Canaccord Genuity Group Q1 2027 Earnings Report

Canaccord Genuity Group EPS Results

• Actual EPS: C$0.36
• Consensus EPS: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Canaccord Genuity Group Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $577.44 million
• Expected Revenue: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Canaccord Genuity Group Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q1 2027
• Date: 8/6/2026
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Friday, August 7, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 8:00AM ET

Canaccord Genuity Group (TSE:CF), a full-service financial services company, provides investment products, and investment banking and brokerage services to institutional, corporate, and private clients. It operates in two segments, Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets and Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management. The Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets segment offers investment banking, advisory, research, merger and acquisition, sales, and trading services. The Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management segment provides wealth management solutions, and brokerage and financial planning services to individual investors, private clients, charities, and intermediaries. The company operates in North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East. Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Canaccord Genuity Group Q1 2027 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Strong first-quarter performance: Revenue rose 29% year over year to CAD 577 million, while adjusted net income increased 120% to CAD 57 million and adjusted diluted EPS climbed 177% to CAD 0.36.
• Positive Sentiment: Wealth management continued to scale: Revenue increased 26%, client assets reached a record CAD 160 billion, and profitability improved across Canada, the U.K., and Australia, supported by market appreciation, net inflows, and the Wilsons Advisory integration.
• Positive Sentiment: Capital markets recovered meaningfully: Revenue grew 30% and adjusted pre-tax income increased to CAD 37 million from approximately CAD 6 million a year earlier, led by stronger advisory and investment-banking activity, particularly in technology, mining, and the U.S.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management said it remains on track for a low-double-digit to low-single-digit improvement in the firm-wide pre-tax operating margin, although results remain sensitive to market conditions and transaction timing; mining financing may moderate from recent levels.
• Negative Sentiment: The firm-wide compensation ratio rose to 62%, primarily because of higher non-cash share-based payment charges tied to EPS growth and share-price appreciation, while a large Australian advisory fee was characterized as closer to a one-off than a recurring contribution.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. I'd like to welcome everyone to the Canaccord Genuity Group fiscal 2027 first quarter results conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. Following the speaker's prepared remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star two. If you have any difficulties during the conference, please press star then zero for operator assistance at any time. As a reminder, this conference call is being broadcast live online and recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO. Please go ahead, Mr. Daviau.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Thank you, operator. Welcome to everyone joining today's call. As always, I'm joined by our Chief Financial Officer, Nadine Ahn. Our remarks today are complementary to the earnings release, MD&A, and supplemental financials, copies of which have been made available for download on SEDAR+ and on the investor relations section of our website at cgf.com. Within our update, certain reported information has been adjusted to exclude significant items to provide a transparent and comparative view of our operating performance. These adjusted items are non-IFRS measures. Please refer to our notice regarding forward-looking statements and our description of non-IFRS financial measures that appear in our MD&A. With that, let's discuss our first quarter fiscal 2027 results. Global equity markets performed well during our first fiscal quarter, even as the economic backdrop remained mixed. Strength was broad-based, with particularly strong gains in emerging markets and continued enthusiasm around artificial intelligence.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Commodity markets were less consistent, as expectations for de-escalation in the Middle East weighed on crude oil and gold prices during the three-month period. Although the broader environment for our mining activities remained constructive. Against this backdrop, we delivered strong first fiscal quarter results with increased year-over-year contributions from both wealth management and capital markets. Firm-wide revenue rose 29% year-over-year to CAD 577 million, reflecting solid growth across our businesses. Our wealth management division contributed 53% of total revenue, increasing by 26% year-over-year, with broad-based growth in each of our three geographies. Canada delivered strong growth as higher client activity and new issue revenue, combined with improved scale and expense discipline, drove stronger operating leverage.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Notably, the average book per advisor in this business has increased by 37% year-over-year to a record of CAD 428 million, with many of our advisors reaching new milestones during the three-month period. In the U.K., revenue growth was supported by strong market performance, increased client activity, and continued progress against our organic growth initiatives. Performance from our Australian business has continued to strengthen following the Wilsons Advisory integration, demonstrating the benefits of increased scale, broader capabilities, and a more competitive national platform. We ended the quarter with record client assets of CAD 160 billion, a 28% increase from a year ago, driven by favorable market conditions, the addition of Wilsons Advisory in Australia, and positive net inflows. Revenue from our capital markets division represented 45% of firm-wide revenue and increased 30% year-over-year.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Both corporate financing and advisory activities improved meaningfully year-over-year, although they moderated from the exceptional levels in our fourth quarter. Advisory activity was broad-based, led by technology with meaningful contributions from metals and mining, consumer and retail, and sustainability. Since completing the CRC acquisition last quarter, this team has exceeded expectations across all measures. Sustainability-related activity represented 13% of combined investment banking and advisory revenue during the quarter, driven primarily by our U.S. business. I will note that this measure understates the sector's broader contribution, as sustainability-related mandates are also captured within several of our other core industry groups. Corporate financing activity continued to be led by metals and mining, which accounted for 50% of global investment banking revenues, with the strongest contributions coming from Australia and Canada. We also saw improving activity in technology, sustainability, and other core sectors during this quarter.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Turning to profitability, our firm-wide adjusted net income increased by 120% year-over-year to CAD 57 million, while adjusted diluted earnings per share increased by 177% to CAD 0.36 per share. Strong revenue growth, combined with disciplined expense management, continued to improve firm-wide margins, despite the impact of an elevated compensation ratio, which Nadine will address in more detail. Our deeply entrenched partnership culture remains central to attracting and retaining talented professionals across all regions. In June, we completed a third round of employee partnership subscriptions with strong participation from both new and existing employees. As part of the transaction, the employee partnership also acquired CAD 12 million principal of our outstanding convertible debentures from a third party.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

