Raymond James Ltd. Ramps Up Canadian Investment Banking Mining Capabilities -
Three New Professionals Join Team

TORONTO, Aug. 5 /CNW/ - Investment dealer Raymond James Ltd., the Canadian arm of North American investment dealer, Raymond James Financial Inc., today announced the addition of three new professionals to its Investment Banking mining team. Joining Raymond James are John Willett, Managing Director, Investment Banking; Kevin Carter, Associate, Investment Banking and Christian Kargl-Simard, Associate, Investment Banking. All three professionals will serve clients out of the firm's Toronto Investment Banking offices.

"With our ongoing focus on delivering high quality advisory and financial expertise to Canadian mining companies, the addition of these three professionals helps to significantly enhance our already strong team," says Jason Holtby, Senior Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking. "The Canadian mining sector is a priority for the firm and we are committed to ensuring we have the people and capabilities to execute on behalf of our Canadian mining clients."

John Willett is a well respected professional with more than 20 years of senior experience in mining finance and advisory work. Kevin Carter has focused on the Canadian investment banking resource sector where he has assisted on several mining-related M&A, sponsorships and financing transactions. Christian Kargl-Simard is a professional engineer and has worked on both technical and finance roles with a focus on mining finance and M&A.

"We are witnessing increasingly rapid growth among Canadian mining companies and ensuring we grow our capabilities in this sector is integral to our strategic focus," explains Holtby. "Raymond James is committed to growing this important area of our Investment Banking business by ensuring we deliver the right ideas, execution and value-added solutions for our clients."

Raymond James is a leading North American independent full service investment dealer. Through its Equity Capital Markets business, it serves corporate issuers and institutional clients with a full range of investment banking, institutional sales and trading and equity research capabilities. With a network of approximately 5,300 Financial Advisors, including 460 Financial Advisors in Canada, Raymond James also serves private investors and their families representing 1.9 million client accounts throughout Canada, the United States and overseas. In addition, Raymond James manages over US$235 billion in client assets under administration. For more information about Raymond James, please visit our web site at www.raymondjames.ca

For further information: Peter Kahnert, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and Marketing, [phone], [email protected]