MINNEAPOLIS, May 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - RBC Wealth
Management-U.S. today announced the appointment of Michael Armstrong to serve as its chief
executive officer.
Armstrong will join RBC from Jefferies & Co., where he was the global head of wealth management. He replaces John Taft, who will retire from RBC on May 31 of this year.
Armstrong will lead the firm's 4,700 employees from its headquarters in Minneapolis. He will
report to Russell Goldsmith, the chairman and CEO of City National Bank, who was given the
additional responsibility of overseeing RBC Wealth Management-U.S. when RBC acquired City National in November 2015.
"Michael is an outstanding and experienced leader with a highly diversified background in financial services, and he has an
extensive track record of successfully leading investment and wealth management organizations," Goldsmith said. "He has
repeatedly demonstrated the ability to promote collaboration, grow revenue and earnings, and deliver improved performance.
"With Michael Armstrong as CEO and Tom Sagissor as president,
RBC Wealth Management-U.S. will be able to enhance its capabilities for its clients and colleagues and achieve even greater
success in the United States."
Sagissor, a 22-year veteran of RBC Wealth Management-U.S., was recently named president of the company. His responsibilities
now include leadership of the firm's private client group, which manages more than $230 billion for
clients in 41 states across the nation.
Armstrong joined Jefferies & Co. in 2014, as its global head of wealth management. Under his leadership, the firm grew its
assets under management and its client base, expanded its product and service offerings, and attracted numerous teams of
financial advisors.
Before moving to Jefferies & Co., Armstrong held several senior leadership positions at Morgan Stanley, where he worked
from 1987 to 2012.
In 2006 and 2007, and then again in 2011 and 2012, he oversaw Morgan Stanley's wealth management global capital markets
business and helped it grow to more than $3 billion in gross revenue.
From 2008 to 2010, he was the global head of the company's private wealth management division. There he oversaw a team of
2,100 people who served high-net-worth clients in the United States, Latin America, Europe and the Middle
East.
Armstrong previously worked in Morgan Stanley's fixed-income division. During the three years that he was the division's
middle-market sales manager, revenues grew 40 percent and productivity increased 90 percent.
From 1995 to 1998, Armstrong led the equity division's international prime brokerage unit in London and was responsible for technology, custody and clearing facilities.
Before that, he worked in Hong Kong as the chief operating officer of a regional enterprise
that consisted of nine offices in 11 Asian countries.
Armstrong completed his undergraduate studies at Duke University and earned a master's degree in
business administration from Harvard.
Armstrong is expected to join RBC this summer.
About RBC Wealth Management-U.S.
In the United States, RBC Wealth Management operates as a division of RBC Capital
Markets, LLC. Founded in 1909, RBC Capital Markets, LLC. is a member of the New York Stock Exchange, the Financial Industry
Regulatory Authority, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, and other major securities exchanges. RBC Wealth Management
has $264 billion in total client assets with 1,900 financial advisors operating in 200 locations in
41 states. For more information about RBC Wealth Management-U.S., visit www.rbcwealthmanagement.com.
SOURCE RBC Wealth Management - U.S.