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Cantor Fitzgerald Canada Corp. is building out its equity team in Toronto and deepening its technology focus at a time when many are watching for activity in the sector.
The Canadian arm of New York-based Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. said Tuesday that it would hire three people to support its equity research and trading business. Ralph Garcea joins the firm as a managing director and senior technology analyst and Jonathan Samahin and Steven Duenkler join as institutional equity sales traders.
All three new employees come to Cantor from Toronto-based Global Maxfin Capital Inc., an investment dealer focused on clients in tech, telecom and industrial industries. Global Maxfin has made investments in electronic trade executions, which Cantor has also built out in recent months.
Investment bankers are looking to sectors like technology for a boost amid slumping oil prices that have shaken up the energy market. In the initial public offering space, for example, the energy market dominated new issues in 2014. While there's no Canadian Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. waiting in the wings, tech companies such as Shopify, Hootsuite and Vision Critical are a few of the bigger names thought to be possible IPO candidates for 2015.
For Cantor, the tech focus isn't new. The company has been adding staff in Canada since 2012 when it acquired the 16-person investment dealer team of Versant Partners Inc. Cantor has held an annual technology industry conference for the past three years, and worked on deals such as the $50-million Halogen Software Inc. IPO in 2013.
"Technology and special situations are focus sectors for Cantor Fitzgerald in Canada and are of particular importance as we continue to expand our research, sales, trading and investment banking platform," said Laurence Rose, chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald Canada, in a statement. He added that the firm had strengthened its ability to provide investment banking, advisory and research services in these areas.
Adding Mr. Samahin and Mr. Duenkler also comes after Cantor targeted institutional clients in October last year by hiring Peter Gombocz as head of electronic and program sales and trading. The firm noted at the time that Mr. Gombocz would bring new relationships with institutional clients to the firm.