Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
By 
December 08, 2020 at 02:48 PM
RBC Correspondent and Advisor Services is now doing business as RBC Clearing & Custody. In addition to an updated logo reflecting the name change, the unit is being relocated to the new RBC Gateway building in downtown Minneapolis and updating much of its technology.
News of the RBC unit’s name change comes about two months after Raymond James decided to merge its investment advisor and custody & clearing businesses into the its newly created RIA & Custody Services Division. That move was announced in late September, about a week before Charles Schwab wrapped up its $22 billion purchase of TD Ameritrade’s RIA and DIY investor businesses.
For its part, RBC says it picked the new name to “better align with the primary focus of the business internally and externally and marks a new chapter in the company’s growth.” The name change became effective immediately and “will be implemented throughout the calendar year 2021,” it said Tuesday.
The custody business has been seen a buzz of activity beyond the Schwab-TD Ameritrade deal, with Morgan Stanley recently completing its purchase of E-Trade and Goldman Sachs moving last week to sell Folio Investments’ DIY investor business but keep the RIA custody operations.
See: Goldman Becoming RIA Custodians’ ‘Worst Nightmare
Overdue Change
The division’s name change was overdue “because the word ‘correspondent’ is an outdated bank term that doesn’t make sense in today’s advisor industry,” according to Tim Welsh, president of the consultancy Nexus Strategy. So it was “very logical to drop it and add in clearing to go after the broker-dealer market,” he told ThinkAdvisor.
This is a “nice strategic brand makeover for RBC to catch up into the fastest growing segment in financial services — independent advisors — and leverage the name change as a reason to go to market with a message that RBC is open for business and gaining momentum … ,” Welsh explained.
In comparison, Welsh had called Raymond James’ shakeup “a watershed moment” for that firm, when the news was made public this fall.
