Leadership

As a firm serving clients in over 100 countries around the globe, RBC Capital Markets relies on the guidance provided by its strong team of leaders. With decades of experience to their names, these leaders use their knowledge to further the firm’s goal of being among the world’s most trusted and successful financial institutions.

Derek Neldner
Derek Neldner

CEO and Group Head, RBC Capital Markets

Derek Neldner is CEO and Group Head of RBC Capital Markets and is a member of RBC’s Group Executive. Derek has global oversight of the firm and, along with the Capital Markets Operating Committee, sets the growth strategy for RBC’s Corporate & Investment Banking and Global Markets business activities worldwide. Together with other members of Group Executive, Derek is also responsible for setting the overall strategic direction of RBC.

In addition to his leadership role with RBC Capital Markets, Derek is also Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer of RBC US Group Holdings LLC, RBC’s intermediate holding company (IHC) in the United States. In this role, Derek coordinates governance over the IHC’s regulatory, compliance, and business initiatives, and its communications with key stakeholders.

Derek joined RBC in 1995 and has held a broad array of responsibilities across the firm, and served as Global Head of Investment Banking prior to his current role. He has significant experience across all aspects of investment banking including mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financing, and he continues to provide senior coverage and advice to a number of the firm’s most significant clients. Derek has also been a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, including having co-chaired RBC Capital Markets’ Canadian Diversity Leadership Council.

Derek has an active and longstanding commitment to philanthropy and giving back to the community. He has volunteered with a variety of charitable organizations including serving as a member of the Major Individual Giving campaign cabinet for the United Way of Toronto & York Region and is currently a board member of The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) Foundation.

Derek holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance from the University of Alberta and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), as designated by the CFA Institute. Derek is married with four children and lives in Toronto, Canada.

Troy Maxwell
Troy Maxwell

Chief Operating Officer

Troy Maxwell is Chief Operating Officer of RBC Capital Markets with global responsibility for all operational and administrative matters of the firm, including optimizing cost base management and financial resources, and leading the response to regulatory change. Previously, Troy was Executive Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of RBC Capital Markets and Technology & Operations, where he oversaw all finance services to RBC’s wholesale business and technology and operations platform.

Troy is a champion for diversity-related initiatives at RBC and an active member of the community. Since 2009, he has served as the executive sponsor of RBC’s Advancement of Women in Leadership committee, a global leadership forum responsible for driving actions to improve representation of senior women at the bank. Additionally, Troy is a senior advisor for RWomen, RBC Capital Markets’ internal forum dedicated to fostering the development and career aspirations of women. Troy has played a key role in RBC’s annual United Way campaign for several years and acts as Co-Chair of RBC’s national Major Individual Gifts Committee. He is also a member of the United Way Toronto & York Region’s Major Individual Giving Cabinet.

Prior to joining RBC, Troy was Chief Financial Officer of CIBC World Markets and a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he led the financial institutions and corporate treasury risk management consulting and advisory business.

Troy is a Chartered Professional Accountant, and holds an Honours BA and a Master's Degree in Accounting from the University of Waterloo.

Celine Boffo
Celine Boffo

Managing Director & Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Capital Markets and United States

Celine Boffo is MD & SVP, HR for RBC Capital Markets where she leads the design and execution of an integrated talent strategy for the business globally. In addition, Celine provides leadership and oversight for all HR activities in the U.S. in support of the five RBC businesses operating in the region, including City National Bank. She sits on the Operating Committee (OC) for Capital Markets, the US Executive Committee, and the Human Resources OC.

Celine has built her career on a foundation of business transformation, people strategies and organizational effectiveness. Her passion for developing and executing impactful people, talent and culture strategies brought her to RBC HR in 2013 and she has since held a number of senior positions including Head of HR for the 25,000 advisors and leaders serving clients across RBC’s Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking distribution network and VP, Talent Management where she was globally responsible for executive and high potential employee development as well as diversity and inclusion in leadership. In her previous role, she led the global HR team supporting RBC’s Wealth Management and Insurance businesses across 3 continents.

