On April 10, 2025, TD Bank Group President and CEO Raymond Chun delivered his address to the Bank's Annual Meeting of Shareholders. What follows are his prepared remarks.
Check against delivery.
Welcome and thank you for joining us today.
It's a pleasure to address you – our shareholders – for the first time as your CEO.
Over the last several months, I've met with investors, clients, and colleagues right across our Bank.
These conversations reinforced the central role TD plays in the lives of our clients and the communities we serve.
I've spent my entire career at TD.
I’ve seen it grow and thrive, overcome obstacles, weather economic change, and achieve remarkable outcomes that deliver on our Purpose of enriching lives.
TD is a great institution, and I’m privileged to lead us forward.
We look to the future from a position of strength.
We are one of the best-capitalized banks in the world, with one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry and substantial liquidity.
With over $2 trillion in assets, we are the 6th largest bank in North America.
We have highly competitive businesses with scale and significant potential.
And we serve almost 28 million clients across Canada, the United States, and increasingly around the world.
Above all, we have exceptional talent. TD colleagues work hard, every day, to deliver for the Bank, our clients and our communities.
I’m thankful for all they do.
I address you today at an important moment for our Bank.
The failures of our U.S. anti-money laundering program were unacceptable.
The consequences, including an asset cap on our U.S. retail business, were serious — for the Bank and for our shareholders.
Our response has been decisive.
We carefully examined the root causes and identified the gaps, behaviours and deficiencies that led to these failures.
We also tested our performance and capabilities across our three lines of defence: front line operations, control functions, and internal audit.
Based on the learnings, we developed a comprehensive plan, with significant investments in new processes, highly experienced talent, technology, and training.
We are making consistent progress every day, with more work ahead.
This is our most important priority. And my top priority as CEO.
I want to thank our colleagues in the U.S. and in key control functions who have worked tirelessly on this critical effort.
2024 was also a year of continued progress and important achievements across TD.
We invested in new capabilities, deployed leading technology, and introduced tailored programs to elevate the client experience and power our growth.
Let me touch on just a few highlights.
TD remains – without question – Canada's premier retail bank.
We have strong momentum and a growing franchise that serves one in three Canadians.
Throughout the year, we formed new and deeper relationships right across the country, engaging with clients through their channel of choice.
We've made it more convenient for Canadians to start their homebuying journey with a few clicks on TD Mortgage Direct.
At the same time, we brought more expertise into our branches and added specialists to guide our clients in the moments that matter, like turning the dream of home ownership into reality, and investing for retirement.
We also focused on further expanding our broad client base.
For example, we’re the bank of choice for New Canadians, helping them open an account, secure credit, and begin their journey in a new country…with TD at their side.
And with this client-centric approach, we achieved a goal we set at our 2023 Investor Day: growing New-to-Canada acquisition by 50%.
Each new connection we make represents an opportunity to create a relationship that can grow over many decades…even generations.
To capitalize on the strength of our network, our business bankers are increasingly integrated with our retail and wealth businesses.
With deep specialization they are helping businesses across Canada invest and grow.
Last year's launch of TD Innovation Partners is a great example, supporting founders and entrepreneurs in Canada's innovation economy.
We built on this strong momentum with a great start to 2025, delivering record revenue and volumes in Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking.
In Wealth Management, TD Direct Investing was once again named Canada's top digital brokerage by The Globe and Mail. As more Canadians seek to manage their own investments, our industry-leading platform provides a strong competitive advantage.
To help new investors, we became the first Canadian bank to launch fractional share ownership. This allows clients to invest in companies that might have otherwise been out of reach. And it helps TD develop a pipeline of new, long-term relationships.
The progress in 2024 has carried into the first quarter of 2025, with growth across all our wealth businesses. Record new accounts and market share gains produced record revenue, earnings, and assets.
Moving to TD Insurance. We're the only major Canadian bank with a significant insurance business. This gives us the opportunity to serve more of our clients' needs and help them through their toughest moments.
We continue to disrupt the insurance market with our digital-powered distribution strategy, serving Canadians and driving growth.
Turning to our U.S. retail business, we are a top-10 bank, with nearly 30,000 colleagues, serving over 10 million American households and businesses.
We have successfully maintained operating momentum throughout the past year, with five straight quarters of personal deposit growth.
And once again we are #1 in Small Business Administration lending in our U.S. footprint, and #2 nationally.
These were great achievements in a challenging year.
We remain focused on our clients' evolving needs, and will continue to deepen our relationships and help them achieve their financial goals.
