Investment bank Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. CF-T has hired veteran mining banker Kevin Carter from rival Cormark Securities Inc., which is negotiating a potential sale to Alberta government-owned ATB Financial.
Early Monday, Toronto-based Canaccord announced Mr. Carter is joining the country’s largest independent dealer as a managing director, after spending the past five years at Cormark and a decade at another independent investment bank.
“Kevin’s appointment reinforces our position as a global leader in metals and mining finance,” said Jason Melbourne, the head of capital markets Canada at Canaccord, in an e-mail to employees, which was obtained by The Globe and Mail.
“He brings a tremendous track record of success and deep sector expertise that will further strengthen our global mining franchise.”
Mr. Carter is scheduled to start at Canaccord after a gardening leave this summer, a standard practice in banking to eliminate conflicts of interest when changing employers. He is leaving Cormark as the employee-owned dealer is negotiating a potential sale to ATB Financial. Cormark has been looking for a partner or buyer for two years, as banks, foreign-owned investment houses and smaller advisory firms competed for fewer financing mandates from small- to medium-sized business.
He is the third Cormark employee to depart in recent weeks. Lea Matulovic and Liam Dotchison left Cormark’s institutional equity sales team earlier this month to join Raymond James and Maple Rock Partners, respectively.
Two other senior Cormark bankers also left the company last year. Alfred Avanessy joined Desjardins in late 2024 after spending eight years running Cormark’s investment banking team and former Cormark CEO Chris Shaw left earlier in 2024 to join Raymond James.
In the Canaccord employee e-mail on Monday, Mr. Carter said: “To compete in the highly competitive mining sector, you need a global franchise that truly works together. Canaccord Genuity is the most integrated and effective global platform in the world.”
Canaccord has mining bankers at offices in Canada, Australia, the U.K., the U.S. and Australia, and a total of approximately 2,800 employees. The company also has a significant global wealth management business, with $120-billion of client assets under management.
Cormark’s business is focused on investment banking. The company has roughly 100 employees at offices in Toronto and Calgary. Mining companies are major Cormark clients.
In the past, Mr. Carter worked on major takeovers, including advising SilverCrest Metals Inc. on last year’s US$1.7-billion sale to Coeur Mining Inc. He also led numerous stock sales for miners, a major source of revenue for the dealer.
Mr. Carter will be based in Toronto and he will report to Tom Jakubowski, Canaccord’s global head of metals and mining investment banking.
In June, Canaccord reported its investment banking business is picking up, with revenues rising 21.6 per cent year-over-year to $830.7-million for fiscal 2025. The upturn comes during a drought in initial public offerings, traditionally a major source of revenue for independent dealers,
In the first six months of this year, Canaccord led 20 equity offerings that raised $711-million and had 7-per-cent market share in domestic underwriting, according to statistics from LSEG Data and Analytics. The investment bank ranked sixth among domestic dealers. Market leader RBC Capital Markets accounted for 26 per cent of stock sales.
In the same period, Cormark led nine stock sales that raised a total of $270-million, which ranked 10th among domestic investment banks.