BMO Financial Group

Deland Kamanga serves as Group Head of BMO Wealth Management, which includes BMO Global Asset Management. Investment decisions within private markets are led by dedicated portfolio managers for each asset class—private equity, private credit, infrastructure, and real estate—operating within risk frameworks set at the division and enterprise level. The bank's capital markets group provides deal origination and underwriting, but investment committee authority rests with the asset management team.

BMO Global Asset Management operates across both fund commitments and direct deals. The firm manages fund-of-funds programs for institutional clients seeking diversified private equity and private debt exposure, while maintaining direct investment strategies in infrastructure and real estate. Co-investment rights alongside general partners are systematically exercised when available, giving limited partners the option to supplement fund exposure with direct positions in underlying portfolio companies.

Both divisions operate under BMO Financial Group, sharing balance-sheet capacity and origination pipelines. BMO Capital Markets provides leveraged lending, structured credit, and M&A advisory that feeds deal flow into the asset management group's private credit and private equity strategies. This structure allows the bank to use proprietary capital to anchor hard-to-access infrastructure and mid-market transactions, then syndicate exposure to institutional co-investors.

BMO targets infrastructure (transportation, digital, renewable energy), middle-market private equity in Canada and the United States, private credit (direct lending and mezzanine), and core-plus real estate. The firm has a stated focus on energy transition assets and digital infrastructure, aligning with its commercial banking relationships in North American project finance. Consumer-facing technology and early-stage venture capital are typically excluded from institutional mandates.

BMO Private Wealth provides multi-family-office-style services including consolidated reporting, tax planning, and direct alternative allocations for large single-family offices, particularly those with cross-border Canada-US wealth structures. The private banking group structures bespoke credit and co-investment vehicles for ultra-high-net-worth families, leveraging the institutional asset management platform for deal access.

BMO actively seeks co-investment rights when committing to external private equity and infrastructure funds. The firm's significant balance-sheet lending relationships with private equity sponsors—through BMO Capital Markets—often create preferred access to co-investment tranches. Institutional clients in BMO's fund-of-funds and separate account programs can participate in these co-investment opportunities alongside the bank's proprietary capital.

The February 2023 acquisition of Bank of the West expanded BMO's US private wealth client base significantly, adding high-net-worth relationships across California, Arizona, and Colorado. This extended the distribution network for BMO Global Asset Management's alternative investment products into US domestic wealth channels, complementing the firm's existing Canadian and cross-border institutional client base.