Royal Bank of Canada at Scotiabank Financials Summit Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Got it. I think the obvious question that's being asked today about Royal is on your ROE target, you sort of blew right past it. I recall in your Investor Day you did suggest some upside to that 16%-plus target with AI and repurchases on the repurchase side you've been pretty clear. In terms of your priority there, but I guess the question is, would you consider maybe even upping the target just given -- you sound confident on the near term outlook as well.

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Got it. I'd love to talk about credit a little bit. Go back two quarters. Looks like the market had been a little bit spooked by the size of the reserve build. Fast forward to Q3, certainly a much better number. The impaired loan number was better as well, and I think importantly the guidance REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 03, 2025 / 1:30PM, RY.TO - Royal Bank of Canada at Scotiabank Financials Summit sounded a lot more constructive from your perspective. So if you had to use the baseball analogy, I know there's still a lot of uncertainty out there, but which inning do you think we're likely in with respect to the current credit cycle?

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Got it. Maybe now switching over to some of the different business lines, starting with Personal Banking and not to ask you about the secret sauce, but certainly Royal's been winning for a long time on the Personal Banking side. Can you just maybe shed some light on what it is that Royal does better to gain market share and basically win?

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Thank you for that color, very insightful. What about the branch network? I know it's still an important part of your presence in the Canadian retail space. What about optimization and just given where your efficiency ratio is and how low it is, like, does it actually move the needle even further over time?

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Got it. Switching over to Commercial Banking, and I guess if there's one sort of area where you might need to do a bit more work, I think you have a target of an 18% ROE by 2027. You're trending somewhere around 14% year-to-date. Maybe talk about the pathway of getting to that 18% and if you're still confident that you'll be able to achieve that by 2027.

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Awesome. Maybe switching over to City National. I do recall a few years back I had a rate hikes. There was a lot of excitement about the rate sensitivity on City National and obviously the rate environment kind of surprised everybody in terms of how quickly rates rose. You've taken some actions to sort of right the ship and position City National for growth again? Maybe talk about that dynamic. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 03, 2025 / 1:30PM, RY.TO - Royal Bank of Canada at Scotiabank Financials Summit And then in the context of the size of City National, does it need more scale? Do you sort of plan on scaling it over time? Just through organic means, maybe a bit of capital infusion, or is it potentially some M&A tuckins there as well?

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Got it. Maybe looking at another non-domestic opportunity for growth, the wealth business with Brewin Dolphin, obviously you've got scale there in the European market. Maybe talk a little bit about what the longer term play is there as you think about capital allocation.

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Okay, have to ask a question on cap markets. It's just such a great story for all the Canadian banks this year. Obviously there's going to be an expectation for client activity to moderate if volatility comes down in the market. That should be expected, but maybe talk about royal and how are you doing in market share in Canada to the extent that you measure it across your business lines and then maybe talk a little bit about the US opportunity, which is a big part of the revenue driver for cap markets and how do you compare those two markets and how you position in those two?

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Any final sort of key messages for investors?

Question: Mike Rizvanovic - Scotiabank GBM - Analyst : Awesome. Thank you very much, Dave, for the insights.