Before starting her corporate career with CGI, a Canadian IT services firm with global operations, she earned her Ph.D. in Management from HEC Montreal. At CGI, Celine headed up the organizational change management center of expertise and consulted on organizational design, development and change across industries. She then led enterprise-wide change management and governance programs at Rogers Communications before returning to consulting.

Celine is a Board member of Easter Seals Canada, a charitable organization that provides services and support to promote access, inclusion and opportunities to Canadians living with disabilities.

Manish Bhandari
Manish Bhandari

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Manish Bhandari is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of RBC Capital Markets. In his role, Manish leads the Finance teams for Capital Markets globally and has responsibility for providing strategic counsel to the business and its senior executive team, promoting a robust financial controls and management culture, and enabling long-term value creation. He also has oversight for financial and performance management frameworks and policies for Capital Markets. Manish is a member of both the Capital Markets and CFO Group Operating Committees.

Manish has more than 20 years of deep institutional and consumer banking experience with cross-functional leadership across lines of business, risk and finance. Prior to joining RBC, he was Chief Financial Officer of MUFG Americas with responsibility for finance and strategy for the Americas Wholesale Business across Banking, Markets and Transactional Banking, overseeing multiple legal entities, regulatory jurisdictions as well as operational process improvements. Prior to this, Manish held progressively senior roles with Citigroup, including as Chief Financial Officer of its Global Corporate and Investment Bank, where he applied a client centric mindset across financial controls, strategy, innovation and regulatory policies.

Manish earned his Bachelor of Science in Petrochemical Engineering from the University of Pune in India, and his MBA from Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management.

Cam DesBrisay
Cam DesBrisay

Executive Vice President, Wholesale Credit Risk, RBC

Cam DesBrisay is EVP, Wholesale Credit Risk within Group Risk Management. Cam is responsible for the bank’s credit risk management interface with RBC Capital Markets, as well as the credit risk regulatory contact for Capital Markets. As the senior risk officer for Capital Markets, Cam and his team are responsible for aligning the business segment’s risk management processes with those of the RBC enterprise. He also has responsibility for wholesale credit risk in other business segments, including the National Clients Group in Personal and Commercial Banking. Cam is a member of the Global Risk Management Operating Committee.

Cam joined RBC in 1992, and spent five years working in Corporate Treasury and Market Risk Management. He joined Global Credit in 1998, where he held progressively senior positions including Head of Loan Portfolio Management and Credit Exposure Management, a role he held for several years prior to being appointed Head of Global Credit in 2014.

Cam is on the board of the International Association of Credit Portfolio Managers and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Mechanical Engineering) from the University of British Columbia.

Trevor Gardner
Trevor Gardner

Head, Canadian Investment Banking

Trevor Gardner is Head, Canadian Investment Banking and is a member of the Capital Markets Operating Committee. He has 25 years of capital markets experience with RBC, including roles in Toronto and Calgary in Investment Banking and Equity Capital Markets. Before taking on his current role he was Co-Head of Canadian Energy Investment Banking between 2014 and 2019. He is an executive member of RBC Capital Markets Canadian Diversity Leadership Council.

Trevor has significant experience working with directly with clients on a broad range of transactions, including mergers & acquisitions and debt and equity financing. In his current role he is actively engaged in senior client coverage and providing advice to clients across industries.

Trevor has been deeply involved in several community initiatives, including Chair of the Board of Directors for YMCA Calgary and serving as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University. He has also been active in coaching youth hockey and baseball. In 2020, Trevor served as Co-Chair of RBC’s national employee giving campaign.

Originally from Saskatchewan, Trevor graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University with Honours, and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Bobby Grubert
Bobby Grubert

Head, Digital Solutions & Client Insights

Bobby Grubert is Head of Digital Solutions & Client Insights (DSCI) for RBC Capital Markets. In this role, Bobby and his client-facing team are focused on leveraging the firm’s innovation efforts and constantly reimagining and executing upon how we best service our clients in a fast-evolving digital world.

Prior to this role, Bobby served as Co-Head of Global Equities since 2018. Bobby had global accountability for all equity related product capabilities, including sales and trading, origination, new issue distribution, risk management, electronic trading and research.

