RBC Wealth Management to absorb JPMorgan's RIA custodian

Royal Bank of Canada today said that it will buy, for an undisclosed sum, JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s servicing business for third-party registered investment advisers. RBC will rename the unit RBC Advisor Services, which will operate as part of its RBC Wealth Management retail-brokerage business in the United States. The unit “specializes in providing custody and clearing services to high-performing third-party RIAs,” according to a news release from RBC. “Across our multiple business channels, we are focused on serving the high-net-worth segment of the marketplace, and [investment-adviser-servicing] shares that focus for RIAs,” John Taft, head of RBC Wealth Management, said in a prepared statement. JPMorgan expanded its correspondent-clearing and custody operations when it absorbed the failing Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. and its Bear Stearns Securities Corp. correspondent-clearing arm in a government-sponsored takeover last year. "This was a small business that we inherited," said Mary Sedarat, a JPMorgan spokeswoman. "It's not a core competency; we work with RIAs in other areas."