Ex-Canaccord staff find new home in U.K.

Seventeen former London-based employees of Canaccord Genuity are heading to Cantor Fitzgerald to launch an advisory business and to beef up brokerage operations at their new firm.

The two biggest names making the move are Gordon Neilly, formerly a managing director who came to Cannccord following the 2009 acquisition of Intelli, and Angelo Sofocleous, once the head of U.K. equity trading at Canaccord. The others are members of Mr. Neilly's and Mr. Sofocleous' respective teams.

Both were causalities of Canaccord's restructuring following its acquisition of Collins Stewart Hawkpoint in late 2011, but they have since landed on solid ground. Mr. Neilly has been named the head of Cantor's new U.K. advisory business, and Mr. Sofocleous is now co-head of equity trading at Cantor.

Although 17 people heading to Cantor may seem like a big number, it's only a fraction of the total number of employees that have been let go by Canaccord following the Collins acquisition – as is common in deals of its nature.