The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that for Bank of Nova Scotia, its acquisition of MD Financial Management, a leading wealth-management company catering to doctors, carries an expensive price tag. A triple-bylined item led by James Bradshaw says that Canadian money managers are typically acquired for somewhere between 1 and 3 per cent of their assets under management (AUM). At $2.6-billion, this deal amounts to 5.3 per cent of MD's AUM. By comparison, Jarislowsky Fraser had $40-billion in AUM and was acquired by Scotiabank at a much lower cost. The difference likely stems from the type of clients each money manager serves. At Jarislowsky Fraser, 77 per cent of the clients were large institutions; at MD, 66 per cent of the core AUM comes from private clients -- that is, high-net-worth individuals. Scotiabank did not elaborate on the reason for the difference in cost on a brief conference call Thursday afternoon, but the bank may see potential to cross-sell more of its core banking products to these wealthy clients over time. This latest deal also continues an overhaul of Scotiabank's wealth-management unit. The bank culled ScotiaMcLeod's adviser ranks and sold independent adviser network HollisWealth.