As a result, the employee ownership in the limited partnership increased to 14.31% of our common shares at quarter end, or 15.33% on an as-converted basis, further strengthening alignment between our employees and shareholders. With that, I'll now turn things over to Nadine for a more detailed review of our financial performance.

[Nadine Ahn, CFO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Thank you, Dan, and good morning, everyone. We delivered strong year-over-year growth in our first fiscal quarter, with profitability growth outpacing revenue growth. Firm-wide pre-tax net income for the three-month period increased by 128% year-over-year against revenue growth of 29%, and our pre-tax operating margin improved by 5.7 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

[Nadine Ahn, CFO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

We maintained strong discipline for non-compensation costs across the organization as revenue and the scale of our business increased. Total non-compensation expenses, excluding significant items, decreased by CAD 4 million or 3% year-over-year to CAD 142 million, representing 25% of first quarter revenue, compared with 33% of revenue in the same period last year. As Dan mentioned, our firm-wide compensation ratio was elevated at 62% for the quarter. The increase reflects the impact related to the fair value of share-based payment awards associated with strong EPS growth and share price appreciation during the three-month period.

[Nadine Ahn, CFO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Excluding this charge, the firm-wide compensation ratio would have been 59.5%. Turning to wealth management. First quarter revenue increased 26% year-over-year to CAD 305 million, while adjusted pre-tax net income increased 40% to CAD 57 million. The adjusted pre-tax profit margin improved by 1.9 percentage points year-over-year to 18.7%. Starting with our largest wealth management business in the U.K. and Crown dependencies, revenue increased 4% year-over-year to CAD 131 million, while adjusted pre-tax net income of CAD 29 million was broadly in line with the prior year and up 26% sequentially as project-related spending began to normalize. The adjusted pre-tax profit margin was 22.3%, down 1.3 percentage points year-over-year, but up 4.2 percentage points sequentially. Client assets in this business reached a record CAD 82 billion, or GBP 43 billion, representing a year-over-year growth of 14% and 13% respectively.

