RBC Dain Rauscher Realigns Senior Management; Promotes John Taft, Paula Phillippe.

Business Editors

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 2002

John Taft has been named president of Wealth Management Services and Paula Phillippe has been named chief administrative officer in a realignment of senior management at RBC Dain Rauscher effective immediately, announced Irving Weiser, chairman and CEO.

Taft, who's position is a newly created role, will retain his position as president of Voyageur Asset Management and will continue to report to Peter Armenio, president and chief operating officer of RBC Dain.

Taft is a 20-year veteran of the financial services industry who joined RBC Dain in 2000 when Voyageur was acquired. He previously served as president and chief executive officer of Dougherty Summit Securities LLC from 1997 to 1999, and president and chief executive officer of Voyageur Fund Managers from 1991 to 1997.

"This change puts new senior leadership behind PCG's Wealth Management business model and reflects our commitment to supporting and improving service levels to our financial consultants," Weiser said. "We believe the new structure will also make it easier for research and wealth management services to work together to provide value to our financial consultants and clients."

As chief administrative officer, Phillippe will assume responsibility for marketing and all of the firm's education and development teams, in addition to the groups she currently leads, including human resources, corporate communications and community relations. Phillippe joined RBC Dain as director of compensation and benefits in 1996 and was named executive vice president of human resources and communications in January 2000.

"This change brings together, under common leadership, the teams responsible for employee support and development, as well as the groups leading the external promotion of our brand image with our clients, the media and our communities," Weiser said.

Mark Hirst Hired to Be COO Of Voyageur

To allow Taft to take on the larger leadership role within Wealth Management Services, he is turning over the responsibility for managing the day-to-day operations of Voyageur to Mark Hirst, who is joining Dain from RBC Global Investment Management, Ltd. Hirst, who will be chief operating officer of Voyageur Asset Management, has nearly 20 years of industry experience including six years with RBC. He joined RBC in 1996 to set up a European investment management operation, based in London. He subsequently held the positions of chief investment officer of RBC's Global Investment Committee in 1997, chief executive officer of RBC Global Investment Management (U.K.) Ltd. in 1998 and head of the international operations of RBC Global Asset Management since 2000.

RBC Dain Rauscher Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY), is the parent company of RBC Dain Rauscher Inc., the nation's ninth largest full-service securities firm with more than 2,000 financial consultants and 6,000 employees. The companies serve individual investors and small business owners through offices coast to coast, and capital markets and correspondent clients in select U.S. and international markets. Founded in 1909, RBC Dain Rauscher is a member of the New York Stock Exchange and other major securities exchanges, as well as the Securities Investor Protection Corp.