Raymond James Adds to Capital Markets Strengths with Key Hires in Energy Research and Institutional Equity Sales

TORONTO, Oct. 2, 2013 /CNW/ - Investment dealer Raymond James Ltd., the Canadian arm of North American investment dealer Raymond James Financial, Inc., today announced that two highly respected industry veterans, Kurt Molnar and Nick Pocrnic, are joining the firm in key roles in energy research and institutional equity sales, respectively. Both previously worked for Stiefel Financial Corp's Canadian offices until that firm made the decision to close its operations in Canada last month.

"Kurt Molnar has established a durable Oil & Gas research franchise and we are excited to aggressively grow it on our equity capital markets platform," says Daryl Swetlishoff, Senior Managing Director and Head of Research for Raymond James Ltd.  "We expect Kurt to hit the ground running as a welcome addition to our existing energy team and the cross-border clients we support.

"Kurt brings over 25 years in the oil and gas sector, working in various roles including investment banking, institutional sales and most recently as an Equity Analyst at Stiefel covering small- and mid-cap E&P stocks. He is well regarded throughout the industry and is a top-ranked analyst among institutional clients and energy corporate issuers," says Swetlishoff.

Kurt Molnar joins as Equity Analyst, Energy working in the firm's Calgary offices covering small- and mid-cap energy companies. This follows last week's announcement of Chris Cox who is returning to Raymond James as Equity Analyst, Energy where he will focus on coverage of senior integrated oil and gas companies. Both Kurt and Chris will start with the Raymond James energy research team on October 7, 2013.

"Nick Pocrnic adds an important new dimension to our already strong institutional sales  team," says Mike Westcott, Senior Managing Director, Head of Institutional Sales for Raymond James Ltd. "He has a sterling reputation for his ability to identify and deepen client relationships, and he is widely respected throughout the  industry in Canada and the United States. We are thrilled to have a quality individual like Nick on our Raymond James team."

Effective October 14, 2013, Nick Pocrnic will join the firm's Vancouver sales desk as Senior Vice President, Institutional Equity Sales. His focus will primarily be on serving institutional clients in British Columbia, Alberta, Texas and California.

Raymond James is a leading North American independent full service investment dealer offering an extensive range of professional investment service and products including: private client services, financial and estate planning services, portfolio management, insurance, equity research, investment banking and institutional sales and trading.

Through its network of approximately 6,300 Financial Advisors across Canada, the United States and key international centres, Raymond James serves more than 2.5 million individual clients and families, and manages more than $405 billion in client assets under administration. For more information about Raymond James, please visit our web site at: www.raymondjames.ca

SOURCE: Raymond James Ltd.

Peter Kahnert
Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications & Marketing
Raymond James Ltd.
Tel: [phone], email: [email protected]