Bobby began his career as an energy trader with Rauscher Pierce Refsnes, based in Dallas in 1996. Following the merger with Dain Rauscher, Bobby moved to Minneapolis to grow the NYSE Listed business. After RBC acquired Dain Rauscher Wessels in 2001, Bobby transferred to New York and was appointed Head of U.S. Trading in 2007. He became Head of U.S. Equities in 2008, adding responsibility for global electronic trading in 2009 and he assumed responsibility of Cash Equities in Europe in 2014. In 2018, he was appointed Co-Head of Global Equities.

Bobby is a member of the RBC Capital Markets Operating Committee, as well as its U.S. Operating Committee.

He is also Chairman of the Board of the Ronald McDonald House of New York, Inc., a member of the Borealis AI Advisory Council and is a founding member of the RBC U.S. Capital Markets Diversity Leadership Council.

Dominic Hudson
Dominic Hudson

Head of Investment Banking, Europe and APAC

Dominic Hudson leads our investment banking sector, product and country teams across Europe and APAC, and is a member of the RBC Capital Markets Operating Committee.

Dominic is responsible for executing the regional growth strategy for our investment banking franchises in Europe and APAC, focused on achieving our client, revenue and market share goals, building upon our existing robust client franchise and deepening our incredibly strong bench of talent.

Dominic began his career as a chartered accountant at Ernst & Young. He then held roles at Deutsche Bank and Rothschild before joining RBC in 2006 to lead our infrastructure, transport and utilities team in Australia. In 2012, he was appointed as Head of Investment Banking Asia-Pacific and then chief country officer Head for RBC Capital Markets Australia in 2015.

Dominic was appointed to the newly-created position of Head of European Sector Coverage in 2018, relocating to the UK. In this role, he was instrumental in the growth of our ten industry teams providing strong connectivity across sectors, products and European country teams, before assuming his current role of Head of Investment Banking, Europe and APAC in November 2022.

Jonathan Hunter
Jonathan Hunter

Head, Global Markets

Jonathan Hunter is Head of Global Markets for RBC Capital Markets, and has been a member of the RBC Capital Markets Operating Committee since 2008. He is also on the board of RBC’s U.S. Intermediate Holding Company (IHC).

Jonathan has been with RBC for 30 years, joining its Dealer Trainee Program in 1991. Since then, he has held progressively senior roles within Capital Markets, including Global Co-Head, Fixed Income and Currencies (2006-2011), based in New York, and Global Head of Liquid Products (2002-2006), based in London. He most recently held the role of Global Head of Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities since 2011 before his appointment to Head of Global Markets in November 2020.

Today, Jonathan leads a team of close to 2,000 professionals within Global Markets, collectively comprised of Sales & Relationship Management, Digital Solutions & Client Insights, Central Funding, Equities, Spread, and Macro business lines. Global Markets is a significant contributor to RBC Capital Markets earnings, and is focused on driving best-in-class client solutions across multiple asset classes through digital innovation and thought leadership.

Jonathan recently completed an eight-year term as a member of the Board of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA).

Jonathan is also actively involved in RBC’s diversity, mentorship and recruitment initiatives, and is a member of RBC Capital Markets’ Canadian Diversity Leadership Council. In 2018, he was formally recognized by the Women in Capital Markets organization as a Champion of Change in acknowledgement for his ongoing efforts to advance women in the workplace.

In addition, Jonathan is a key participant and contributor in RBC’s many community and charitable initiatives, including the RBC Race for the Kids, RBC Trade for the Kids, and he serves as a member of the United Way’s Major Individual Givers cabinet as part of RBC’s annual Employee Giving Campaign.

With Jonathan’s focus on digital transformation, he was recently named to the Advisory Board of the newly designed Smith’s Master of Financial Innovation & Technology (MFIT) program at Queen’s University. He also served as Chair of the Board of Trustees, and sat on the Board of Governors, for The Bishop Strachan School in Toronto from 2015 to 2021.

Jonathan earned his Honours Bachelor of Commerce Degree (Finance) from Queen’s University in 1991, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Sian Hurrell
Sian Hurrell

Global Head, Sales and Relationship Management and Head, Global Markets Europe

Sian Hurrell was appointed as Head of Global Sales & Relationship Management in March 2021 and Head of Global Markets Europe in February 2022. In addition to being a member of the Capital Markets Operating Committee, Sian sits on the Capital Markets Europe Executive Committee and the Global Markets Operating Committee.

