Scotiabank Targets Canada's Rich South Asians in ICICI Pact

BANK OF NOVA Scotia wants to tap into the population of affluent Canadians with ties to South Asia through a wealth-management referral partnership with ICICI Bank.

- CHRISTINE DOBBY

It's part of a broader push to sell fee-based services like financial planning and specialized advice to "cultural segments" in Canada that haven't been well-served by the banking sector, according to Jacqui Allard, Scotiabank's group head of global wealth management.

"South Asians are obviously a very large proportion of newcomers to Canada," Allard said in an interview. "They're differentially business owners and entrepreneurs, generating a lot of wealth in this country. But nobody is focused on that community as a segment from a wealth-management perspective."