[Nadine Ahn, CFO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Growth was driven by a combination of market appreciation and positive net inflows, which represented 0.7% of opening first quarter client assets, equivalent to a 4.3% on an annualized basis. In Canada, first quarter revenue increased 29% year-over-year to CAD 121 million, driven by higher commissions and fees and investment banking revenue, which increased by 29% and 77% respectively. Adjusted pre-tax net income more than doubled to CAD 21 million, resulting in a 7.4 percentage point improvement in the pre-tax profit margin to 17.2%. Client assets grew to a record CAD 60 billion, up 33% from a year ago, supported by strong market appreciation and positive inflows, with net inflows representing approximately 1.5% of opening client assets for the quarter. Fee-generating assets represented 53% of total client assets, reflecting the continued strength of our recurring revenue base, even as participation in new issues increased.

[Nadine Ahn, CFO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Australia generated record revenue of CAD 53 million, an increase of 131% year-over-year. Adjusted pre-tax net income more than tripled to CAD 7 million, while the pre-tax profit margin increased by 5.2 percentage points to 13.4%. Client assets in our Australian business increased 113% year-over-year to a record CAD 19 billion, reflecting the addition of Wilsons Advisory, together with robust client activity and the onboarding of client assets from recruited advisors.

[Nadine Ahn, CFO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Higher asset levels and greater scale supported improved profitability across our wealth management businesses. Margins increased in all regions, although the pace of improvement may vary from quarter to quarter based on business mix and stage of growth. Turning to global capital markets. First quarter revenue of CAD 261 million increased 30% year-over-year. Adjusted pre-tax net income was CAD 37 million, compared with approximately CAD 6 million in the prior year period, and the adjusted pre-tax profit margin improved by 11.5 percentage points to 14.3%.

[Nadine Ahn, CFO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

The year-over-year improvement was driven by a significantly stronger advisory revenue, complemented by growth in investment banking and commissions and fees revenue. A more favorable business mix, together with higher activity levels, also contributed to improved profitability, particularly in our U.S. business. Investment banking revenue increased 40% year-over-year. Canada was the largest contributor, with revenue increasing 25% to CAD 33 million, followed by Australia, where revenue increased 72% to CAD 30 million, and the U.S., where revenue increased 34% to CAD 25 million. Our U.S. business also delivered a notable sequential increase in investment banking revenue. Advisory revenue increased 123% year-over-year, led by the technology, mining, and consumer sectors, while contributions became more broadly distributed across our global platform. The U.S. was the largest contributor, generating CAD 57 million in advisory revenue, up 162% year-over-year.

[Nadine Ahn, CFO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Revenue in Canada increased 45% year-over-year, although it moderated from the exceptional level recorded in the prior quarter. Australia delivered record advisory revenue of CAD 17 million as the business continues to build its capabilities, while advisory revenue in the U.K. more than doubled year-over-year. Pipelines remain strong across all regions, although the timing of completions will continue to vary with transaction activity and broader market dynamics. Commissions and fees revenue increased 22% year-over-year to CAD 50 million. Our U.S. business was the largest contributor, with revenue increasing 12% to CAD 21 million. The U.K. generated CAD 11 million, up 30%, while Australia delivered record commissions and fees revenue of CAD 10 million, up 63%, supported by increased client activity and a higher share of ASX turnover. Finally, the year-over-year decline in principal trading revenue primarily reflected lower revenue following the divestiture of our U.S. wholesale market-making business.

[Nadine Ahn, CFO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

This was partially offset by a 36% increase in U.K. principal trading revenue to CAD 5 million, supported by recent investments in our market making and investment trust desks, which has improved flow across existing desks in the region. Turning to the balance sheet, we ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of CAD 1.2 billion and working capital of CAD 817 million, providing ample liquidity to meet our regulatory requirements, pursue strategic priorities, and support ongoing business activity. The quarter-end decline in cash and cash equivalents primarily reflected payment of accrued bonuses from the prior quarter, together with normal timing differences in business activity and related movements in other financial assets and receivables. These movements did not materially affect our underlying liquidity position. We have started the fiscal year comfortably on track to deliver the low-double/single-digit improvement in firm-wide pre-tax operating margin that we articulated last quarter.

