Robbie Pryde, the head of corporate and investment banking at TD Securities, is planning to retire next year and return to his entrepreneurial roots after a 22-year career with the bank.
In a companywide e-mail sent on Friday, TD Securities chief executive Riaz Ahmed said Mr. Pryde had informed him last year of his decision to retire in the first quarter of 2023, in order to purse “a new venture.”
Mr. Pryde, who joined the bank in 2000, played an instrumental role in TD’s acquisition last month of New York-based investment bank Cowen Inc. for US$1.3-billion. The deal will add about $2-billion in annual revenue for TD Securities, and fast-track TD’s plan to make its capital markets division more competitive in both Canada and the United States.
“It was important to all of us – Robbie in particular – that he help accelerate our growth aspirations for Corporate and Investment Banking in key sectors and geographies – most notably in the U.S.,” Mr. Ahmed said in the memo.
Mr. Pryde’s departure would coincide with the expected closing of the Cowen acquisition.
“There is still much work for us to accomplish in the coming months,” Mr. Pryde wrote in a memo of his own on Friday, “and I will be devoting my day-to-day to corporate and investment banking as well as towards ensuring a smooth integration of Cowen and transition of leadership.”
Mr. Pryde first joined TD as part of its acquisition of Newcrest Capital, where he was a founding partner. Throughout his tenure, he held a number of executive roles in TD Securities, before being appointed as the head of corporate and investment banking in 2016.
In 2021, during an executive shuffle in which Mr. Ahmed replaced Bob Dorrance as CEO, Mr. Pryde and Moti Jungreis, TD’s former head of global markets, were appointed executive vice-chairs of TD Securities. Both Mr. Pryde and Mr. Jungreis were previously considered candidates to be Mr. Dorrance’s successor.
Under Mr. Pryde’s leadership, the corporate and investment banking division has increased its revenue by more than two thirds, Mr. Ahmed said.
“When I rejoined TD Securities last fall, it was energizing to see how far this team under Robbie’s leadership has come, delivering impressive growth ambition and demonstrating a high degree of strategic alignment to ready the platform for its next stage of growth,” Mr. Ahmed added in his memo.
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Clare O’Hara