Of Canada's largest six banks, Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD)(NYSE:TD) has done perhaps the best job of investing internationally and diversifying operations south of the border.
The company has a vast retail network in the United States (unparalleled by its Canadian peers) and the U.S. market continues to grow in importance to the company relative to its domestic operations, making the company act more as a U.S. bank with Canadian operations than vice-versa.
For example, recent changes to tax regulations in the U.S. disproportionately (positively) affected TD when compared to its peers, with the company forced to make write downs to assets which would have otherwise been used to lower the firm's tax rate.
TD has also seen higher rates of growth than its Canadian counterparts in recent years, due mainly to its American operations and the foresight of TD's management team to move into the U.S. market immediately following the recession when it was unattractive to do so - reminder: the Canadian dollar was at, or above, par for many of these transactions - not too bad, eh?
Recent earnings results for TD show U.S. exposure paying off during the company's most recent quarter, however it appears expectations are that growth will slow in 2019 as growth is expected to take it down a notch in the year to come.
Worries that the U.S. economy is doing too well are good worries to have, and it remains my position that TD is Canada's best bank to own for long-term investors seeking exposure to one of Canada's large banks for this very reason.
Invest wisely, my friends.
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