RBC Opens Financial Advisory Office In Brazil

SAO PAULO, Brazil, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Royal Bank of Canada
(RBC), the largest financial institution in Canada, today announced the
opening of a new investment advisory business in Brazil. The firm's new
headquarters in Sao Paulo's premium financial district of Itaim marks RBC's
start in the domestic investment advisory services industry in Brazil, a
country where it has had a presence since 1919.
The move complements RBC Wealth Management's strong presence across Latin
America amid the firm's ongoing expansion in the region, which included the
opening last year of new offices in Chile and Panama, and expansion of
existing platforms in Mexico and Uruguay through the opening of new offices.
The firm also has offices in Argentina and Venezuela.
"This marks a new era for RBC in Brazil," said Michael Moodie, head of
Americas Region, RBC Wealth Management. "We continually look for opportunities
to grow in select markets where our history and brand are strong and where we
can meet the needs of our clients. In Brazil, our goal is to be perceived as
one of the best advisory firms in the country."
Under the direction of Jose Lima, general manager, RBC Brasil DTVM, the new
entity will allow RBC Wealth Management to provide investment advice through
an open platform of third-party domestic securities - mutual funds,
multi-market hedge funds, and equities - to high net-worth residents of
Brazil, Latin America's largest economy. RBC advisors will work with local
fund managers and advise clients on asset allocation of domestic financial
instruments. In the future, the business may also offer international clients
access to domestic financial products and services. A native of Brazil, Lima
joined RBC in 2001 and most recently served as general manager for RBC Wealth
Management's Latin American sales offices.
"This enhancement will be of great benefit for our clients and offers RBC a
terrific market opportunity," Lima said. "The long-term outlook for Brazil's
economic growth is very positive. Its economy is the region's largest, its
funds industry is very developed with hundreds of billions of dollars in
assets, and it has a sophisticated financial system and a stock exchange as
large as the Toronto Stock Exchange."
Initially, close to a dozen financial advisors will be assisting clients in
RBC's Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre offices, with plans to hire additional
advisors as the year progresses.
"Despite the current market environment, we are actively seeking to expand our
global footprint and points of distribution in key areas outside of North
America in geographies that complement our strengths," said Michael
Lagopoulos, international head of RBC Wealth Management. "RBC is a strong and
stable bank. Our consistent financial strength and discipline in managing risk
should provide our clients around the world with confidence."
RBC is the fifth largest financial institution in North America and 12th
largest in the world by market capitalization, and was named last year by
Euromoney as one of the top 10 wealth management firms in Latin America.
Canada is rated by the World Economic Forum as having the world's soundest
banking system. In fiscal year 2008, RBC generated over US$4.4 billion of
earnings.

About RBC Wealth Management

RBC Wealth Management directly serves affluent and high net worth clients in
Canada, the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia with a full suite of
investment, trust and other wealth management solutions. The business also
provides asset management products and services directly and through RBC and
third-party distributors to institutional and individual clients, and has
nearly C$500 billion of assets under administration, more than C$220 billion
of assets under management and more than 4,000 financial consultants,
advisors, private bankers and trust officers.

About RBC

Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and its subsidiaries operate under
the master brand name RBC. We are Canada's largest bank as measured by assets
and market capitalization, one of North America's leading diversified
financial services companies and among the largest banks in the world, as
measured by market capitalization. We provide personal and commercial banking,
wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment banking and
transaction processing services on a global basis. We employ more than 80,000
full- and part-time employees who serve more than 17 million personal,
business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada,
the U.S. and 48 other countries. For more information, please visit
www.rbc.com.

SOURCE RBC

Media contacts: Outside Brazil: Kevin Foster, RBC, (212) 428-6902,
kevin.foster@rbc.com; Stephanie Lu, RBC, (416) 974-5506, stephanie.lu@rbc.com;
In Brazil: Dora Lopes, CDN Communications, 55 (11) 3643-2793,
dora.lopes@cdn.com.br