Canaccord Capital CEO Paul Reynolds speaks during the Canaccord Capital Inc.'s Annual General Meeting for shareholders in this file photo.Rafal Gerszak
In a brutal market, Canaccord Financial Inc. is slashing pay for executives who don't bring in deals, and funnelling compensation to those who do.
The firm's revenue was down 25 per cent last year and the firm lost money. The top managers in the corner office saw their pay cut sharply. However, pay for some of the company's top bankers held up much better as Canaccord handed out stock as part of a retention plan for its most senior producers.
As a result, even in a bad year, the firm still paid out close to $20-million to its top five best paid executives. That's down just 9 per cent from what the top five received in 2011.
The big reason was the equity retention grants to three senior bankers, which help offset pay cuts to the CEO and chief financial officer.
Canaccord granted large share awards to Matthew Gaasenbeek, the president of its Canadian investment banking unit, to Jens Mayer, co-head of global investment banking, and to Graham Saunders, co-head of institutional equity sales.
Canaccord said that it "believes that providing such additional retention incentives is essential to retain these key employees, remain competitive and encourage long term service and loyalty." There was no formula for deciding on the grants -- it was "subjective," the firm said.
The result was that Mr. Gaasenbeek ended up the highest paid executive at the firm, with his total pay package rising to almost $5.8-million from $4.2-million the year before. Mr. Saunders made almost $4.7-million, up from $3.7-million in 2011. Mr. Mayer's pay declined to about $4.8-million from about $5.4-million.
All three made more than CEO Paul Reynolds, whose compensation slid by almost half to $3.2-million, from $6.6-million. Similarly, chief financial officer Brad Kotush saw his pay drop steeply to $1.3-million, from $2.1-million.