News Releases

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 10, 2014) - BMO Nesbitt Burns today announced that it has launched a new webpage designed to educate and recruit women for investment advisory. With the introduction of this site, BMO becomes the first financial institution in Canada to offer a webpage exclusively focused on educating women about opportunities within the financial services industry.

The new online resource is designed to provide information to women on the benefits of being an investment advisor, and to demonstrate that a career in this area is an attractive choice for women seeking flexibility – both from a work/life balance perspective and in one's ability to control her own destiny. It includes testimonials from current female BMO Nesbitt Burns Investment Advisors, as well as details on the firm's initiatives to support female advisors.

BMO Nesbitt Burns has launched this site to help address the need to encourage women to consider working in the brokerage industry and, more generally, in financial services. According to a recent BMO study:

• Eighty-nine per cent of Canadian women believe that the financial services sector should be doing more to help female employees achieve a better work/home life balance.
• Two-thirds report that men have more career opportunities than their female counterparts.
• Sixty-two per cent feel that there is still a 'glass ceiling' that hinders women from advancing their careers beyond a certain point.

"As an industry, we need to be doing more to encourage women to pursue a career in financial services as well as ensuring we create a supportive and flexible work environment so they feel comfortable and are able to advance," said Charyl Galpin, Co-Head, BMO Nesbitt Burns. "Attracting female advisors to our firm has been and continues to be a priority for us. We're committed to supporting women in what has been perceived historically as a male-dominated industry."

Ms. Galpin added, "Having a broad and diverse talent pool of investment advisors, including women, is not only the socially responsible thing to do, but it also makes good business sense as it increases our ability to attract a client base that reflects Canadian society. We need to recognize that women are controlling more wealth than ever before. Many act as CFO of their households and have a key role in managing finances."

To view the website, please visit: http://www.bmo.com/nesbittburns/careers/nb/join/why/women-at-bmo-nesbitt-burns.

For more information on BMO Nesbitt Burns, please visit www.bmo.com/nesbittburns.

For more information on wealth management news at BMO, please visit http://www.linkedin.com/company/bmo-wealth-management-services-canada?trk=top_nav_home.

The survey was conducted online by Pollara with a sample of 1,009 Canadians from February 21 to February 24, 2014.

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About BMO Nesbitt Burns

Backed by the experience, stability and resources of BMO Financial Group, BMO Nesbitt Burns is a full-service investment firm with an extensive network of approximately 1,300 Investment Advisors at 76 branches across Canada. The origins of BMO Nesbitt Burns' predecessor firms date back to 1912. In 1987, BMO Bank of Montreal acquired Nesbitt Thomson, then one of Canada's oldest and most respected investment houses. In 1994, BMO Bank of Montreal also acquired Burns Fry, one of the largest dealers of Canadian equities and debt securities. Nesbitt Thomson and Burns Fry then merged to become BMO Nesbitt Burns.