RBC agrees to buy Australian fund manager Yarra Capital

RBC, Canada’s biggest bank, said on November 9 that it will buy Yarra Capital Management, an Australian fund manager. Yarra, which invests clients’ money in Australian shares and bonds, manages about A$18 billion.

RBC says the deal is a springboard for the Australian growth ambitions of its asset management arm, RBC Global Asset Management (RBC GAM), which manages about $834 billion. Damon Williams, RBC GAM’s chief executive, said Australian institutional investors spread money across global markets, which RBC sees as demand for its international capabilities. It would not be RBC GAM’s first overseas purchase: WealthProfessional reported that it bought UK-based BlueBay Asset Management in 2010.

BNN Bloomberg reported that financial terms were not immediately available. Even so, RBC does not expect a significant effect on its common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio, a measure of core capital, mainly shareholders’ equity, against risk-weighted assets, used to judge if a bank can absorb losses. RBC expects the deal to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to closing conditions that include regulatory approval.

Sources: Royal Bank of Canada · WealthProfessional · BNN Bloomberg