Canada's Macquarie Private Wealth Seeks Experienced Financial Advisors to Fill Out Its Team Over the Coming Year
Macquarie Group Ltd.'s Canadian brokerage plans to increase its force of advisors to as many as a total of 250, or as much as 30 percent, within the next year, a company spokesman told eFinancialCareers last Friday.
The uptick is happening as rivals such as HSBC Holdings Plc and UBS AG retrench, Bloomberg reported last week in Toronto.
Macquarie Private Wealth is a national boutique firm that works with a range of clients including high net worth individuals, families and small business owners. In Calgary, its advisors work with oil and gas companies seeking to raise capital, in a "quasi"-investment banking type role familiar to the Canadian market, says Aaron Boles, vice president of communications for Macquarie Canada.
Those who are interested needn't look hard for a contact at the firm. The company's Web site specifies in its advisor section, "We are always keen to talk to Investment Advisors who are interested in joining Macquarie Private Wealth," and encourages those interested to contact Earl Evans, the unit's chief executive officer, directly.
The firm is looking for "experienced advisors with a track record, a defined niche and a good book of business," Boles told eFinancialCareers.
Macquarie Private Wealth was created in January 2010 after its Sydney-based parent purchased Blackmont Capital from CI Financial Corp. While an exact number is hard to pinpoint, the company hopes to expand in Canada from its current 193-person headcount to between 225 and 250 advisors next year, from 193 now, says Boles.
The firm previously expected to reach its target of 225 to 250 advisors by 2014, according to reports. About half of its advisory hires had previously worked for domestic banks, with the rest coming from independent companies such as Richardson GMP Ltd. and Wellington West.
But things seem to be changing fast. "There's not a firm on the street that's had the inflow of advisors, banks included, that Macquarie Private Wealth has had in the last 20 months," said CEO Evans, who estimates that he's taken 250 flights in the past 18 months to meet with clients and employees in 12 offices.
"I have never seen anything like it in my 23 years in the business -- the inflow of advisors ringing us, wanting to talk to us and hear our story."
Macquarie, which had assets of about C$6.5 billion after acquiring Blackmont, is hiring at a time when some of Canada's asset-management businesses are retreating or seeking buyers, Bloomberg reports.
In July, for example, National Bank of Canada purchased Wellington West Holdings Inc. of Toronto and the Montreal-based lender agreed in September to buy HSBC's investment-advisory business.
