Mar 29, 2011

Bank of Montreal Hiring 90 Specialists to Lure Small BusinessesBy Doug AlexanderBusinessWeek.com

(Bloomberg) — Bank of Montreal, Canada’s fourth- biggest lender, plans to hire 90 specialists catering to small- business owners as the company bets commercial accounts will bolster profit.

“Small businesses are the engine for innovation and job creation in this country, so it’s a really important segment for us,” Cathy Pin, vice president of commercial banking, said in a March 25 telephone interview. “We want to be the bank of choice for all business customers in Canada.”

Building a nationwide team of small-business bankers is part of the Toronto-based company’s strategy to help counter an anticipated slowdown in consumer banking. Chief Executive Officer William Downe, 58, has said it’s “critically important” to concentrate on commercial accounts as the economy rebounds.

“A focus on business lending is going to be key,” John Aiken, an analyst with Barclays Capital in Toronto, said in an interview. “When you look at where Canadian banks are heading domestically, all expectations are that retail lending growth is going to slow, so they’re looking at other areas where they can fill that void.”

Bank of Montreal is dedicating 150 bankers, including 60 specialists hired in British Columbia in the past nine months, to focus on companies with annual sales of up to C$5 million ($5 million), Pin said. The 90 additional hires will fill new jobs in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.

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