The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition banks have focused on wealth management in recent years, and Bank of Nova Scotia sees expansion in emerging economies as one of the biggest growth opportunities for the sector. The Globe's Jacqueline Nelson writes the bank is looking to increase its footprint in South America and Asia, where the growing ranks of the middle class find themselves with more wealth to manage. Companies such as Scotiabank see an increasing demand for services such as pensions and retirement planning in these countries. They also see more room to grow organically. Asia is also ripe for wealth management services. Canadian banks and life insurers are increasing their focus on wealth management for two reasons. The first is a demographic shift, to cater to baby boomers nearing retirement who are looking for saving, investing and estate planning services. The second pull of wealth management is that it is a lower-risk, fee-based business that does not tie up capital the way lending and trading do. Banks also have a leg up on independent fund managers because of their ability to cross-sell their wealth management products to customers. Scotiabank closed Wednesday at $58.20, down 55 cents.