Note to brokers who may be feeling unappreciated, underpaid or just plain bored: Please call Peter Brown.
He's hiring.
And in keeping with industry practice, Mr. Brown -- chief executive officer of Vancouver-based investment dealer Canaccord Capital Inc. -- is looking to rivals' ranks to strengthen his own team.
"Our biggest target in recruiting is disenchanted employees of the banks -- which is most of them," Mr. Brown said Friday before Canaccord's general meeting in Vancouver.
"We are hiring good guys from the banks and retail and capital markets every week. And a lot of them are coming to us now non-competitively."
By that, he means would-be employees are knocking on Canaccord's door, instead of the other way around.
If Canaccord has moved up on would-be employees' wish lists, it's also moved up on the international financial scene, where over the past several years the company has recast itself from a small, regional player to a self-described "global boutique."
Its next target: to double sales, profit and assets under administration by 2010.
Canaccord got its start as a regional brokerage firm in 1950. Mr. Brown, 63, and a fixture on the West Coast business scene, joined the company in 1968.
The firm's most recent transformation can be traced back to 1993, when it acquired a minority stake in a British investment dealer. In 1999, Canaccord swallowed the rest of the company and began targeting European clients, primarily by underwriting companies going public on the Alternative Investment Market, or AIM, the junior arm of the London Stock Exchange. Last year, Canaccord went public through a $70-million initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Since June, the company has also been listed on AIM.
Thanks in part to strong resource markets, Canaccord has posted healthy sales and profits since going public. On Friday, it reported a profit of $11.1-million or 24 cents a share for the three months ended June 30, up from $8.4-million or 23 cents a year earlier. Sales rose to $99-million from $80.5-million.
The results were for the first quarter of fiscal 2006. The company's year-end is March 31.
Canaccord operates two units: private client services, catering to well-heeled individuals, and Global Capital Markets, serving corporate and institutional clients.
Next up in the global game plan? Potentially the United States, where Canaccord is scouting for acquisitions. Any U.S. investment would be a "toe in the water" expedition, Mr. Brown says, along the lines of what Canaccord did in London in 1993.
To date, the most unnerving glitch in the company's expansion drive came in June, when an animal rights group claimed responsibility for the May firebombing of a car belonging to a Canaccord executive. The animal rights group said it targeted the London-based executive because Canaccord raised money for Phytopharm PLC, a British biotechnology company alleged by the extremist group to be linked to Huntingdon Life Sciences Group PLC, a contract research organization that tests products on animals.
Canaccord immediately dropped Phytopharm as a client.
There's an argument to be made that by doing so, Canaccord gave in to extremist tactics, Mr. Brown says.
But when it came to choosing between that principle and the safety of its employees, the firm opted for the latter.
With its first year as a public company behind it, Canaccord is fine-tuning some aspects of its operations, including its compensation scheme for its Global Capital Markets group. Analysts say the plan is generous by industry standards. Two members of the London team took home more than $8-million in bonuses in fiscal 2005. Under a new structure introduced in fiscal 2006, Canaccord says the ratio of compensation payout to revenue is expected to drop to about 55 per cent, compared with 59.1 per cent in fiscal 2005.
Last week, the board approved a share buyback scheme for up to 500,000 shares. Canaccord shares closed on the TSX Friday at $9.70-- below last year's IPO price of $10.25.
Recruitment remains a top priority. After a string of departures from its London office in June, Canaccord in July announced three new senior appointments and said it planned to add another two senior analysts in the energy sector.
Canaccord wants to add at least 50 new investment associates a year, Mr. Brown said during a conference call with analysts Friday. To court those already gainfully employed, his strategy is simple. "You stay in their face until their boss pisses them off. And then you are their first alternative."
Wanted: A few good bankers
Over the past few years, Canaccord Capital Corp. has recast itself from a small, regional player to a 'global boutique.' Now, chief executive officer Peter Brown is looking to rivals' ranks to strengthen his Vancouver-based team.
The goal
To double sales, profit and assets under management by 2010.
The strategy
Recruit talented brokers who are disenchanted with the big banks; scout for acquisitions in the U.S.
Progress
The company reported a profit of $11.1-million or 24 cents a share for the quarter, compared with $8.4-million or 23 cents a year earlier.
Company history
1950 -- Hemsworth Turton & Co., a Western Canadian venture capital firm, opens its doors.
1968 -- Peter Brown joins Hemsworth, and the company becomes known as Canaccord. It becomes the largest trader on the burgeoning Vancouver Stock Exchange.
1992 -- Canaccord Capital is incorporated.
1993 -- Canaccord acquires a minority stake in a British investment dealer, beginning a period of aggressive expansion. By 1999, Canaccod has completed a series of mergers and acquisitions, including six independent Canadian brokerages, has swallowed the British firm and purchased a brokerage in Paris.
2003 -- Canaccord has tripled in size, primarily by targeting European clients -- underwriting companies going public on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), the junior arm of the London Stock Exchange.
2004 -- Canaccord goes public, with a $70-million initial purchase offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
2005 -- Canaccord is listed on AIM.
You stay in their face until their boss pisses them off. And then you are their first alternative.
Peter Brown, Canaccord CEO, on his recruitment strategy
Wendy Stueck