Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CM

Caribbean Divestiture Will Improve CIBC's Business Mix

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is the fifth-largest bank in Canada by assets and one of six that collectively hold over 90% of the nation's banking deposits. CIBC is more Canada-focused than some of its more international peers. Although CIBC has one of the larger domestic branch networks, its products haven’t typically had top shares in Canada. CIBC had its issues over the years, including multi-billion-dollar write-downs in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. But since 2011, it has improved consumer satisfaction ratings, reoptimized branches, improved internal processes, and expanded wealth operations. We think its affluent strategy in Canada has been relatively successful, with the Costco card relationship (acquired in 2022) and Imperial Services for affluent wealth clients. Its online banking platform, Simplii (over 1.8 million clients), is another growth engine as it targets newcomers to Canada that are more digital-native.