The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, April 5, edition that Laurentian Bank of Canada has sold $2-billion of assets under administration to iA Financial Group, exiting the retail brokerage business. The Globe's Clare O'Hara writes that Laurentian Bank Securities is transferring approximately 16,000 client accounts to iA Private Wealth, a subsidiary of iA Financial, later this year as part of a new deal. Additionally, about 30 investment advisers who are licensed to deal in securities at Laurentian Bank Securities have been invited to join iA Financial. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. However, in a statement, Laurentian said the "net proceeds" from the acquisition are "not expected to be material," and iA Financial said the acquisition will have only a "marginal impact" on the company's solvency ratio, a metric regulators use to gauge the health of insurance companies. iA spokesman Pierre Picard said the deal does not include Laurentian's institutional brokerage business. The deal is expected to close this summer and falls in line with the vision of Laurentian's new chief executive officer, Eric Provost, who is looking to improve the bank's performance by simplifying the business.