A Bay Street sign, the main street in the financial district is seen in Toronto, January 28, 2013.Mark Blinch/Reuters
Small brokerage firm Fraser Mackenzie Ltd. which helped raise billions for junior resource companies over its nine-year run is closing its doors.
The Toronto-based firm said in a statement Monday that it has notified the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada that it will be turning in its licence.
It said revenue prospects have changed, and it "can no longer generate an acceptable rate of return" based on the current business climate.
The firm said interest in traditional investment opportunities, for example, early-stage mining and oil and gas companies have "considerably diminished."
"Furthermore, the regulatory cost burden is increasing at a time that industry-wide revenues are declining," it said in a statement.
"On balance, it makes sense for our shareholders to redeploy our capital elsewhere while we still have it instead of depleting it in anticipation of an unpredictable market turnaround."
Fraser Mackenzie was founded in 2004, and employed as many as 80 people.
Over its history, it financed more than 120 companies in mining, oil and gas, biotechnology, technology, alternative energy and industrial sectors raising more than $7-billion.