Sian joined RBC in August 2013 after more than 20 years working in Capital Markets in the UK and Asia. She has held a number of senior roles at RBC including Head of FICC Europe and Global Head of FX.

Prior to RBC Sian worked at Royal Bank of Scotland for 13 years where she was most recently Head of European Financial Institution Sales and at HSBC both in London and Australia.

Sian is one of the executive sponsors of the European Global Markets Analyst and Associate Council; a member of the UK Diversity and Inclusion Executive Steering Committee and has represented RBC on a number of Industry Boards (including International Capital Markets Association, The Bank of England’s FX Joint Steering Committee, the Bank of Canada’s Canadian Foreign Exchange Committee, Global Foreign Exchange Division of AFME and the FICC Market Standards Board). She currently represents RBC on the board of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA).

Sian has a BA (Hons) degree the University of Leeds in the UK.

Ahmed Kachenoura
Ahmed Kachenoura

Head, Global Equities

Ahmed Kachenoura is the Head of Global Equities at RBC Capital Markets. In this role, Mr. Kachenoura has global oversight of all aspects of client coverage for traditional cash equities and equity derivatives including sales and trading, origination, new issue distribution, risk management and research, as well as electronic trading. He is a member of both the Capital Markets Operating Committee and the U.S. Operating Committee.

Mr. Kachenoura joined RBC Capital Markets in August 2012 as Head of EMEA Trading based in London. In August 2013, he moved to New York to become Head of Trading for GELP Americas and Local Head of the U.S. business before being promoted to Head of Global Equity-Linked Products. In 2018, he was appointed Co-Head of Global Equities and in 2021, he took over as the sole Head of Global Equities. Mr. Kachenoura has a proven track record in building and managing businesses and has held various senior roles over the past two decades within Equity Derivatives in trading, sales, research and risk management.

Mr. Kachenoura is actively engaged in promoting culture and diversity and in giving back to the community. He is a member of the RBC Enterprise Diversity Leadership Council as well as the RBCCM U.S. Diversity Leadership Committee. Mr. Kachenoura is actively involved in supporting RBC’s charities across the globe and has been a huge supporter of RBC Race for the Kids.

Mr. Kachenoura holds an engineering degree from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique (ENSAE), and a Masters from Paris IX-Dauphine University in Cognitive Science. Prior to joining RBC, he spent 17 years at Credit Agricole CIB where he began his career as a Quant and held several Front Office leadership positions in Equity Derivatives. Mr. Kachenoura lives in New York City with his wife and their two daughters.

Lindsay Patrick
Lindsay Patrick

Head of Strategy, Marketing and Sustainability

Lindsay Patrick is Managing Director and Head of Strategy, Marketing and Sustainability at RBC Capital Markets and a member of the firm’s Operating Committee.

Lindsay is responsible for the advancement of the RBC Capital Markets’ business, brand, and marketing strategy, supporting the firm’s overall growth and performance ambitions. She is a senior adviser on ESG matters to the Group Executive and the wider RBC enterprise, providing insight and guidance in respect of our Capital Markets client base and the transition to net zero. Lindsay also oversees the Sustainable Finance Group, and with her global team, spearheads the provision of solutions and advice for RBC’s institutional and corporate clients across all areas of sustainable finance that incorporates both environmental and social perspectives.

Lindsay has over two decades experience in investment banking, spanning trading floors across North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. She began her career with RBC Capital Markets in Investment Banking in Toronto and spent 10 years across variety of positions in Global Equities with a global bank in London before returning to RBC Capital Markets in 2016.

Lindsay is passionate about talent development and is active in advancing important initiatives related to Diversity and Inclusion.  Within RBC, she is a mentor to numerous colleagues, supporting their growth and development across the bank.

Lindsay received her MBA with Honours in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, her BBA with Honours in International Business from Bishop’s University, is a CFA Charterholder and completed the CFA Certificate in ESG Investing. Lindsay sits on the Advisory Board for the Institute of Sustainable Finance and is recognized as leader in sustainability in Canada as a Clean50 Honoree. She is an active volunteer within her local community and serves on the Board Directors for the Oakville Community Foundation. Lindsay is married and the proud mother of four boys.

