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Bank of Montreal, together with its subsidiaries, provides various retail banking, wealth management, and investment banking products and services in North America and internationally. It offers personal banking products and services, including deposit and investment services, mortgages, consumer credit, business lending, credit cards, and other banking services to individuals, and small and mid-sized businesses; and commercial banking products and services comprising lending, deposits, treasury management, and risk management services to small business, medium-sized enterprise, and mid-market banking clients. The company also provides investment and wealth advisory services; self-directed investing services; private banking services to high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients; investment fund solutions to institutional, retail, and high net worth investors; record-keeping and administrative services to pension plan sponsors; and creditor insurance, life insurance, and annuity products and services. In addition, it offers investment and corporate banking services, which include advice and execution on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and recapitalizations, valuation and fairness opinions, debt and equity underwriting, loan and debt products, balance sheet management solutions, treasury management services, trade finance, and risk mitigation services to corporate, institutional and government clients. Further, the company provides trading products, such as debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization, commodities solutions, debt and equity research, and institutional sales to institutional, commercial, and retail clients; and new product development, proprietary trading, and origination services, as well as funding and liquidity management services. As of October 31, 2011, it maintained approximately 1,600 bank branches in Canada and the United States. The company was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
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Press Release $BMO Bank of Montreal
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 12/03/12 -- Despite a challenging economic environment, one-in-four Canadians in the workforce expect to receive a year-end bonus, according to a new BMO holiday survey. For Canadians who are eligible at their workplace to receive a bonus, 44 per cent expect to get one, up significantly from 29 per cent last year.
"This year, businesses owners have shown a remarkable resiliency and moved forward with plans to invest and grow their business," said Steve Murphy, Senior Vice President, BMO Commercial Banking. "In this economic environment, many Canadian business owners are looking to strike the right balance between rewarding the contributions of their employees with the need to maintain efficient business operations. One thing we know, from talking with entrepreneurs, is the importance they place on their employees and the role they play in their companies' success."
Receive Year-end Bonus? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- National ATL QC ON MB/SK AB BC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Likely 26% 25% 23% 32% 22% 29% 17% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not Very Likely 16% 26% 15% 15% 21% 15% 13% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not at All Likely 17% 16% 12% 17% 22% 20% 26% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------Of those who believe that they are likely to receive year-end compensation, 60 per cent anticipate it will be the same as last year, 26 per cent believe it will be more, and only 14 per cent think it will likely be less than last year.
Size of Bonus - Compared to 2011 ----------------------------------------------------------- National ATL QC ON MB/SK AB BC ----------------------------------------------------------- Same 60% 51% 60% 65% 47% 69% 37% ----------------------------------------------------------- More 26% 28% 22% 22% 38% 28% 48% ----------------------------------------------------------- Less 14% 21% 19% 13% 15% 3% 15% -----------------------------------------------------------The BMO Survey, conducted by Pollara, also asked working Canadians who are eligible to receive a holiday bonus this year what they would do with the money. One quarter (26 per cent) indicated that they would save or invest the money; 25 per cent would use the money to pay down household debt, including a mortgage, credit cards, auto loan, or personal line of credit; 20 per cent said they would use it to pay for holiday spending. Other popular choices included rewarding themselves with a new consumer purchase (9 per cent) or taking a vacation (9 per cent).
Uses for Holiday Bonuses ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- National ATL QC ON MB/SK AB BC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Save or Invest it 26% 23% 18% 27% 41% 28% 29% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pay down household debt 25% 25% 20% 28% 18% 24% 30% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pay for Holiday spending 20% 18% 32% 18% 23% 12% 8% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reward yourself with a new consumer purchase 9% 10% 6% 6% 6% 16% 27% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take a vacation 9% 3% 16% 5% 8% 13% 7% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------For Canadians looking to pay down debt heading into 2013, BMO offers the following tips:
Don't overspend - Develop a budget that establishes how household expenses will be paid and how spending will be managed. Take advantage of free online tools, such as BMO MoneyLogic™, to help stay on top of everyday household spending and saving.
Curb credit card debt - Pay down credit cards - beginning with those that carry the highest rate - and consider using a low rate card for purchases. For instance, the BMO Preferred Rate MasterCard offers a low rate of 11.9 per cent for an annual fee of $20 per year.
Invest to save - Set up a Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) or high interest savings account to set aside extra cash in case of an emergency. Also consider using Exchange Traded Funds to reduce management expense fees.
Become mortgage free faster - Choosing a lower amortization and increasing monthly payments on mortgages can help you pay off your mortgage faster while saving you thousands of dollars in interest costs.
Have a Back-up Plan - Develop a fall-back plan in case you are unable to meet your financial obligations as a result of unexpected circumstances, such as loss of work or damage to personal property - such as your home or vehicle. The general rule of thumb is to have an emergency fund set aside that is equal to three to six months of your income in a high-interest savings account, such as the BMO Smart Saver Account.
BMO's Commercial Banking Holiday Survey was conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights. The survey results cited in this release are from online interviews with a random sample of 1,000 Canadians 18 years of age and older, carried out between November 23rd and November 27th, 2012. A probability sample of this size would yield results accurate to +/- 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
About BMO Financial Group
Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified North American financial services organization. With total assets of $542 billion as at July 31, 2012, and more than 46,000 employees, BMO Financial Group provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions.
Source: BMO Financial Group and BMO Bank of Montreal