Pursuing acquisitions part of ING Canada’s future goals

One of ING Canadas key strategies is to pursue value-creating acquisitions that fit into its current business line, Claude Dussault, president & CEO, ING Canada Inc. told delegates at the Scotia Capital Financials Summit Conference. Dussault discussed the companys goals going forward, which are two-fold. First is to outperform the industry in terms of return on equity by at least 500 basis points per year and second is to exceed the annual growth of the industry by at least 300 basis points over time not year after year, but over a period of time. Pursuing these value-creating acquisitions that fit into the companys current business line is one of three key strategies behind achieving the second goal. We believe that through distribution and product we have some key components that allow us to accelerate growth, Dussault told the delegates. Not through making any compromise on the pricing, but through pure value added and more efficient strategy both in product and in distribution. He noted that acquisitions are a key component in pushing the companys growth into the double-digit level in a single-digit growing industry. Dussault noted that the company has created a very strong balance sheet no leverage and excess capital and while long-term this is not an ideal position to be in, there are plans to improve this position. The prime target is to use the capital to make acquisitions and bring about a balance sheet that will help the company perform at the ROE level. ING Canada has found that by carrying the capital on the balance sheet it could be useful at a time when it needs to make moves on acquisitions. It is somewhat of an art, Dussault said. And it has to take into account what are our expectations. But as I said, mid- to long-term is that we can leverage the balance sheet by using that capital for more consolidation.