Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) used its 2026 Investor Day in Toronto to outline a strategy focused on lifting profitability and accelerating growth across its diversified North American franchise, with management repeatedly emphasizing a goal of achieving and sustaining a 15%+ return on equity (ROE) exiting fiscal 2027.
Management frames ROE and growth priorities
CEO Darryl White told investors the bank “has never been stronger” and said the strategy is designed to deliver “sustainable ROE of 15%+” and “resilient and profitable earnings growth.” White said the bank’s resilience comes from diversification by business segment, geography (with over 40% of earnings from the U.S.), and client mix, noting a high weighting to business-client revenue among peers.
U.S. Banking: targeting 12% ROE by Q4 2027
Aron Levine, President of BMO U.S. and Group Head of U.S. Banking, said the U.S. business is aiming for 12% ROE by the fourth quarter of 2027. Levine described U.S. Banking as a single integrated platform spanning commercial, personal and business banking, and private wealth. He cited fiscal 2025 U.S. Banking revenue of over $8 billion (in U.S. dollars) and said the unit has more than 850 financial centers and 12,000 team members.
Levine said actions taken since mid-2025 included exiting non-core relationships, selling financial centers in non-core markets, improving deposit mix toward core operating accounts, managing credit back toward normalized levels, and tightening expense discipline while investing in digital capabilities and client-facing talent. He said these efforts helped improve margins, increase fee revenue, and lift ROE by 170 basis points.
Key elements of the plan include mid-single-digit revenue growth, 10% pre-provision profit (PPBT) growth, a low-50% efficiency ratio, and expanded fee penetration. Levine also emphasized expansion plans in California, including building 150 new financial centers, with about 90% of those locations slated for key California submarkets and the remainder in Arizona. He said the bank is targeting $50 million to $60 million of retail deposits per new de novo financial center by year three.
Capital Markets: medium-term ROE target of 15%+
Capital Markets Group Head Alan Tannenbaum described the unit as a “growth engine” and said it is targeting 15%+ ROE over the medium term, up from around 13% over the past three years, along with high single-digit PPBT growth and an efficiency ratio below 58%.
Tannenbaum said fiscal 2025 capital markets revenue was $7.4 billion with approximately $3 billion of profit before tax, with revenue mix of roughly 40% Canada, 50% U.S., and 10% international. He said the business delivered $2 billion of revenue growth over the past five years while keeping annualized risk-weighted asset (RWA) growth to 2%, and highlighted a continued focus on capital efficiency and “recycling” capital from lower-returning relationships to higher-returning opportunities.
He also pointed to three “megatrends” where the bank sees opportunity: AI-enabled infrastructure, commodities, and energy. Tannenbaum said Global Markets generated $4.6 billion of revenue in the prior year, and the Investment and Corporate Banking business generated $2.8 billion.
Treasury and Payment Solutions spotlight, Canada P&C, and Wealth
Sharon Haward-Laird, who leads Canadian Commercial Banking and North American Integrated Solutions, highlighted Treasury and Payment Solutions (TPS) as an “anchor” of commercial banking relationships and a source of fee growth and deposit funding. She said TPS is a $6 billion revenue business serving more than 138,000 clients and processing $68 trillion in payments last year, more than double the level of three years earlier. She added that BMO ranks as a top 15 U.S. automated clearing house (ACH) originator and that TPS represents roughly 40% of enterprise deposits and about 10% of enterprise fee revenue.
Haward-Laird said BMO has invested over $500 million in TPS technology and digital capabilities over the past five years. She also discussed a partnership with CME Group and Google Cloud to introduce a tokenized cash solution for near-instant, 24/7 settlement between participating accounts using Google Cloud Universal Ledger, positioning it as groundwork for evolving real-time settlement models.
In Canadian Commercial Banking, Haward-Laird said the franchise generates about $3.5 billion in revenue and operates with an efficiency ratio in the low-30s. She said the business serves more than 34,000 commercial clients with $120 billion in loans and $104 billion in deposits, and reported a 96% client retention rate. Looking ahead, she said the business expects mid- to high-single-digit revenue growth and plans to add close to 300 frontline employees over the next three years. She also said the team has identified more than $250 million in annual incremental revenue opportunity tied to One Client execution.
Matt Mehrotra, Group Head of Canadian Personal and Business Banking, highlighted deposit-led client growth and a strategy centered on combining “human and digital,” supported by data and AI. He said the bank grew digital sales 70% and sees a path to adding roughly $1 billion in PPBT by the end of fiscal 2028. He cited targets including increasing investment penetration by 400 basis points by 2028 and driving a mid-40s efficiency ratio, while anticipating credit normalization to a low-40s impaired provision-for-credit-loss (PCL) ratio in the consumer portfolio by fiscal 2028, assuming improved macro conditions.
Wealth Management Group Head Deland Kamanga said BMO Wealth serves more than one million customers, has over $700 billion in assets under management, and generated $5.4 billion of revenue last year, with 65% of revenue fee-based. He said wealth ROE increased by 2,200 basis points over the past five years and described a path to “40%+ organic ROE.”
Risk and financial framework: path to 15% exiting 2027
Chief Risk Officer Piyush Agrawal said the bank has invested in stress testing, modeling, AI, and emerging risk identification, and emphasized diversification across Canada (58% of the loan portfolio) and the U.S. (40%). He cited a performing allowance of $4.6 billion and said the impaired book remains stable at 1%. Agrawal reiterated management’s expectation for credit normalization toward mid-30 basis points PCLs over the medium term.
CFO Rahul Nalgirkar outlined a six-part framework supporting the 15% ROE goal and said fiscal 2025 delivered 150 basis points of ROE improvement year-over-year and 26% EPS growth. He said the ROE path includes approximately:
- ~250 basis points of ROE improvement from core operating performance, driven by ~8% pre-provision, pre-tax (PPPT) CAGR, including 6% revenue CAGR and 4% expense CAGR, targeting an efficiency ratio below 54% by fiscal 2028.
- ~100 basis points of ROE benefit from impaired PCL normalization to the mid-30s.
- ~50 basis points of ROE improvement from buybacks net of capital generated, while maintaining a strong CET1 ratio.
Nalgirkar said the bank expects to manage CET1 between 12.5% and 13% exiting 2027, and reiterated the medium-term EPS growth objective of 7% to 10%, while also describing “low double-digit” EPS growth in the near term under the plan.
In closing remarks, White said the bank’s commercial franchise, scaled U.S. platform, Canadian retail and wealth operations, and capital markets business are intended to work together to compound growth through the cycle, supported by risk discipline and continued investment in AI aimed at “real business value.”
About Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO)
Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO), commonly known as BMO Financial Group, is one of Canada’s largest and longest-established banks. Founded in Montreal and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the bank provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. BMO is publicly listed in both Canada and the United States and operates under a consolidated financial services model that integrates banking, capital markets, wealth management and asset management activities.
BMO’s core businesses include personal and commercial banking—offering checking and savings accounts, lending, mortgages, and small-business services—alongside wealth management and private banking through its asset and investment management divisions.
