The man who helped propel Royal Bank Of Canada into the upper echelons of global investment banking says the industry's best days may be in the past.
"There was a heyday for the capital markets business, and that heyday was probably somewhere between the mid-90s and pre-the crash," said Gordon Nixon, former chief executive officer of RBC in an interview.
"That was when you saw the explosion of firms like Goldman and Lehman, and in Canada, you had the bank-owned dealers and the boutiques. Since 2008, you've seen a lot of those businesses – some of them have disappeared – some of them have shrunk. The heyday of the industry has probably passed."
Mr. Nixon spent more than 20 years in investment banking, starting his career with blue-chip independent brokerage Dominion Securities Ltd. in 1979. When the firm was swallowed by RBC in 1987, he rose up the ranks, eventually becoming the head of RBC Dominion Securities Inc. In 2001, he was promoted to CEO of the entire bank. Story
Oxford Park's new parter, new name
OMERS is teaming up with investment firm Oxford Park Group to create a $300-million fund to target distressed companies.
Oxford Park announced the pension fund's involvement on Tuesday as part of a reorganization that will see the firm change its name to PointNorth Capital Inc.
Oxford Park was created last year to focus on the debt and equity of companies that are in distress or undervalued. The Toronto-based firm is led by ex-Canaccord Genuity partners Phil Evershed and Barry Goldberg. Mr. Goldberg was the global head of mergers and acquisitions at Canaccord while Mr. Evershed headed global investment banking. Joining them as managing partner at PointNorth is Toronto businessman John Bitove, who has been involved in several investments with Mr. Evershed. Story
An all-star list of VC investors
A new technology venture capital fund created by former Rogers Communications chief executive officer Nadir Mohamed and former Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy has hired a lead general partner and upped its initial $50-million fundraising target by 50 per cent.
ScaleUP Ventures Inc. will be led by Kent Thexton, a wireless telecom industry veteran who recently left OMERS Ventures as a managing director. Mr. Thexton, 53, was chief operating officer of Rogers Cantel Wireless from 1990 to 1998 and then served for six years as chief marketing officer and director of British wireless carrier O2 PLC before its sale to Telefonica. Mr. Thexton has since built up a large mobile virtual network operator in the United States called i-wireless and has served on the boards of Redknee Solutions, Sierra Wireless and Mobidia. He was also a university track star, running a sub-four-minute mile and on track to compete in the 1984 Olympics at 21 when he suffered a serious muscle injury. Instead of continuing in track, he earned an MBA.
Mr. Thexton said the plan is for his team "to help companies with more than just capital" by investing in early-stage companies at the seed and Series A stages, but also providing coaching and access to top names in business for guidance. This will ensure startups stay accountable and focused given that for many young companies "the urgent crowds out the important."
An all-star roster of executives and entrepreneurs have signed on with ScaleUP as advisers, including Mr. Mohamed, GE Canada CEO Elyse Allan, entrepreneurs Scott Bonham, Dan Debow, Mike McDerment, Joe Mimran and Christine Magee; big bank CEOs Brian Porter (Bank of Nova Scotia) and Bharat Masrani (Toronto-Dominion), financiers (Lawrence Bloomberg; Tim Hodgson, ex-CEO Goldman Sachs Canada; Edgestone Capital's Sam Duboc; and John Ruffolo of OMERS Ventures) and operators (Guy Laurence of Rogers Communications; Magna CEO Don Walker; Annette Verschuren, former president of Home Depot Canada; and retired Corus Entertainment CEO John Cassaday). Story
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