For TD Securities, 2024 was a transformative year.
With the addition of TD Cowen, we now have a truly integrated North American investment bank, with deep capabilities, and terrific talent.
And we are winning bigger and more complex mandates with a broader set of clients.
These new capabilities also allowed TD Securities to play a central role in the Schwab sale – which I'll discuss in more detail in a minute. This was one of the largest-ever equity transactions in capital markets.
We've had a major presence on Bay Street for decades. TD Securities is now also a strong competitor on Wall Street.
This momentum contributed to a new milestone for TD Securities, reaching $2 billion in revenue for the first time in Q1 of 2025.
TD's business performance and 2024 earnings of $14.2 billion provided the confidence to increase our dividend once again – a dividend we have paid consistently for 168 years.
We look to the future with confidence in the power of our franchise and the growing strength of our businesses.
However, the business of banking is going through significant change. Client needs are evolving. New entrants are expanding. And the market has become even more competitive.
To chart our path forward, we initiated a strategic review to accelerate our momentum, seize new opportunities, and enhance shareholder returns.
To keep winning, we'll move with greater speed and efficiency to launch new digital-first capabilities, powered by cutting-edge innovation. And we'll continue to responsibly harness the power of AI to deliver personalization and value for our clients.
We'll also simplify how we operate, and prioritize investments to create the best outcomes and experiences for clients.
This will help us drive strong organic growth across our Canadian businesses and TD Securities.
These businesses represent more than 75% of our earnings and are not impacted by the limitations on the U.S. retail business.
The opportunity is real and it is sizeable.
As part of the strategic review, we've also taken important steps to optimize our capital allocation.
To successfully and profitably operate our U.S. business and serve our clients, we're restructuring our U.S. balance sheet, repositioning our bond portfolio, and we've sold our correspondent lending business.
In February, after a careful analysis, we also decided to sell our stake in Schwab.
Schwab was a terrific investment, and we realized an attractive return.
This unlocked $15 billion in capital to invest in our Bank.
We’re using more than half of that to repurchase up to 100 million TD shares and return approximately $8 billion directly to you, our shareholders.
The strategic review continues, and I look forward to sharing additional progress over the coming months, and the full outcome of the review at our Investor Day in the fall.
As you know, we're meeting today at a time of heightened economic uncertainty.
Canada and the U.S. have been each other's most valued trading partners for decades.
Even today, there is more that unites us than divides us.
I'm hopeful that our long history of trust and collaboration will help our two nations find a path forward.
Here in Canada, we have the ingredients to build a more prosperous future: abundant natural resources, a strong and stable financial sector, and highly skilled talent – to name a few.
To unleash our full economic potential, it's going to take significant domestic and foreign investment.
Governments and the private sector, working together, can find new solutions to old challenges, and give businesses the confidence to invest, and foreign investors the confidence to choose Canada.
Economic productivity and global competitiveness will take time and effort – and TD will be here, working hard to help Canada and Canadians.
TD's strength is critical in this moment – for our Bank and for the millions who rely on us.
Consumers, already burdened by inflation and housing costs, have new concerns and needs.
Businesses are re-evaluating investments to identify new paths to sustainable growth.
Investors need advice as they steer their savings through this period of volatility.
We'll be there to help our clients navigate these uncertain times.
Our support has always extended to the communities where we live and work.
In 2024 alone, we contributed almost $170 million to help people live better lives, including more than $115 million right here in Canada.
We also invested in important initiatives to support a cleaner environment and made consistent progress on our sustainability commitments.
To date, we have provided almost $146 billion in financing and other services to help our clients adapt, capture new opportunities, and build financial resilience.
We believe in a balanced approach to energy transition. One that promotes a more sustainable future and provides the energy security we need.
I am proud of our positive impact on communities right across our footprint. At TD, we know our future is tied to their success.
The months ahead will be important, for our Bank and our economies.
TD will help households and businesses achieve their goals.
We will innovate, develop, and deploy new capabilities that provide exceptional client experiences.
We will stand by the communities where we live and work – and offer more people a path to a better tomorrow.
And we will invest in our talent and our culture, remove barriers, and build a workplace where our colleagues can achieve their full potential.
I want to thank our colleagues once again. TD stands strong because of your tremendous efforts. Together, we are writing the next chapter of this great institution's story.
I also thank our Board for their guidance and counsel over the last few months as I transitioned into the CEO role.
And I thank you, our shareholders, for your support.
We'll continue to work hard, every day, to create value and earn your trust.
I look forward to answering your questions later this morning.
Thank you.