The operations chief who TD Waterhouse announced Wednesday will be its president and chief executive officer says the company will focus on organic growth by expanding its branch network.
The New York brokerage company that is a subsidiary of Toronto-Dominion Bank named Tim Pinnington to take over those posts on Nov. 1. He will succeed Frank J. Petrilli, 53, who announced in April that he would retire at the end of October.
Mr. Pinnington said he wants to help continue the rapid expansion of assets TD Waterhouse began when Mr. Petrilli became president and chief executive in 1995. Since then TD Waterhouse's assets under management have grown from $6 billion to $130 billion.
TD Waterhouse will expand its network of 150 branches, Mr. Pinnington said. It plans to open branches in Owings Mills, Md., and San Rafael, Calif., in a few months.
He said the company will also continue to develop links to independent financial advisers.
"Money is on the move," Mr. Pinnington said. "There are hundreds of billions of dollars of client assets that are available right now. Clients are moving their assets and looking for a better deal, and we are well-positioned to capture assets that come by."
TD Waterhouse will continue to focus on growing organically, Mr. Pinnington said, despite its parent's taking the acquisition route last month with a deal for control of Banknorth Group.
"The bank's strategy doesn't change our strategy; we are comfortable with our strategy," he said. "We won't make any major changes in the near term."
Mr. Pinnington, 40, joined Toronto-Dominion Bank in 2000 when it bought Canada Trust in the largest bank merger in Canadian history. As senior vice president of integration and planning, he managed the integration of the Canada Trust business into Toronto-Dominion. Most recently, in April, he was named vice chairman and chief operations officer at TD Waterhouse.
