TORONTO, Sept. 9 /CNW/ - Scotiabank today announced enhancements to its
asset management operations to further support customer service and organic
growth in its wealth management division. The new consolidated centre of
excellence, Scotia Asset Management, L.P., will bring together the strengths
of research, communications, product development and other operations
currently spread across several business units. This change is subject to
regulatory approvals, but is anticipated to be effective November 1.
    "We remain strongly committed to growing our wealth management business
by continuing to deliver the best products and services to clients and we are
constantly evaluating our structure and capabilities in support of that
objective," said Barb Mason, Scotiabank Executive Vice-President Wealth
Management. "We already have a great team of people. Our goal in making this
change is to bring together employees performing similar functions to increase
our scale and effectiveness and ensure that we are fully leveraging our skills
and expertise."
    Scotia Asset Management will bring together under one umbrella the asset
management expertise found within ScotiaFunds, ScotiaMcLeod and Scotia
Cassels. The client facing advisor and distribution functions are not directly
impacted by this realignment, but they will benefit from these changes.
    "We have made significant investments in each of the underlying areas,
and we have been pleased with the growth that we have achieved across our
mutual fund and investment management businesses. We have been growing
consistently and convincingly and see this as an opportunity to further
support our ability to drive organic growth," said Glen Gowland, President &
CEO, Scotia Asset Management.
    "This realignment of our asset management areas will better position us
to explore greater product innovation, deliver stronger communications for our
advisor teams and our clients, and provide greater opportunity to share best
practices and successes," said Mr. Gowland.
    The unified structure will also include Scotia Cassels' investment
management professionals, said John Varao, Chief Investment Officer, Scotia
Asset Management.
    "This will benefit all our clients, while also giving us the scale to
expand our competencies into new areas through innovative products to meet the
evolving needs of investors," said Mr. Varao.
    "Asset Management" refers to the areas involved in the manufacture of
investment vehicles, including mutual funds like ScotiaFunds, private client
and institutional investment offerings and managed asset programs like the
Summit and Pinnacle Programs. The activities undertaken by these areas
includes the development and ongoing management of specific products and
programs, the investment management of the underlying pools and mandates, the
marketing, tactical sales and other support provided to client-facing
advisors, and the wholesaling of these products and programs.

    Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and
Canada's most international bank. With close to 69,000 employees, Scotiabank
Group and its affiliates serve approximately 12.8 million customers in some 50
countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a diverse range of products and
services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking.
With more than $485 billion in assets (as at July 31, 2009), Scotiabank trades
on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please
visit www.scotiabank.com.