Case Study

PROBLEM

Our client, a Canadian "Big 6" investment bank, had aspirations to build out a dedicated coverage team focused on Midstream clients, as pipeline projects and related infrastructure initiatives began to play an increasingly dominant role in the addressable “client coverage” universe in Alberta. Our mandate was to identify & attract candidates with backgrounds in infrastructure and energy infrastructure (sell-side and buyside) for a Calgary-based role (at a time when bankers were moving east). As there had never been such dedicated capabilities at our client, one of the key challenges was compelling candidates to consider a new opportunity on a platform that previously had only limited success in this sector. As well, the firm’s appetite to put its balance sheet to work was an open question.

APPROACH

DES focused on three principal groups of candidates: Canadians abroad; individuals on competing Calgary-based IB platforms; and candidates in Eastern Canada whom we felt would be attracted to a more entrepreneurial platform. We also considered professionals within industry roles, as well as those on the buyside who had prior sell-side experience, especially if they were engineers & CFAs. We were attracted to candidates whose sector knowledge and “drive” aligned with our client’s culture; most importantly, however, our client sought individuals who would be committed to the platform for the long term, as this important sector had been “under-banked” for years. Following the success of this search, we led a new mandate for the team at the Vice President / Director level.