Scotiabank Acquisition of Dundee Wealth: A Strategic Analysis of Branding, Advisor Models, and Customer Segmentation

With the completion of the acquisition of Dundee Wealth on February 1, 2011, Scotiabank now has two full-service investment broker-dealers – ScotiaMcLeod and DWM Securities. Each firm is pursuing a different strategy in order to attract the right advisors and the right clients. This paper addresses the questions of whether to retain, merge, or sell the DWM Securities brand; whether to keep both the Independent Agent and the Employee advisor models; and what customer segment(s) should be targeted – status quo (affluent plus high net worth) or high net worth focus only. A thoughtful analysis of the external environment, in particular advisor segments and customer segments, produced several alternatives for consideration. After further analysis, I recommend that the DWM Securities brand be retained along with both advisor models, and that a high net worth customer strategic focus be implemented for ScotiaMcLeod only.