"We do view wealth management as a segment of financial services that will grow at a faster rate than the average financial-services business," Lewis said.
Wealth management will outpace other banking operations due to increased demands from an aging population and as more people build wealth, particularly in emerging economies, according to Lewis.
Affluent Clients
Royal Bank serves affluent individuals in Canada, the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia, and provides asset-management products and services to institutional and individual clients through its RBC Global Asset Management business. Royal Bank's wealth-management unit has more than C$535 billion of assets under administration and more than C$300 billion under management.
In Canada, Royal Bank is looking to boost its market share of serving wealthy clients to 20 percent in the next five years, from 16 percent now, Lewis said.
Royal Bank also aims to improve its U.S. wealth business, where it seeks to increase revenue per adviser to levels in Canada, Lewis said. Royal Bank's Canadian advisers bring in revenue of about C$1 million a year, compared with $600,000 in the U.S., he said.
The bank is also adding more products to appeal to wealthy clients and institutional investors, including hedge funds and exchange-traded funds.
Exchange-Traded Funds
"We have a fund-of-funds capability that is U.S.-based that we're looking to bring to Canada," Lewis said. "We're constantly looking for additional offerings."
RBC Global Asset Management filed papers with regulators earlier this month for eight corporate bond exchange-traded funds.