NBI's culture of innovation: a commitment to excellence

28 April 2025 by Éric-Olivier Savoie
Portrait d’Éric-Olivier Savoie, président de Banque Nationale Investissements

We believe that a culture of innovation is the key to success in the asset management industry. Committed to meeting the needs of our clients, we challenge established practices with a view to continuous improvement and exploring new ways to deliver effective, high-performing solutions.

Strategy and vision

Our vision of a culture of innovation begins with a deep understanding of market opportunities, often identified by the concrete needs expressed by our clients, and which the market has not necessarily perceived or addressed.

“Advisors play a key role in our ability to innovate. Every day, they interact with their clients, and we interact with them,” says Éric-Olivier Savoie, President and CEO. This collaboration has a multiplying effect and helps to identify opportunities and potential sources of innovation.”

Our teams strive to meet these needs by looking at them from a new perspective, challenging the status quo, and looking for more effective ways to leverage our unique expertise and partnerships.

Model focused on democratization

An open architecture structure affords us a great deal of agility by allowing us to select the best investment talent and solutions on a global scale. This not only gives Canadian investors access to the best portfolio managers in the industry, but also to technologies, approaches and strategies that are available elsewhere, which we can adapt to the Canadian market. 

– Éric-Olivier Savoie, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Bank Investments

As an example of an innovative solution, we have made private markets accessible to retail investors. Our business model allows us to democratize asset classes and types of investments previously reserved for institutional investors. And we will continue to offer unique opportunities by maintaining exceptional quality and remaining distinctive.

Investment and research

To expand our investment capabilities and incorporate new approaches, NBI can count on one of the best financial engineering teams in Canada.

“The NALT alternative investment strategy is the perfect example of an innovative solution that we offer investors,” says Éric-Olivier Savoie. The first of its kind in the country and developed with our in-house expertise, this ETF with a low correlation to markets incorporates quantitative analysis into its investment process. In addition, several teams of experts collaborate to constantly refine its models to deliver optimal results.”

Use of advanced technologies

Creating portfolios requires a considerable amount of data. Advanced technologies are used to harness this potential and to optimize our methods. But that’s just the beginning. Ongoing innovations, such as generative AI and augmented human capabilities, will increasingly be implemented for the benefit of our clients.

Risk management is also a very important aspect. A lot of effort is put into building solutions that deliver stable performance above the median, which is essential to earning the trust of our clients over the long term.

Solution development

Our approach to developing innovative solutions is based on the highest standards in terms of integrity and excellence. New ideas are tested in the form of prototypes, using a peer-review approach and drawing on complementary expertise within NBI, to validate and improve our concepts before bringing them to market. Our approach is to test, learn, refine, and then bring to market. This allows us to have great confidence in the ability of our solutions to provide real added value.

Empowering advisors

In addition to investors, our offering is designed to meet the needs of advisors, because we believe in the value of advice. Our advisory service approach is based on two core values:

  1. Being easy to understand
  2. Being a partner of choice

We provide advisors and their clients with effective, high-performing solutions that allow them to invest with confidence to achieve their goals.

– Éric-Olivier Savoie, President and CEO

Internal culture and collaboration

At NBI, innovation is based on key values such as agility, empowerment and collaboration. We encourage every employee to express their talents and come up with ideas. By creating an environment of trust, we promote the active participation of all. We believe that no one has a monopoly on the best ideas. In this way, we encourage our employees to take part in conversations outside of their direct responsibilities to accelerate innovation.

Entrepreneurial mindset

“NBI is characterized by its entrepreneurial spirit, says Éric-Olivier Savoie. As part of their role, everyone is responsible for serving more than one million investor clients and has the opportunity to make a positive impact in their lives, supporting their plans and goals. As colleagues, we share a strong desire to make a difference for our clients. We can see it every day. This is a major source of motivation, deeply rooted in our culture.”

Calculated risk-taking

To drive innovation in a highly regulated environment, a clear understanding of the regulatory framework is crucial. By combining this understanding with client needs and the opportunities offered by regulations, it is possible to create a framework to explore new perspectives and take calculated risks. Thanks to the talent in our firm, we are ideally positioned to do so. When we are convinced that these ideas are coming to fruition, we are ready to launch them.

Looking to the future

There are many challenges and opportunities for innovation in the asset management industry. For example, with a growing number of retirees and their longer life expectancies, there is an opportunity to optimize their standard of living, while providing the peace of mind associated with a stable income. It is essential to think about these questions now to ensure peace of mind for our clients for decades to come.

Similarly, Generation Z, who often started investing younger than previous generations and are adept with digital platforms, are a new clientele with specific needs to be identified and met.

Importance of sustainability

With its open architecture and unique expertise, NBI is well equipped to seize the opportunities presented by coming demographic, social and environmental changes. 

By staying connected to market expectations and thinking differently, we will continue to deliver innovative, high-quality solutions that create sustainable value for our clients. Together, we are shaping the future of the financial industry through our dynamic culture of innovation.

– Éric-Olivier Savoie, President and CEO

 

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