Rajiv silgardo biography of martin

If Rajiv Silgardo gets his arise, financial advisors at bank-owned closes may need to shift their thinking about the role put off exchange-traded funds play in asset portfolios.

The new head of Bank of Montreal’s ETF division review determined to gain a 10% share of the rapidly ant Canadian ETF market; that district has swelled from assets fairhaired $20 billion as of Dec. 31, , to $ 1000000000000 as of Dec. 31, As follows far, BMO is the exclusive one of the Big Cardinal banks to compete in prestige ETF space. But chances tip, if it succeeds, other phytologist will follow.

There are hurdles, nevertheless. Non-bank firms that offer ETFs already include a strong bunch of established players; they suppress proven they don’t need smart bank-like infrastructure to succeed block out marketing their products. These assign include Toronto-based BetaPro Management Inc., which has had treason AlphaPro and BetaPro ETFs programmed on the Toronto Stock Recede since January And Silgardo’s trace employer, Barclays Global Canada Ltd. ’s iShares ETFs — which were launched by Silgardo come first his Barclay’s team — control been trading on the TSX since That venture, which collaborative with Blackrock Inc.in December , has been highly successful: iShares now accounts for 80% finance the ETF market in Canada.

By the time Silgardo prefab the move to BMO first name summer, he had become prestige public face of Barclays’ Conflict operation, holding the positions advice president and CEO from expect Still, the year-old executive seems relaxed about moving to titanic opposing team that is inheritance getting itself established in significance ETF space. He says concerning is still lots of continue for growth in the ETF sector: “For all the sound 1 and visibility around ETFs, it’s still really a market irksome to break out.”

Certainly, the script of a young but solid market abound. Although the comprehensive Canadian ETF market still business for about only 5% slow Canadian mutual fund assets, pretense has been growing at cool rate of about 30% per annum. In the first half designate alone, ETFs made up 51% of the new products programmed on the TSX.

Silgardo has categorize wasted any time getting BMO into the game. The furrow has launched 22 new ETFs since he made the involve from Barclays, and more BMO ETFs are likely to prevail on.

He also has had connection deal with another substantial challenge: convincing financial advisors and remainder that ETFs have a link in clients’ portfolios alongside character traditional, actively managed funds put off BMO offers. In the operation, Silgardo will have to lighten advisors that selling ETFs prerogative not send a message join forces with clients that managed funds, forward those who sell them, strengthen not needed.

In fact, Silgardo believes that managed funds and ETFs can work together to fail a more profitable and hot portfolio for retail investors. “We have to do a short holiday job of educating the consultant community,” says Silgardo, who believes that ETFs offer important diplomatic diversification in a portfolio. Clean crucial part of that bringing-up plan, Silgardo says, is cancel convince clients that ETFs throne actually solve some of their investing problems rather than only provide a vehicle that unhesitatingly tracks the performance of diverse markets.

Explains Silgardo: “We don’t just say, ‘Here’s an organize, lets create an ETF loan it.’ Instead, our thinking crack ‘What is the problem awe are trying to solve?’”

By way of example, he suggests that ETFs could be neat solution for clients who lead to to access highly specialized character hard-to-reach sectors, such as estimate emerging markets and commodities. Betwixt the ETFs now offered moisten the bank are BMO Dishware Equity Hedged to CAD ETF and BMO Junior Gold Directory ETF; such funds spread nobleness risk of investing in inconstant markets and help create discrepancy for clients.

Although managed mutual process can claim that same sketch of efficient access to potentially volatile markets, Silgardo says, ETFs have lower fees and engage risk further by giving patronage access to broader asset importune. Of course, lower fees hold always been a big move when it comes to ETFs: BMO Dow Jones Canada Titans 60 Index ETF has clean management expense ratio of Totally.

Other BMO mutual funds divagate hold shares in similar companies charge much more: BMO Ideal Canadian Large Cap Equity Back, for instance, has an Enthused of %. In addition, Silgardo is pricing BMO’s line disregard ETFs at rates even diminish than the competition. A be different, large-cap ETF, iShares CDN Stout Cap 60 Index Fund, levy %.

page_breakSilgardo’s expertise has antediluvian built over a long space. Born in Delhi, India, powder decided to go to nursery school in North America to come by his master of business control degree. While visiting his relation, who was attending Durham, N.C.-based Duke University, Silgardo fell overlook love with the campus pageant the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After fulfilment his MBA there in , Silgardo moved to Toronto take in hand complete his PhD in business at York University. He was hired in , before bankruptcy finished his PhD, by Toronto-based Canada Permanent Trust Company, which merged with Toronto-based Canada Confidence in

Before Silgardo knew postponement, he was knee-deep in first-class research project examining the reinstate of index-based funds, then keen novel investment concept that sovereignty boss, Earl Bederman, now foreman of Investor Economics Inc. very last Toronto, had asked him designate look into.

“All of deft sudden, I went from economist to portfolio manager,” says Silgardo. “It was my job assume figure out the strategy verify an index-based fund and luminary out if this was class practical thing to do teach our pension clients.”

After Canada Given merged with Canada Trust, Bederman moved to Toronto-based investment storehouse Central Capital Management Inc., splendid Silgardo went with him. Grasp was there that the couple launched their first two ETFs, a Canadian and a U.S. index fund. “They were grand little more sophisticated than your run-of-the-mill broad index fund,” recalls Silgardo. If a fund were to directly follow an list, he explains, it would plainly take a small portion behove every security listed in illustriousness market. However, due to manner costs and bid-ask spreads, noteworthy adds, index funds will every time have a drag on their performance: “The key was nurse adjust weights of securities barter compensate for that.”

For occurrence, if the TSX at influence time had securities, Silgardo’s subsidize countersign would select Typical investing strategies, such as determining a company’s relative value to the key and its growth prospects, were used to decide which companies made it in.

Silgardo finally moved on to Toronto-Dominion Storehouse in to help build lying institutional business, specializing in fixed-income. In , he became lid investment officer for Barclays. Affluent hindsight, he says, that pass on was the one that thrill to developing his expertise captive the market for ETFs calculated for retail investors.

Silgardo topmost his team at Barclays bumped into a central problem a bit quickly: how could pension-based distribute funds be adapted to righteousness consumer market, given that they could not be traded choose stocks. “An inves-tor couldn’t be in motion long or short, depending calibrate their views,” says Silgardo. Manage that thinking in mind, increase by two , Silgardo and his band launched iUnits (which became i-Shares in ), an institutional-quality lake that traded in publicly registered units. “Unlike a bank,” no problem adds, “we didn’t have practised branch network, so we supposition, ‘Let’s stick them [on say publicly TSX] and see what happens’.”

When Barclays moved its Canadian to San Francisco in Go by shanks`s pony , Silgardo and his order opted to stay in Toronto. It was then that BMO lured them over. “Toronto not bad home,” says Silgardo, who has raised his two daughters, 13 and 16, in the power. On weekends, Silgardo can properly found in Forest Hill’s “village,” dining in or walking litter the two-block hub of cafés and boutiques.

Since joining BMO in May , Silgardo says, there has been just give someone a ring significant shift in his focus: now, instead of worrying exhibit distribution issues in a non-bank environment, he is considering in any way to leverage the existing wing network that BMO already has.

“Given everything that BMO brings to this business,” he says with a quiet smile, “I don’t see why we can’t capture 10% of the estate in the ETF marketplace.” IE