Our Strategy at a Glance

Our Strategy at a Glance

How we will achieve it

OUR GOVERNING OBJECTIVE

To maximize the total return to BMO shareholders and generate, over time, top-quartile total shareholder return relative to our Canadian and North American peer groups.

We will maintain our medium-term financial objectives to, over time:

Increase EPS by an average of 10% per year
Earn average annual ROE of between 17% and 20%
Achieve average annual cash operating leverage of at least 2%
Maintain a strong regulatory capital position

See Our Financial Objectives in the Who We Are (PDF, 47 KB) section of the MD&A

OUR STRATEGY

Grow our core Canadian businesses and accelerate our expansion in the United States.

To strengthen our performance, we will focus on three core elements of our business:

Customer – Define who we are and what we do in our customers’ terms
Pace – Identify and capture opportunities quickly; prioritize, and execute rapidly
Growth – Grow earnings consistently and manage capital within our capital management framework

See Enterprise-Wide Strategy (PDF, 48 KB) section of the MD&A

OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

1. Build a superior Canadian personal banking business.

Deliver a differentiated customer experience, further enhance our performance management system and launch attractive and compelling new offerings that drive results
Further leverage our successful credit card offerings to provide the right choices by understanding and addressing the needs of our customer segments

See Personal and Commercial Banking Canada (PDF, 249 KB) section of the MD&A

2. Further strengthen commercial banking to continue being a leading player.

In Canada, enhance the quality and consistency of the customer experience for commercial and small business segments by focusing on customer needs and embedding strong performance management discipline
In the U.S., grow our commercial businesses and become the leading player in our markets through aggressively building our capabilities and strengthening our focus on this segment

See Personal and Commercial Banking Canada (PDF, 249 KB) and Personal and Commercial Banking U.S. (PDF, 211 KB) sections of the MD&A

3. Grow our wealth management businesses and capture increasing market share.

Provide best-in-class wealth management solutions with a focus on helping our clients invest and plan for their retirement years
Enhance our business models and invest selectively to create incremental value

See Private Client Group (PDF, 242 KB) section of the MD&A

4. Deliver strong, stable returns in BMO Capital Markets.

Maintain a diversified, dynamic portfolio of businesses that serve the evolving needs of our core clients
Continue to optimize our businesses to generate appropriate risk-adjusted returns

See BMO Capital Markets (PDF, 225 KB) section of the MD&A

5. Improve our performance and expand our network in the U.S. to lead in the U.S. Midwest.

Continue to expand our distribution network through a combination of acquisitions and expansion, taking advantage of recent market and industry events
Deliver a differentiated customer experience, being helpful in unexpected ways and responsive to evolving customer needs and preferences

See Personal and Commercial Banking U.S. (PDF, 211 KB) section of the MD&A

6. Build a high-performing, customer-focused organization.

Provide a differentiated customer experience by making customer benefit the focus of decision-making, and streamlining processes to deliver value and take away complexity
Manage the performance of our businesses, core assets and employees with excellence
Hire and develop results-focused leaders, who act as role models in our customer culture and deliver results

See Employees