[Nadine Ahn, CFO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Continued progress against our strategic priorities, disciplined expense management, and improving operating leverage support this outlook. Although the pace of improvement will remain sensitive to market conditions. With that, I will turn things back to Dan.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Thanks, Nadine. In all, we are pleased with the strong start to fiscal 2027 and the broader contributions across our global platform. In wealth management, stable interest rates and stronger equity markets should continue to support client assets and engagement. We remain focused on generating positive net inflows, increasing fee-based assets, and leveraging the greater scale of our Canadian, U.K., and Australian businesses to support continued growth. In capital markets, the backdrop remains constructive, supported by active client engagement and gradually improving financing and advisory activity across our core mid-market sectors. Mining continued to be a significant contributor during the quarter. While underlying demand remains constructive, the pace of financing activity may moderate from recent levels as market conditions evolve. Activity in other sectors is beginning to broaden, although the recovery remains gradual.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Our advisory and corporate finance pipelines remain healthy, the timing and mix of transaction activity are inherently difficult to predict. Next week, we'll be hosting our 46th Annual Growth Conference in Boston, which will be our largest ever. Record registrations and a strong mix of public and private companies and investors from our four continents underscores our differentiated offering for growth companies and investors. This extraordinary level of engagement also gives us a valuable perspective on emerging opportunities and evolving investor priorities across the sectors and regions that we serve. Although market conditions are inherently difficult to predict, we are focused on the factors we can control. Stronger operating leverage, disciplined execution, and continued progress against our strategic priorities positions us well to respond as opportunities emerge and deliver long-term value for our shareholders.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Reflecting this confidence, the board has approved a quarterly common share dividend of CAD 0.10 per common share. With that, Nadine and I would be pleased to take your questions. Operator, you may now open the lines.

[Operator]

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now conduct a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, please press star two. There will be a brief pause while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from Jeff Fenwick with ATB Cormark. Your line is now open.

[Jeff Fenwick, Analyst at ATB Cormark]

Hi. Good morning, everyone.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Morning, Jeff.

[Jeff Fenwick, Analyst at ATB Cormark]

Dan, our first question here, or maybe Nadine, you referred to the net working capital position of the business. Obviously going through a period of real strength here, but I do find it hard sometimes to discern the actual sort of financial position of the firm or the available capital that might be sitting there for Canaccord to invest in growth initiatives. Is there any way to characterize if we were to look at that net working capital balance or what sort of amount of that would be available for you to deploy versus being tied up in the balance sheets of the various units?

[Nadine Ahn, CFO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Yeah, I think if you look at it from it really has to be done at a regional level because we're regulated on a regional level. Where you're seeing is the strength, particularly in Canada with our growth in our wealth management business and also capital markets strong results over the last few quarters. It's really building up that operating working capital within our regulated Canadian entity. Unfortunately, yes, you don't see it on individual basis, but I think you just want to look at where you're starting to see overall the growth in the balance sheet and from a year-over-year basis, that growth in working capital is where you're seeing the ability to deploy. I think that's really where we're seeing surplus. We've seen obviously a return to strength in the U.S. with some growing profitability there, opportunities to continue to invest.

[Nadine Ahn, CFO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

It is a bit difficult to see, but I think if you just look at kind of where the year-over-year change is, that's really the buildup that we're seeing, recognizing that we maintain appropriate buffers within our regulated entities.

[Jeff Fenwick, Analyst at ATB Cormark]

Dan, I ask that question just in the context of strategic opportunities that you might see in the marketplace where you're active today, Dan. It feels like you could be in a position to do some larger investments if the opportunity presented itself. How are you thinking about it from that standpoint?

