OREANDA-NEWS. BMO Wealth Management today announced the launch of BMO SmartFolio, a new affordable digital portfolio management service from BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. BMO SmartFolio aligns to individual investment objectives and provides clients with online access when and where they need it.

Through BMO SmartFolio, investors have access to some of the most attractive ETF offerings available, as well as portfolio management by a team of experts. Each of the five model portfolios includes speciality fixed income and equity ETFs which provide efficient access to focused market segments.

"BMO SmartFolio is another example of how we are innovating to address the evolving needs of our customers," said Joanna Rotenberg, Head, Personal Wealth Management, BMO Financial Group. "This new service complements and adds to our existing wealth management digital and retail offerings. With the introduction of BMO SmartFolio, we now have one of the most comprehensive suites of investing services in the industry."

Ms. Rotenberg noted that BMO is well positioned to succeed in the fast-growing online portfolio management space given its scale, distribution channels, existing client base and established asset management, advisory and online brokerage businesses.

Simple, Intuitive, Transparent

To use BMO SmartFolio, clients are asked to answer a series of questions that address factors such as investment objectives and risk tolerance, through an intuitive, simple-to-use interface. They are then aligned to one of five ETF portfolios that best suits their investing needs. They can track their progress, knowing they get expert portfolio management, active monitoring of their investment and full transparency into holdings, performance and transaction history.

"We created BMO SmartFolio with simplicity, intuitiveness and transparency as the guiding design principles," said Charyl Galpin, Head, BMO Nesbitt Burns, part of BMO Wealth Management. "We wanted to make the service as easy to use as possible. For example, when clients are asked for specific information, SmartFolio explains the rationale for why it's needed. Further, we introduced a digital signature technology that expedites the onboarding process. We also provide clients with multiple options for support, including live chat, phone and e-mail."

Ms. Galpin concluded, "We've been previewing BMO SmartFolio to our employees and advisors over the past month and there's an excitement across the organization that we're now able to offer it to customers and help them meet their investing goals."

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services provider based in North America. With total assets of approximately $642 billion as of October 31, 2015, and close to 47,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

BMO Wealth Management is the brand name for a business group consisting of Bank of Montreal and certain of its affiliates, including BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., in providing wealth management products and services. "BMO (M-design)", "BMO" and "BMO (M-design) Wealth Management" are registered trademarks of Bank of Montreal, used under license. "Nesbitt Burns" and "SmartFolio" are trademarks of BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of Montreal.

BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. is a Member- Canadian Investor Protection Fund. Member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.