Scotiabank hunting for wealth-management buys

By Nicole Mordant

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 26 (Reuters) - Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) is on the lookout for wealth management acquisitions and wouldn't balk at paying a steep price for the right one, the head of the bank's Canadian retail division said on Wednesday.

Chris Hodgson, executive vice president and head of domestic personal banking, said that in recent years Canada's third-biggest bank has been looking to expand its funds management business through a "transformational" deal.

"We will do a dilutive deal if it does expand our wealth business and long term fits strategically and gives us the financial modeling and expectations," Hodgson told National Bank Financial's Canadian Financial Services conference.

So far, the right deal hasn't come along, he said.

"There have been opportunities. We have looked at some opportunities. We have stepped back because it didn't fit out modeling," Hodgson said.

"In the end if there was a transformational opportunity we would consider that. But it's not a slam dunk that we would necessarily move forward," he added, saying that Scotiabank had a rigorous internal process for weighing deals.

There has been much consolidation among Canadian asset managers in recent years as banks and insurance companies have snapped up fund management companies. As more and more independent players have been bought up, so prices for those still left have climbed.

Fund management, with its recurring fee stream, is regarded as a lucrative, high-growth business, especially in developed economies where aging populations are relatively wealthy and concerned about what to do with their retirement money.