Financial Services, Financial Services, Industry Sector Summaries, Manitoba Competitiveness, Training and Trade

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Financial Services

Sector Structure

Size: Manitoba’s financial services sector employs an estimated 20,000 persons.

Dominant Activities:

Banking (Consumer, Commercial, Investment)
Vehicle & Equipment Leasing
Wealth management — Insurance, Securities, Mutual Funds

Structure & Concentration

Banks— All the major Canadian chartered banks are represented in the province, as well as a few smaller regional banks, and three foreign banks. The major banks have an average of about 50 branches each in Manitoba.

In addition to the chartered banks, the province is home to 57 credit unions & 7 caisses populaires, which operate over 200 branches throughout the province.

A number of government financial intermediaries supplement the commercial services offered by the industry. These institutions include the Business Development Bank of Canada, Export Development Corporation, and the Farm Credit Corporation.

Leasing — Vehicle leasing is dominated by the financing arms of the major auto manufacturers. Equipment leasing has 3 groups of major players: banks, manufacturer financing companies (captives), and independents.
Investment Dealers — Seven Manitoba investment dealer firms are registered with the Investment Dealer's Association of Canada.
Mutual Fund Companies — The two firms that dominate this sector provincially are integrated financial services companies that both create their own mutual funds, and distribute mutual funds (in-house and third party). The main activity of the remainder of the firms in this sector is distribution of third-party funds. Most firms are small to mid-sized, although two have expanded regionally and nationally.
Securities — Over 12,000 individuals are registered with the Manitoba Securities Commission to sell securities and mutual funds in the province. Approximately half of these belonged to banks, credit unions or other financial institutions.
Insurance Companies — Manitoba’s life insurance companies are major participants in the national financial services industry. Manitoba is home to 3 life insurance companies. The largest player is Great West Life Assurance Co., which is also the largest insurer in Canada. Great West Life employs 4,000 persons nationally with about half located in Manitoba. There are also five property and casualty insurance firms based in Manitoba.

The insurance companies are affiliated with approximately 2,500 agents that distribute the companies’ products. Many of these agents are independents, operating in one and two person firms.

Highlights

Investors Group, whose head office is located in Winnipeg, is the largest mutual fund distributor in Canada, selling both its own portfolio of financial products as well as third party funds.
Great West Life Assurance Co., whose head office is also located in Winnipeg is the largest insurance company in Canada.
Winnipeg-based National Leasing Group Inc. is the largest independent Canadian leasing company.

Sector Capabilities

Banking (Consumer, Commercial, Investment)
Securities
Leasing
Mutual Funds (creation & distribution)
Insurance (Life and Property/Casualty)
Venture Financing

Trends

Recent growth in credit unions — In response to rationalization of branches by some of the national chartered banks, Manitoba’s credit unions increased the number of their branches in the province in recent years, with a corresponding increase in membership.
Diversification in product offerings -- Changes in the regulatory system governing the financial services industry in the last decade have allowed cross ownership of different types of companies within the industry. This has blurred the distinction among the various financial institutions, and most institutions have diversified their product offerings. (Chartered banks offer insurance and mutual fund products, insurance companies offer wealth management, etc.)
Relaxation of federal legislation -- Recent federal legislation has relaxed some of the regulations that have historically governed the Canadian financial services industry. This may offer some opportunities for growth of provincial institutions beyond the geographic boundaries of the province.

Key Players

Contact

Mr. Ron Waugh
Senior Project Manager
Manitoba Competitiveness, Training and Trade
Phone: (204) 945-1626
Fax: (204) 945-3977
Email: rwaugh@gov.mb.ca
Industry Consultants