Mission: To establish BMO Harris Private Banking on the national stage
Assets: A decade leading the private bank’s B.C. division, plus 20 years of practising wealth preservation law
Yield: The driving force behind the growth of BMO Harris Private Banking’s B.C. division and its four consecutive wins as top-performing and six as fastest-growing region
By Jenny Wagler
After 20 years practising law in Vancouver, a phone message shifted Diana Reid’s career trajectory.
It was from a Toronto headhunter. The message: “A major bank looking for a vice-president would like to talk to you.”
It was the spring of 2000. The bank was the Bank of Montreal (BMO) (TSX: BMO, NYSE: BMO) and the job was heading its new private banking arm, BMO Harris Private Banking, for B.C.
Intrigued but skeptical, Reid called the headhunter back.
“I said, ‘Are you nuts? I am so not a banker. Do you know anything about me?’” she recalled.
But the headhunter, it turned out, did know a thing or two about Reid. He knew she’d practised wealth preservation law for 20 years with Lang Michener LLP– now McMillan LLP. He knew she’d spent eight years honing her executive skills chairing the board of Vancouver Convention Centre operator BC Pavilion Corp. He knew she was the incoming president of the Estate Planning Council of Vancouver.
And when Reid looked at the job description, she realized it wasn’t near as off base as she’d first imagined. So she let the headhunter take her to lunch. More than a decade later, Reid still remembers his pronouncement as that meal wrapped up.
“I will never forget, he said, ‘If they’re really serious about what they want to build, you’ve got the job. But if BMO is – as all banks can be – somewhat traditional in its mould, you don’t have a chance.’”
The rest, for both BMO and Reid, is history. BMO Harris Private Banking launched on June 1, 2000; Reid joined the bank 11 days later.
In January 2011, having just led BMO Harris’ B.C. division to four consecutive wins as the private bank’s top region and six consecutive wins as fastest-growing region, Reid was promoted to a national role as BMO Harris Private Banking’s vice-president, national managing director and head of its private wealth group.
As Reid dives into her national role, for which she remains based in Vancouver but spends a week monthly in Toronto, she’s leveraging a decade of leadership experience with BMO and continuing to focus on what she feels drives the bank’s success: people.
“It’s all about the people,” she said, pointing to both BMO’s team and the bank’s relationship with its clientele.
From her beginnings at the bank, Reid said she’s worked to unify and inspire her staff with a common vision – one of service – even when, in the private bank’s first days, there were hardly any clients to serve.
“I think we had about 30 [employees] and no clients; We used to have ‘Coffee with Diana’ because we had to keep focus because there wasn’t enough to do,” she recalled wryly.
On a much more recent team-building front, Reid had just wrapped up a process with her staff to articulate the team’s work culture through a charter when she achieved her promotion.
If Reid’s leadership has shown bottom-line results for the bank, with her B.C. staff quadrupling to approximately 120 during her tenure and revenue increasing eightfold, it’s also left a legacy with her team. Former BMO vice-president of wealth services and now consultant with the bank Ruth Steverlynck, principal of RES Consulging Group Inc., described Reid as “charismatic” and “inspiring.”
“In a very nice way, she demands the best from people so when you work with her you’re bringing your best to the table.”
Steverlynck added that Reid’s collaborative approach generates staff buy-in to her decisions.
“Because people have been part of the decision-making process, in terms of giving input and giving feedback and thoughts, they feel that they own the outcome and are inspired to make it happen.”
Steverlynck said Reid’s leadership struck a particular chord with the BMO team in the dark days of the recession.
“She really managed the climate extremely well; she wasn’t in denial about the difficulties that were in the marketplace,” she said.
“For a leader to do that is, I think, pretty incredible – to bring everybody in and say, ‘I know that this is hard, but we’re together. I’m here for you, the management team is here for you, we’re all going to work together through this.’”
Reid has built up the B.C. division to 30% of the private bank’s total book of banking nationally. But while the bank’s business model clearly revolves around banking and investment, her goals have always been to add value for clients.
Part of this, she said, has involved hiring professionals who can help clients by providing them with financial education – particularly around succession planning.
To that end, she said BMO has supported organizations such as the Canadian Association of Family Enterprise and the Business Families Centre at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, plus hosted seminars for clients and their family members.
“It’s very easy to transfer value,” she said. “It’s not so easy to transfer values.”
Moving into her new role, Reid said she’s again faced with the challenge of building up the private bank, this time on a national scale.
“We certainly do intend to grow.”
But Reid added that she’s excited for what lies ahead and anticipates that her largest challenge will be “managing the opportunities.”
Reid said BMO’s people are still her top asset in building up the private bank nationally, and she called the passion of the team she’s working with “unstoppable.”
“So that [passion] is kind of the way I feel about it,” she said.
“It’s not a challenge; it’s a focus for me to keep that energy and drive going and excite other people to take [new] directions.”
As to key career wisdom learned to date, Reid stressed authenticity and taking calculated risks.
“I think it’s too difficult to mask who you really are and you should allow your energies to drive your career forward and not to try to make yourself something you’re not,” she said.
“And be courageous; not stupid.”
Montreal
CEO: William Downe
Employees: 38,000
Market cap: $35.2b
P/E ratio: 13.10
EPS: $4.97
Sources: Stockwatch, TSX, globe investor