Dive Brief:

• Canadian financial services firm Canaccord Genuity appointed Nadine Ahn as its new deputy CFO, with plans for Ahn to transition to the CFO role next year, according to a Wednesday company release. She will succeed Don MacFayden following his planned “transition” from the CFO role in 2025, the company said.  
• “Nadine brings a wealth of multijurisdictional financial leadership experience, making her exceptionally well-suited to support our continued long-term growth and delivery of significant shareholder value,” Dan Daviau, chairman, president and CEO of Canaccord said in a statement contained in the release. 
• In April, Ahn made headlines when her former employer Royal Bank of Canada fired her, stating she was in violation of RBC code of conduct because she was in an “undisclosed close personal relationship with another employee which led to preferential treatment of the employee including promotion and compensation increases.” Ahn has sued the bank for wrongful dismissal and her lawyer has said there is no policy against workplace friendships, asserting that was all it was, Industry Dive sister publication Banking Dive previously reported. ​​

• Dive Insight:

Prior to becoming CFO in 2021, Ahn served as RBC’s head of investor relations, which gave her a public-facing position and the ability to develop relationships with external analysts and portfolio managers. She joined RBC in 2002 and spent much of her time in the bank’s treasury division. 

Ahn has successfully led high-impact financial initiatives with a focus on capital allocation and balance optimization, Canaccord said, noting she had a pivotal role in executing a landmark domestic banking acquisition. 

At Canaccord, she will initially focus on optimizing global financial operations, including overseeing unnamed strategic projects, according to the company.

“I am excited to join Canaccord Genuity Group, and I look forward to bringing my experience to an organization that prioritizes innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and improving shareholder returns,” Ahn said in the release.

Ahn will replace MacFayden, who has been CFO and executive vice president at Canaccord since February of 2017, according to his bio on the company’s website. After joining the company’s predecessor in 1986, he rose through the ranks. He was CFO of the firm’s U.S. operations from 2007 to 2012, and then became senior vice president, finance of the company’s U.S. operations. 

Canaccord has grown over the past six decades from a venture capital firm to a global financial services firm. In recent years it has expanded through a number of acquistiions.

In its first fiscal 2025 quarter ending June 30, the company reported net income before taxes and significant items rose 5.8% year-over-year to C$34.8 million. Meawhile, revenue during the period excluding significant items rose 24.9% to C$429 million as the company’s capital markets and advising and corporate finance segements benefited from an improving environment for the company’s core mid-market sectors. During the period, total client assets in the company’s global wealth management business rose 8.8% YOY to C$105.8 billion. 

The company said Ahn’s appointment comes after a “comprehensive due diligence processes along with the support of the company’s board of directors and independent advisors.”

Canaccord did not immediately respond to a request for comment.