Bank of Nova Scotia wants to keep expanding its wealth management business, bank executives said, but they would not comment on recent speculation about a mutual funds deal involving the bank and CI Financial Income Fund, according to Reuters.

Scotiabank, the third largest bank in Canada, would consider wealth-management mergers or acquisitions if there was a good strategic fit and the price was right, executive vice president Chris Hodgson said on a conference call, according to the news service.

"We're very very pleased with the direction we're going with our business today and we're going to continue to expand our asset-management business organically, and if there are opportunities that present themselves we will look at it," Mr Hodgson said.

Scotiabank president and chief executive Rick Waugh said that the bank has the capital for potential deals.

Mr Waugh said he likes the internal growth posted by the bank's wealth management business, but added that it has to get larger to benefit from scale.

"I just wish we were at twice the size," Mr Waugh said.

The bank has C$37.8 billion in assets under management, of which C$20.6 billion is mutual fund assets, according to its third-quarter report.

CI said on Friday that it had talked with "a number of parties" about strategic combinations for CI and its subsidiaries, but the fund said there was no certainty that a deal will occur.

CI, one of Canada's largest independent fund managers, made the statement after a newspaper reported that Scotiabank might sell its mutual fund division to CI in exchange for a large stake in the fund manager.