Canaccord announced it recruited an entire office of Vancouver-based CIBC advisers known as BPS Wealth Management.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. CF-T has bulked up its wealth management business by landing a seven-person team of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CM-T financial advisers overseeing $1.4-billion in client assets, marking the Investment bank’s second significant acquisition in the past week.
Over the weekend, Canaccord announced it recruited an entire office of Vancouver-based CIBC advisers known as BPS Wealth Management. The team leaders are Tom Porteous, Eric Southam and Jay Fitch, who collectively have more than 70 years of service at the bank’s Wood Gundy retail brokerage division. BPS advisers focus on managing money for high-net-worth individuals, trusts and foundations.
“This move highlights the growing momentum at Canaccord Genuity, where we continue to attract the industry’s most respected advisors,” said Matt Cicci, the company’s head of private wealth, in a press release late Friday.
The BPS team is moving from a Wood Gundy platform with more than 800 stockbrokers to a new employer with 142 adviser teams in nine domestic offices.
Toronto-based Canaccord welcomed the new team in Vancouver on the heels of last Thursday’s purchase of British wealth manager Brooks Macdonald Asset Management (International) Ltd., which oversees £2.3 billion ($4.1-billion) for clients from offices in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Canaccord paid parent Brooks Macdonald Group plc £28 million for the businesses and agreed to pay up to an additional £22.9 million in two years’ time if the business meets revenue targets.
Over the past decade, Canaccord has focused on expanding its wealth management business, in part to balance out the cyclical revenues and profits in the dealer’s capital markets division. Since 2014, the company’s domestic business grew four-fold, from $10-billion to $40-billion in client assets under management.
Last year, Canaccord added $1.5-billion in client assets to its Canadian division by snapping up Mercer Global Investments Canada Ltd.’s private wealth business.
Globally, Canaccord oversees $108-billion of clients assets. The investment dealer’s largest wealth management platform is in Britain, with assets under management of $61-billion. Canaccord also manages $7-billion for clients in Australia.
In January, 2023, members of Canaccord’s management team proposed taking the dealer private in a $1.1-billion transaction, in part because the executives said investors failed to recognize the value of its wealth management business. The executives dropped the bid six months later, owing to an “ongoing regulatory matter” at the dealer.
In the most recent quarter, which ended June 30, Canaccord’s wealth management division posted record revenues of $215.9-million, up 13 per cent from the same period a year ago. The division earned a $33.3-million profit, down 7.5 per cent from the same period a year ago because the company increased investments in growth initiatives.
Canaccord’s capital markets group had revenues of $205-million in the most recent quarter, up 41 per cent from the previous year. Profits from investment banking were $13-million, compared with a $7.6-million loss the previous year.