Daniel Rosenbaum
Daniel Rosenbaum

Head, Central Funding

Daniel Rosenbaum is a Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets, Head of the Central Funding (CFG) business division and Chairman of the RBC (Barbados) Trading Bank Corporation and RBC CMA LLC subsidiaries. As the Head of CFG, Daniel is responsible for overseeing a global secured financing business which delivers balance sheet solutions to its clients as well as managing investment and market making strategies.

Daniel joined RBC Capital Markets in 1999 in New York as member of the firm's Global Arbitrage and Trading business. He was transferred to London in 2000 where he developed a European trading business as well as co-founded the CFG business. In 2005 he relocated to the Bahamas to develop the firm's Caribbean platform before being transferred back to New York in 2010. 

Daniel holds a BS in Mathematics from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a MS in Operations Research from Princeton University.

Patti Shugart
Patti Shugart

Managing Director & Head, Global Corporate Banking

Patti Shugart is Managing Director and Head, Global Corporate Banking and a member of the Operating Committee at RBC Capital Markets. In her role, Patti oversees a team of approximately 600 professionals globally who specialize in lending, trading credit, loan portfolio management and transaction banking for our corporate and institutional clients. She also chairs the Loan Portfolio Review Committee and the Commitments Committee which determine the firm’s global lending decisions.

Patti is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion. She sits on the firm’s Capital Markets Global Diversity Leadership Council, is a co-founder of RWomen, a global internal forum dedicated to fostering and developing female talent, and she chairs the Women in Capital Markets’ Advisory Council. She is RBC’s Executive Sponsor for the United Way’s Women United group, is a past United Way Cabinet Member, and a past Executive Champion for the Toronto RBC Race for the Kids. Patti has been recognized for her outstanding contributions to the industry through the Champion of Change award from Women in Capital Markets in 2016. She was named one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women by Women's Executive Network in 2015 and 2017, and received the Women in Capital Markets Award for Leadership in 2010.

Patti also sits on the Advisory Board for the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and is Co-Chair of the Global Advancement Board at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. She has an MBA from the University of Toronto (Rotman) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Queen’s University.

Matthew R. Stopnik
Matthew R. Stopnik

Managing Director and Co-Head of U.S. Investment Banking

Matthew Stopnik is a Managing Director and Co-Head of U.S. Investment Banking. He joined RBC Capital Markets in January 2015 as the Co-Head of Financial Sponsors. Prior to joining RBC, Matthew spent 20 years at UBS Investment Bank where his most recent role was serving as its U.S. Head of Financial Sponsors.

At RBC, Matthew is responsible for U.S. Investment Banking. He shares responsibility for coverage of banking clients and prospects, including corporate finance industry groups, mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets, leveraged finance, and loan and high-yield capital markets teams. Matthew is also responsible for managing RBC’s relationships with some of the largest and most active private equity firms in the world. He serves on the firm’s Global Capital Markets and U.S. Regional Operating Committees and he is a member of the firm’s Commitments Committee.

Matthew is Vice Chair and a member of the Board of Trustees of the TEAK Fellowship, a member of the Board of Youth, INC. and a David Rockefeller Fellow of the Partnership for New York City. He received a B.A from the University of Michigan. Matthew and his wife live in New York City with their two children.

David Thomas
David Thomas

Head of RBC Europe, CEO RBC Capital Markets Europe

David Thomas is Head of RBC Europe, bringing together oversight for all Royal Bank of Canada’s lines of business in the region.

In addition, David (Dave) Thomas is CEO of RBC Capital Markets Europe, with responsibility for leading all aspects of RBC’s Capital Markets businesses in the UK and Europe, including strategy execution and effective governance.

He is a member of the global RBC Capital Markets Operating Committee, the global RBC Wealth Management & International Operating Committee and chairs both the Capital Markets Europe Executive Committee and the European Executive Committee, made up of business and functional heads, who work together to ensure a collaborative and consistent approach to cross-platform activity and initiatives. Dave also holds a number of UK board roles including CEO of RBC Europe Limited and Chairman of RBC Global Asset Management (UK) Limited.

