Canaccord Genuity has named Dan Daviau as its new president and CEO.Hand-out
Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. has named Dan Daviau chief executive officer, ending the succession uncertainty that arose following the sudden death of the company's leader earlier this year.
A Bay Street veteran, Mr. Daviau was widely viewed as the front-runner to take over the investment bank. However, his ascension comes only after former head Paul Reynolds died while competing in a triathlon in April.
The new leader inherits an investment bank that has struggled of late, largely because of its roots as a resource specialist. Historically, Canaccord Genuity was best known for underwriting energy and mining deals, as well as advising on mergers and acquisitions in these sectors. Over the past year, the company's stock price has plummeted 56 per cent.
For diversity, Canaccord Genuity has focused on expanding its sector coverage, particularly in technology, health care and real estate, and has also invested heavily in wealth management. Mr. Daviau is expected to continue this push when he takes over on Oct. 1, especially now that mining and energy company valuations are fractions of what they once were.
As Canaccord's board of directors searched for a new CEO, executive chairman David Kassie stepped in as interim leader. Going forward, he will continue in his previous role.
Alexis de Rosnay, who runs Canaccord's European arm and who was the other contender for the top job, has been handed extra responsibility. Mr. de Rosnay is now senior executive vice-president of the entire company, as well as global head of investment banking. He will remain based in London.
Mr. Daviau has a long history on Bay Street, having previously served as co-head of investment banking at CIBC World Markets. He, along with Mr. Kassie, was also one of the original founders of Genuity Capital Markets, which merged with Canaccord Financial in 2010.
Since the merger, Mr. Daviau has served as Canaccord's global head of investment banking, and later became president of the company's U.S. arm, where he oversaw an expansion of the firm's investment banking, research, and sales and trading businesses.
In 2014, Mr. Daviau served as lead adviser to Amaya Gaming Group Inc. for its $4.9-billion (U.S.) acquisition of PokerStars – a key example of the non-resource deals Canaccord now targets. Because the fees from the deal were so large, Mr. Daviau earned $11.7-million (Canadian) last year, more than some bank CEOs.
In February, he was named CEO of capital markets for the Canaccord, a move that coincided with a major personnel shuffle. Since that appointment, senior departures have included former investment banking head Phil Evershed, former president of Canadian capital markets Matt Gaassenbeek and global head of mergers and acquisitions Barry Goldberg.
Around the same time, the firm cut 4 per cent of its staff globally, with the majority of changes felt in the U.K. and Europe.
The vast majority of Bay Street's independent dealers have suffered during the commodity downturn. Some smaller firms, such as Edgecrest Capital Holdings, have shut down, while more established companies such as GMP Capital and Canaccord Genuity have weathered multiple quarterly losses. Canaccord Genuity lost $19-million over the past four quarters; in fiscal 2011, the dealer earned a $99.7-million profit.
However, Canaccord Genuity has been of the most aggressive dealers pushing to diversify, which is expected to help the firm endure this downtown – though resources still accounted for 47 per cent of revenue over the past three fiscal years.
The dealer also acquired Collins Stewart Wealth Management, a wealth manager in Britain, for $400-million in 2011. Canaccord Genuity now has roughly $20-billion worth of wealth assets under administration in Britain and Europe, and that figure is expected to rise as the firm acquires more wealth managers.
Tim Kiladze