Andrea Casciato embraced change throughout her career — now she’s the Head of Digital Investing with BMO.

By Sarah Kelsey

“I always say I feel like I grew up at BMO,” Andrea Casciato, Head of Digital Investing, BMO InvestorLine, recounts. “I’ve been a customer since I can remember and used to get my mom to grab extra withdrawal slips whenever we did a withdrawal or deposit so I could play banker in our basement.”

Today, Andrea helms the team that helps clients reach their financial investment goals with online investing options. BMO InvestorLine is ranked in the top three in the Globe and Mail’s 2022 Digital Broker Ranking, and since March 2020, online investing has seen a significant growth.

“I joined the Customer Contact Centre as Head of Wealth, right as we were entering the pandemic — a time when we experienced a massive demand for digital investment services. This meant placing a huge focus on driving our Digital First agenda forward, to deliver speed and scale to drive progress for our customers and unlock the power of our people,” Andrea says. She worked with her managers to prioritize tasks and respond to business needs and pulled on many of the skills she learned over her career at BMO to connect with staff. 

“I doubled my empathy to understand how my team was really doing. I’d tell them to forget about work and ask how they were and how their family was. I was concerned about everyone’s mental health because at the very beginning, there was a lot of uncertainty.”

Looking back, she says the way she and her team navigated the increase in business and personal stress is a testament to the way BMO trains its leaders and cultivates a culture of support and growth. 

“It can seem super daunting when you make a major change or try something new. Be open and say, ‘I want to know more.’ It’s empowering and it’s how I’ve gotten to where I am today.”

Andrea’s time with BMO began in university when she took an internship at a branch as a stop-gap to “figuring out what she wanted to do.” She eventually took an interest in Human Resources, and did what she encourages every woman to do when they want to try something new: “I remained curious and asked questions like, ‘How do I get your job? What do I need to do?’ I literally asked for what I wanted. Then I had a roadmap of what I needed to demonstrate to get to where I wanted to go.”

The questions also showed leadership that she wanted to evolve her career within the organization. After having her son, she decided she wanted to move from HR into business leadership roles and realized that to do that, she needed an executive MBA — something BMO went on to sponsor. 

“You never think you’re going to end up at one company, and I’ve ended up with 10 careers in one place. Why would I go anywhere else?” she says. “It can seem super daunting when you make a major change or try something new. Be open and say, ‘I want to know more.’ It’s empowering and it’s how I’ve gotten to where I am today.”

In a society that still operates with biases and glass ceilings, many women doubt themselves or question their potential. Andrea adds that this leads to too many women counting themselves out for roles or opportunities before someone has said they’re not a fit — “but they can’t let doubt or fear hold them back.” Her advice rings true for those who are hesitant to dip their toes into the world of investing, too.

“Now is the time to learn about managing your investments and plan ahead.”

“Taking charge of your finances can be an uncomfortable thing to do and discuss but, for women, at some point you will be managing your own money. If you’re not single now, you are likely going to be at some point in your life,” she says. “Fifty percent of you will get divorced or you will outlive your spouse. Now is the time to learn about managing your investments and plan ahead.” 

Her advice? Take the first step and open an online investment account with an amount of money you’re comfortable experimenting with. Once you overcome the initial fear, companies like BMO have programs that can help teach you the ins and outs of investing. Depending on where you’re at in your investment journey, Andrea mentions that there are a number of valuable services available through BMO to help you manage your funds, including a suite of commission-free ETFs (exchange-traded funds) available through the BMO InvestorLine platform.

“InvestorLine Self-Directed is the perfect digital tool for those who want to invest in stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds on their own,” says Andrea. “If you’re not quite ready to jump right in, adviceDirect is a hybrid platform that provides digital advice for your trades, with the assistance of a human advisor, and SmartFolio is all about hands-off digital investing where BMO does all of the heavy lifting.” 

Andrea takes advantage of these programs herself, specifically adviceDirect, saying she now loves learning more about her investments, but has help from an advisor because despite playing banker as a kid, she didn’t intend to go into finance.

In the end, she says it’s all about taking the first step. “While it’s the hardest thing to do, whether it’s in your career or banking, the payoff is always worth the initial legwork.”

Self-Direct and adviceDirect are products of BMO InvestorLine. BMO InvestorLine Inc. is a member of BMO Financial Group. ®Registered trade-mark of Bank of Montreal, used under licence. BMO InvestorLine Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of Montreal. Member – Canadian Investor Protection Fund and Member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. BMO InvestorLine Inc. is a member of BMO Financial Group. ®Registered trade-mark of Bank of Montreal, used under licence. BMO InvestorLine Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of Montreal. Member – Canadian Investor Protection Fund and Member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.

An adviceDirect account is a non-discretionary, fee based account which offers investment recommendations. adviceDirect does not provide portfolio management by a portfolio manager. The client makes their own investment decisions and manages their own investment portfolio. adviceDirect does not offer discretionary, managed accounts.

BMO SmartFolio is a product of BMO Nesbitt Burns. A BMO SmartFolio account is a discretionary fee based account which offers Digital Portfolio Management service. BMO SmartFolio matches clients to a managed ETF portfolio that aligns to their investment objectives.
“BMO (M-design)”, “BMO” and “BMO (M-design) Wealth Management” are registered trademarks of Bank of Montreal, used under license. “Nesbitt Burns” and “SmartFolio” are trademarks of BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. and BMO InvestorLine are wholly owned subsidiaries of Bank of Montreal.