The sale of MD Financial Management to Scotiabank®
Scotia Wealth Management®.
March 27, 2019 – Scotiabank today announced Scotiabank Healthcare+ Physician Banking Program, a robust suite of banking services tailored to Canada's physicians at every stage of their careers. Read the news release.
Why was MD sold to Scotiabank?
The sale to Scotiabank was about finding the best way to give MD clients more of what they want and need, while maintaining the core MD values they rely on.
MD has been proudly — and successfully — serving the financial needs of Canada’s physicians for close to 50 years and has been an industry leader on many fronts, but the financial landscape is changing. We’re successful today, but we must look forward and think about where we need to be in the next three to five years. We need mobile apps, a complete digital offering and the ability to digitalize some of our processes if we’re to avoid being at an increasing competitive disadvantage. The truth is that MD must change if we’re to stay ahead of the curve and ensure our clients are set up for long-term financial success.
As well, MD clients and CMA members alike were telling us that they wanted access to a broader range of financial products, including banking products that MD did not offer. The sale also means that we’ve gone from being owned by a medical association that depended on us to provide it with funds to being owned by a financial institution that can invest in us.
Scotiabank is a world-class organization with scale, resources and capital that we didn’t previously have. With Scotiabank behind us, we can benefit from their tools, technologies and strategic partnerships to provide a better client experience and make it easier for you to do business with your Advisor.
What happens to MD — and its clients — now?
At MD, it’s business as usual. Although we’re now owned by Scotiabank, we’re still very much the same MD — and we have no intention of changing. We’ve been operating in the best interests of physicians for nearly half a century and we’ll continue to give you the objective advice you’ve always trusted.
Our commitments to you
As the world — and financial services in particular—becomes more complex, businesses like ours are under increasing pressure to keep up. We have always vowed to manage your investments conservatively and to avoid unnecessary risk; Scotiabank will help us continue to meet those obligations as regulatory requirements continue to evolve. We’ve made four specific commitments that you can hold us to:
- You’ll continue to enjoy the objective, expert and physician-centred advice you’ve always trusted
- Our Advisors are not required or incentivized to sell any specific investment products — including Scotiabank’s — that they don’t truly believe are best suited to meet your financial requirements. We’ll continue to put your needs first and foremost — always.
- Scotiabank is firmly committed to preserving our unique physician-specific approach to financial services because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Maintaining the integrity of MD is so vitally important to Scotiabank that they have made it their contractual obligation to do so. They have also contractually agreed with the CMA to continue to operate MD as a separate, distinct wealth-management program with unique branding and a distinct identity.
- Our Advisors — the people who know and understand physicians’ finances best — remain dedicated to MD, and our staff turnover rate remains far below the industry average.1
- The same fees—or lower
- Our fees, which have not changed since the acquisition, are some of the lowest in Canada and continue to be among the most competitive on the market. Additionally, in November 2017, we actually reduced our fees for portfolios of more than $2 million.
- Our management expense ratios (MERs) are, on average, 49% (Series F), 29% (Series A) and 11% (Series D) lower than industry averages.2 As well, we charge no administrative fees for registered retirement savings plans, have no minimum account size for MD Plus™ and there are no trading commissions for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) trades in MD Plus accounts (MD Management Limited).
- Scotiabank has committed to keeping our fees the same — or even decreasing them.
- The same strong physician voice
- We fully understand that physicians provide an invaluable perspective that strengthens who we are and what we do. That’s why we’ll continue to actively seek your input and feedback through multiple channels, including a physician advisory council.
- Broader and more innovative choices
- We now offer access to exclusive banking benefits—including a registered disability savings plan (RDSP); lines of credit with preferred interest rates; medical student and resident lines of credit; and mortgage solutions that offer convenience, flexibility and even rewards.3
- Private Banking3 options are coming soon.
Find out more about the sale of MD to Scotiabank
For more information about the sale of MD to Scotiabank, please review:
If you still have questions, please contact your MD Advisor*, Portfolio Manager or the MD Trade Centre.