Dave holds a BSc (Hons) degree from Loughborough University in the UK and joined RBC Capital Markets in 1992 following periods at a UK domestic bank and a technology company. Since joining RBC, he has held a number of both global and regional mandates in business, technology and functional areas across the firm.

Outside work, Dave is an avid fundraiser and supporter of charitable causes. He is a member of the Corporate Partnerships Board for Great Ormond Street Hospital and is active in fundraising for the charity, as well as for SportsAid.

Jim Wolfe
Jim Wolfe

Managing Director and Co-Head of U.S. Investment Banking

Jim Wolfe is the Co-Head of U.S. Investment Banking. He joined RBC in June 2008 after spending 15 years at Bear Stearns where he served as Senior Managing Director in the Leveraged Finance Group.

Jim became Co-Head of U.S. Investment Banking in June 2018. He shares responsibility for coverage of banking clients and prospects, including corporate finance industry groups, mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets, leveraged finance, and loan and high-yield capital markets teams. He also serves on the Global Capital Markets and U.S. Regional Operating Committees and he is a member of the firm’s Commitments Committee.

Over the past 26 years, Jim has completed transactions of all sizes across the full spectrum of industry sectors. In his previous role, Jim was responsible for the firm’s leveraged finance business in the U.S and Europe, leading an experienced team of specialized professionals to help clients raise the capital in connection with corporate acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, and refinancings.

Jim received a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California and MBA from Wharton. He served on the Board of Trustees at Greens Farms Academy in Westport, CT from 2012 to 2018 and he and his wife served as chairs of the Parents Executive Committee of Bowdoin College from 2014-2019.

Michael Cook
Michael Cook

Vice Chairmain

Michael Cook is Vice Chairman of Global Investment Banking, RBC Capital Markets Australia. Michael serves as a senior ambassador of RBC Capital Markets, working closely with the investment banking team to build relationships with clients in Australia.

Michael brings considerable experience and an extensive network to RBC. He spent 19 years with Macquarie in a number of senior roles and 15 years with Bankers Trust, which Macquarie acquired in 1999.

During his time at Macquarie, Michael was appointed Head of Corporate Advisory and Co-Head of Corporate Finance, which ultimately became Macquarie Capital. He also spent seven years with Macquarie in New York with a focus on building the firm's private equity buy-side and infrastructure businesses. On his return to Australia in 2014, Michael chaired Macquarie’s Client Coverage Group with a broad sector focus and responsibility.  His recent experience covers the Industrials, Healthcare, Technology, Real Estate, Infrastructure and FIG sectors.

Josh Critchley
Josh Critchley

Vice Chairman

Josh Critchley is Head of European and APAC Investment Banking at RBC Capital Markets. He is a member of the RBC Capital Markets Operating Committee and the European Operating Committee, and sits on RBC’s European Executive Committee. Josh joined RBC Capital Markets in September 2009 to help lead the build-out of our European investment banking and equities platforms within Capital Markets.

Josh has 24 years of investment banking experience, most recently at Goldman Sachs from 2004 to 2009 and before that at Merrill Lynch from 1993 to 2004. He has been responsible for the origination and execution of a significant number of transactions in a variety of industries, including for financial, consumer, telecommunication, healthcare and industrial companies.

Josh holds a BSc from City University Business School, London.

Andrew Federer
Andrew Federer

Vice Chairman

Andrew Federer is Vice Chairman, RBC Capital Markets and is a member of the Global Investment Banking Management Committee, the Equity Commitments Committee and the Mezzanine Finance Committee. He is responsible for senior client relationships and for providing advisory and deal execution services for the firm’s global clients, including: mergers and acquisitions, leveraged loan and high yield financings, bond issuance, and IPOs and secondary offerings.

Andrew has an extensive and broad range of transactional experience having advised a number of North America's largest corporate issuers and private equity firms. He also previously served as Head of Corporate Finance in Canada with responsibility for the management and direction of a number of teams, including: Communications, Media & Telecom, Financial Institutions, Consumer and Industrial Products, Financial Sponsors, Infrastructure Coverage, and Infrastructure (PPP) Project Finance.

