The Hillyard Stephen Group is a part of Canada's leading full service wealth management firm: RBC Dominion Securities (Colloquially known as "DS").  Most of our clients are aware that our firm is a wholly owned operation of the Royal Bank of Canada but many are unaware that DS had a long and successful history before its alignment with RBC in the late 1980's. We thought that it might be interesting to briefly discuss our firm's roots.

 

Dominion Securities was established on March 18, 1901 as "Dominion Securities Corporation Limited" at 26 King Street in Toronto, Ontario. The founder of the firm was George Albertus Cox, a prominent Canadian businessman, a member of the Senate of Canada, and one of the few millionaires of his era.

 

At the time of its founding, the firm was focused on the sale of government bonds but was not involved in equities or any type of financial planning. Through the First World War and into the mid 1930's, the firm grew and continued to evolve its operations.

 

By 1937, Dominion Securities diversified itself by adding a stock-department, further evolving the firm’s full service investment capabilities. DS continued to grow through the Second World War and into the 1950's when it operated offices in all major Canadian cities. The picture at the top of this post is of the DS office in downtown Toronto in 1958.

 

Throughout Dominion Securities history, the firm has also grown by acquiring many smaller firms including: Pitfield, Mackay and Ross Limited (1984), Pemberton Willoughby Investment Corporation (1989), Richardson Greenshields (1996) and US-based investment firms Dain Rauscher and Tucker, Anthony, Sutro & Co (2001) to expand its reach throughout Canada and the United States.

 

In 1988, RBC acquired 67% of the firm and by 1996 the bank fully owned the firm, creating Dominion Securities as we know it today.

 

If you'd like to discuss the future of RBC Dominion Securities and how the firm can help you to establish and achieve your financial goals, we'd love to speak with you. Feel free to give our team a call.