An all-out trade war with the U.S. isn’t deterring Desjardins from its acquisition spree. The financial services group is willing to take on additional tariff-related costs as it hunts for property and casualty insurance companies to beef up its portfolio, according to its chief executive.

The Lévis, Que.-headquartered company is currently in talks with P&C companies, and is looking for targets at a time when many other firms are retrenching. “[Tariffs] won’t stop our ambition to see if there’s options for more acquisitions,” Desjardins’ CEO Guy Cormier told The Logic. “We’ll incorporate this risk in our strategy.” 

His aspirations come as U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs against its closest ally and doubled down on threats to annex Canada.

There will be new acquisition targets coming on the market soon, Cormier said, and despite the recession risk, he’s focused on transactions that serve the company in the long run. “Is it going to be a tough moment? Yes, but we will manage it.”

The company, which had $470.9 billion in assets as of December, closed a series of acquisitions in spring 2023, including The Insurance Company of P.E.I., and Toronto-based Guardian Capital Group. Cormier also wants to add commercial insurance companies to its business, and is keen to bring on more manufacturing capacity. 

M&A in the brokerage industry has slowly increased over the past five years, with 82 publicly announced transactions in 2024, according to professional services firm Smythe LLP. That’s down from 116 in 2023, but more than the yearly totals for the three years leading up to it. Cormier said he’s expecting “more losses” due to weather-related events that will affect net profit negatively in 2025 and 2026. Products are renewed every year so there’s not necessarily a “forecast” to adjust, but tariffs could increase repair costs in P&C, he said.

But Desjardins isn’t deploying an amount of capital that would put pressure on the business, he added, and is working on reducing costs in other areas.

Earnings for the 2024 fiscal year, which Desjardins reported on Feb. 25, were exceptional for the company’s P&C segment, Cormier said. Revenue for that division rose 84.6 per cent to $1.89 billion from last year, making up nearly 13 per cent of the overall top line. While P&C was a major driver of insurance revenue growth this year, its wealth management and health insurance segment as well as personal and business services remained relatively stagnant.

Last year’s revenue bump was unusual. There were fewer collisions and catastrophes in 2024, according to Cormier, though he rattled off a few extreme weather events—wildfires in Alberta, flooding in Toronto. Desjardins also recently brought on a batch of new clients in Quebec, Cormier said, which increased business volume and premiums.

Cormier’s comments follow his interview with The Logic last October, in which he emphasized the insurer had “capital to deploy” for acquisitions.