Andrew is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Art Gallery of Ontario, Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of The Bishops Strachan School and Co-Chairman of the RBC Capital Markets Foundation.

Michael Fortier
Michael Fortier

Vice Chairman

Since October 2010, Michael Fortier is Vice Chairman, RBC Capital Markets. Prior to joining the Royal Bank of Canada, he had been active principally in the fields of banking, politics and law.

Over the past 25 years, Michael has worked as a senior relationship banker for several Wall Street (Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse) and Canadian (TD Securities) investment banking firms and worked in Canada and the UK for one of the leading Canadian law firms (Norton Rose).

Between January 2006 and November 2008, Michael served as Canada's Minister of Public Works and Minister of International Trade. Throughout this period, he also acted as the Minister responsible for Greater Montreal. Michael also chaired Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party leadership campaign in 2004 and the Party's 2004 and 2006 federal election campaigns.

Michael sits on the boards of CAE and Pomerleau. He also served from 2012 to 2015 as a member of United Technologies’ International Advisory Council. He is active with many philanthropic organizations, including as Chairman of Ste Justine Hospital’s Foundation since 2012. He has also accepted numerous pro bono assignments from municipal, provincial and federal governments, notably negotiating the return of Formula One racing to Canada.

Michael lives in Montreal with his wife Michelle and his six children.

Larry Grafstein
Larry Grafstein

Deputy Chairman

Larry Grafstein has been Deputy Chairman of Global Investment Banking at RBC Capital Markets since September of 2018. In his 30 years on Wall Street, he has advised clients on nearly $1 trillion of completed transactions. His experience spans all industries and geographies and includes some of the largest and most complex M&A, restructuring, equity and privatization deals.

His clients over the years have included AerCap, AT&T, BAT, Charter Communications, Creative Artists Agency, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Hutchison Whampoa, Intel, Jabil,  Juniper, Leucadia, Level 3, Microsoft, Mosaic, Sprint, Time Warner, TPG, Visteon and Vodafone.  Recently he advised CSX on its response to activist investor Mantle Ridge, IBM on its acquisition of Truven, and Molson Coors on its acquisition of its Miller Coors JV. He advised on the restructurings of WorldCom and Nortel, two of the largest done to date.   

He has worked on behalf of the Governments of Canada and Ontario regarding their investments in Chrysler and General Motors after the financial crisis and advised on the landmark privatizations of Telefonos de Mexico and Telstra of Australia. He recently represented Statewide Mobility Partners, a consortium of investment funds, on the divestiture of Indiana Toll Roads, one of the largest infrastructure sales in US history.  In 2014 he helped settle the strike and consumer boycott at Market Basket Supermarkets in New England through the sale by certain members of the Demoulas family of their ownership stake and resolution of their 20-year control dispute.

Larry is a graduate of Harvard University (B.A.), Oxford University (M.Phil, Balliol College, Rhodes Scholar), and the University of Toronto (J.D.). He is co-chair of his Harvard class and has served on the board of a number of public companies and philanthropic institutions, including the US board of Upper Canada College and the board of trustees of Horace Mann School in New York.

Kent Savagian
Kent Savagian

Vice Chairman

Kent Savagian is a Vice Chairman in the Global Investment Banking Group and Head of the Los Angeles Office. Kent is a widely recognized expert in complex advisory, financing and out-of-court restructuring transactions with almost 30 years of experience. Kent has spent much of his career advising media clients as well as West Coast based private equity clients. To date, Kent has worked on over $250 billion of financing assignments across a broad range of products including leverage finance, equity, investment grade and film/content financing, and in excess of $150 billion of advisory work for clients in his career.

Kent previously served as a Managing Director at Moelis & Company and Credit Suisse where he advised corporate clients including the Walt Disney Company, Euro Disney SCA, Sony Entertainment, Penton Media, Media Rights Capital, Pixar Entertainment and Scripps Networks. He has also worked with most West Coast private equity clients including Oaktree Capital, Ares Capital, Leonard Green Partners and Aurora Capital. Prior to Moelis & Company, Kent ran the highly successful Los Angeles Office at Credit Suisse from 2005 through 2011, and prior to Credit Suisse worked in the Los Angeles Office of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette.

