TD considers U.S. expansion

TORONTO / Toronto-dominion Bank, Canada’s second-largest lender, may expand wealth-management operations in the U.S. as it seeks a broader market for mutual funds and investment advice.

“We’ve got lots of strengths we can deploy,” Mike Pedersen, the bank’s head of wealth management and insurance, said in an interview. “We’re thinking through what we want to do with the U.S.”

TD built a network of more than 1,300 branches across the eastern U.S. during the past seven years, spending more than $25 billion to open retail outlets and purchase lenders including Portland, Maine-based Banknorth Group Inc. and Commerce Bancorp Inc., based in Cherry Hill, N.J.