two businessmen shaking handsGeorge Doyle/Getty Images
One of the most prominent and outspoken analysts covering Canadian energy stocks is calling it a day.
Phil Skolnick, a veteran at Canaccord Genuity, is moving to the buy side after 18 years as an analyst, he said in a letter to colleagues on Wednesday. Mr. Skolnick did not disclose which investment firm he has signed on with.
"An incredible opportunity came knocking on my door at the right time, and I'm excited to start this new chapter in my life," he wrote.
Mr. Skolnick, an American, has spent the last 15 years covering Canadian energy, much of it from Canaccord Genuity's New York office.
He is well known in energy and investment circles for blunt assessments of company prospects and tough questions of their executives, refusing to sugar-coat negative calls on stocks.
Dogged questioning on an Encana Corp. conference call in 2013 on the odds of the company being acquired earned him the wrath of an executive, as shown by an inadvertantly audible slur.
Encana later apologized and Mr. Skolnick took it all in good humour.
For more than a year, he has built a case for strengthening prices for Canadian heavy crude oil despite the lengthy delay in a U.S. government decision on whether to approve TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL pipeline to southern U.S. refineries from Alberta.
Mr. Skolnick's prediction of smaller discounts to benchmark light oil, based on expansions of existing pipeline networks, increasing oil-by-rail capacity and increased refinery demand for Canadian heavy crude, has proven correct.
He has also taken his lumps on off-base calls. On Monday, he said he had "egg on his face" as a result of a previous "buy" recommendation on Talisman Energy Inc. based on takeover prospects. He lowered the rating to a "hold" and slashed his target price to $5 from $13.
Mr. Skolnick said he will keep concentrating on the Canadian energy sector as an investor.
Jeffrey Jones