Kent holds a BS in Economics from Brigham Young University and an MBA in Finance from the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management. He is on the board of the California Chamber of Commerce and served on the Executive Board in 2013, Chairs the Audit and Finance Committee at St James’ Episcopal School and is currently involved in the Los Angeles Area Council for the Boy Scouts of America. 

David Thomas
David Thomas

CEO, RBC Capital Markets, Europe

David Thomas is the Chief Executive Officer of RBC Capital Markets Europe, responsible for leading all aspects of the business in the region, including strategy execution and effective governance. This includes all areas of the UK business and the branch operations of RBC Europe Ltd., in Germany and France. He is a member of the RBC Capital Markets global Operating Committee and the European Executive Committee, and chairs the European Operating Committee. David also holds a number of UK board roles including Executive Director of RBC Europe Limited and Chairman of RBC Global Asset Management (UK) Limited.

David holds a BSc (Hons) degree from Loughborough University in the UK and joined RBC Capital Markets in 1992 following periods at a UK domestic bank and a technology company. Since joining RBC, David has held a number of both global and regional mandates in Technology, Operations, Risk Management and Compliance. He is a member of the Corporate Partnerships Board for Great Ormond Street Hospital and is active in fundraising for the charity.

John Thurlow
John Thurlow

Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Capital Markets and U.S. Intermediary Holding Company

John Thurlow is the U.S. COO of RBC Capital Markets. Based in Jersey City, New Jersey, Mr. Thurlow is responsible for all operational, control and administrative aspects of RBC’s U.S. Capital Markets businesses and has local management responsibility for all Technology, Operations and Functions groups. Mr. Thurlow is also the Chief Operating Officer for RBC U.S. Holdings LLC, RBC’s U.S. Intermediate Holding Company (IHC) in which he works closely with the IHC CEO and all U.S. business leaders in driving collaboration opportunities across our U.S. operations. 

Mr. Thurlow joined RBC in May of 2015 from Credit Suisse, where he held dual roles as the COO for Credit Suisse’s Americas Equities businesses and the Head of Front Office Controls for Credit Suisse’s Global Equities business. Prior to Credit Suisse, Mr. Thurlow spent 16 years at Merrill Lynch, where he held various Financing, Operational and COO positions within Merrill’s Treasury, Equity Derivatives and Prime Brokerage divisions in New York, Hong Kong and Australia. He began his career in commercial banking during which he held a variety of Credit and Operations roles.

Mr. Thurlow is active in RBC’s Employee Resource Groups (ERG) and in the Jersey City community. He is the Executive Sponsor OF RBC’s Vets Network ERG working closely with select veteran organizations in both New York and New Jersey. Mr. Thurlow serves as a member of the National Board of the All Stars Project, an afterschool development program for inner-city kids across 6 major cities in the U.S., including Jersey City, Newark and New York. He also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the New Jersey City University (NJCU) School of Business and actively supports The Boys and Girls Club of Hudson County, both located in Jersey City.

Mr. Thurlow received his B.A. in Finance and International Business from Pace University in New York, and his M.B.A in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Additionally, he holds Series 7, 24 and 63 licenses.

 

Blair Wark
Blair Wark

Chief Financial Officer (CFO), RBC, Asia-Pacific & Chief Operating Officer (COO), RBC Capital Markets, Asia-Pacific

Blair Wark is Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for RBC in Asia-Pacific and Chief Operating Officer (COO), RBC Capital Markets Asia-Pacific. As CFO he leads the Asia-Pacific finance team and oversees all finance services to the Asia-Pacific business platforms, including valuations, financial and product control, and performance management. As COO, he oversees the regulatory obligations and business operations, and leads the functional, operational, and financial aspects of Capital Markets in the region. Blair is actively involved in regional diversity initiatives and is Chair of the Australia Diversity Council.

Blair joined RBC in 2010 as a Director, Head of Finance. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant with over 20 years’ experience in banking in London, New York, and Australia, having held roles with Price Waterhouse, Halifax plc, Banco Santander, and Lloyds International. Blair studied at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia with B Bus. Major and Law sub-Major.