Is Canada an open opportunity for U.S. fund firms? It may be, reports Bloomberg based on interviews with senior executives at Fidelity Investments and Franklin Resources.

Robert Strickland, the chief of Fidelity's Canadian business, told attendees at Investment Funds Institute of Canada's annual conference in Toronto that he expects non-Canadian fund firms to make a move into that market. According to Strickland, "natural forces in marketplace" make Canada a "pretty desirable place" for mutual fund firms to do business.

"That is not lost on a lot of our American competitors," he told attendees at the conference, which is the analog to the ICI annual meeting in Washington D.C.

Also speaking at the conference, Joseph Canavan, chief executive officer of Assante Wealth Management, told attendees that winners in the Canadian market will have to bring scale to the table in order to meet investors and regulators expectations of lower fees.

Meanwhile, Donald Reed, chief executive of Canadian-based Franklin Templeton Investments Corp, told attendees that his firm is "on the lookout for good organizations, something that would fit in neatly with our organization."

Reed's business is the Canadian arm of the San Mateo, California-based Franklin Resources. 

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