[Written by Boyd Erman, courtesty of the Globe and Mail Blog]
Canaccord Financial and chief operating officer Mark Maybank, who helped steer the firm through the asset-backed commercial paper crisis, have parted ways.
The firm, Canada’s largest independent brokerage, announced Mr. Maybank’s departure in a short press release. The chief operating officer position is being eliminated, so no replacement was named.
Mr. Maybank, in an interview, said that with the brokerage business likely in for tough times and his pay likely to slide, it seemed like a good time to seek a different career path, perhaps on the buy side.
Mr. Maybank spent 10 years at Canaccord (CF-T8.82—-%) , beginning as head of research early in the brokerage’s evolution from a small Vancouver-based boutique to a global firm with major offices in Toronto, the U.S. and the U.K. As the firm grew, so did his role.
Mr. Maybank’s most visible role in recent years was perhaps as the face of Canaccord during the asset-backed commercial paper mess. He was on the committee that restructured the paper, and helped craft the deal that enabled Canaccord clients to get their money back.
Since then, Canaccord has undergone significant shifts, as has the brokerage business.
The firm bought rival boutique Genuity Capital Markets, an employee owned business, and that brought on a new group of high level bankers who also held big stakes in Canaccord.
The culture of Genuity was one of very low overhead, so the idea of having a chief operating officer was seen as a frill by some, according to sources in the firm. That’s especially true as markets slow, increasing the pressure to keep costs down.
Mr. Maybank was consistently one of the higher paid executives at Canaccord. He made $2.9-million in total compensation last year, $4-million 2010, $3.2-million in 2009 and $4.3-million in 2008, according to regulatory filings by Canaccord.
Mr. Maybank’s job had been to oversee the institutional business as well as the wealth management business. In the new set-up, that layer of management has been cut out. For example, the head of wealth-management at Canaccord will report directly to the chief executive officer, Paul Reynolds.
In addition, Canaccord also announced a new head of global strategy. The firm named managing director Scott Davidson, who had been global head of marketing and communication, to the role.
Mr. Davidson was one of the lead dealmakers on Canaccord’s recent expansion into Asia, helping to structure the acquisition of an advisory firm in China, a relationship with a Chinese bank and a half-share in an Australian brokerage. That expansion is starting to bear fruit as Canaccord helped Daylight Energy negotiate a $2.2-billion sale to Sinopec.
As for Mr. Maybank, expect him to show up on Bay Street again before too long, perhaps with a role on the buy side, or a job in which he can put his experience in restructuring to work. Mr. Maybank has a varied history, including stints as an analyst and a technology executive earlier in his career.
