
BMO: $140 billion
Scotiabank: $128 billion
TD: $125.1 billion
CIBC: $124 billion
National Bank: $88.4 billion
Raymond James: $26.9 billion
Richardson GMP: $26.3 billion
Canaccord Genuity: $9 billion
Echelon Wealth Partners (formerly Euro Pacific Canada): $4.2 billion

How many advisors each firm had on staff also varied widely, with banks having 10 times as many as independents. There are 7,643 advisors at the Big Six compared to 808 at the four independent firms.