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Yeah, I wouldn't consider ourselves balance sheet constrained because whether we have the capital or we've raised the capital, and I don't mean dilutive capital, I mean debt. We're not going to be constrained on acquisitions we want to do, Jeff. We're going to do what makes sense for us. On the capital markets side of the business, outside of buying the odd M&A firm, and that happens every couple of years. It's hard to find the right firm and the right fit and the right sector at the right time with partners that you want to long-term partner with. Outside of that in capital markets, we're not doing a lot of strategic activity in the capital markets side of the business, and I don't foresee that changing.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

On the wealth side of the business, we have done lots of acquisitions in the U.K. and in Australia. I wouldn't see ourselves capital constrained. We could do anything we wanted to do. We would raise the capital or have the capital to do that. The balance sheet isn't a constraining factor in that.

[Jeff Fenwick, Analyst at ATB Cormark]

Okay. Maybe just your appetite for that. When I look at Canada, for example, your platform's done exceptionally well in the wealth management side of things as your numbers are showing us. At the same time, we've seen some transactions in the Canadian market with strategic investors that are paying-

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Yep

[Jeff Fenwick, Analyst at ATB Cormark]

seemingly some very high multiples. How do you put the context there in terms of your capacity versus what you're seeing price-wise?

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Yeah. I guess if there was a constraint, it's our valuation, right? Things have to be accretive to us and make sense. We're a strategic acquirer, not a financial acquirer. We have the benefit of synergies in anything we would look at. There isn't a lot of material assets in this market to buy. You know what they are, but certainly we'd be in the market on anything and looking at everything, and nothing's happening without us knowing about it. If we're not there's a reason we're not there. We chose not to be there. Yeah, we would continue to look at buying in Canada and buying in Australia and buying in the U.K. in our core wealth verticals, and as I said, I don't perceive ourselves constrained by that.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Right now, the cheapest way to grow wealth is give your advisors the tools they need to grow assets organically. That's by far the highest return on capital. The second highest return on capital is hiring people, and we're aggressively recruiting in all of our key geographies. That's the second best way to make money in growing wealth. The third way to do it, and it's still accretive, is buy stuff. We're looking at all of those paths all the time.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Our wealth management business now is CAD 160 billion. I think it was CAD 60 billion when we started. It's a much, much bigger business than it used to be, and we certainly have the financial capacity to continue to grow it, and we think we should be growing it. Certainly in Canada and Australia, and arguably in the U.K., we should be growing our wealth business. It'll result in better margins.

[Jeff Fenwick, Analyst at ATB Cormark]

Maybe one last one here for me. As you highlight in your deck, HPS and your partner in the U.K., they have the right to ask you to look for an exit for them from that investment as of the end of this month. Any update there in terms of communication with them? Is that something you have to wait for the formal Notice to come across your ISS score or any color you can offer there.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

No. I know what the paper says, we obviously talk to HPS every week. There's no formal anything to talk about it. Our investor presentation outlines where we stand today. We've really got nothing incrementally to disclose at this point with respect to U.K. Wealth. We continue to assess a whole bunch of different strategic options there, and really don't have anything incremental to add to our public disclosure, Jeff.

[Jeff Fenwick, Analyst at ATB Cormark]

Okay. Thank you for that. That's all I had.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from Stephen Boland with Raymond James. Your line is now open.

[Stephen Boland, Analyst at Raymond James]

Hello. Good morning.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Good morning, Stephen.

[Stephen Boland, Analyst at Raymond James]

Dan, maybe just talk a little bit about U.K. capital markets. I'm just trying to understand the plan for that division. It seems like you get to that CAD 30 million in revenue, and you kind of get to the break-even to a little bit of profitability. How do you make that profitability more sustainable going forward? What's the, I would say, not medium to long-term plan, but what do you do to make sure that you're getting your cost of capital out of that division?

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

The good news is we don't have a lot of capital in that division. The U.K. is a tough new issue market. As we all know, new issues depend on companies wanting to raise money and investors wanting to write checks. Unfortunately, in the U.K., they've been in an outflow position for several years between Brexit and foreign capital not going into the U.K. and a number of other factors in that market, including the government. It hasn't been an attractive market for foreign investors to invest in. Expat tax, they took away that, so all the expats left the U.K. Every market, maybe with the exception of the U.S. and India and a couple others, have a problem with number of public companies, and the U.K.'s right at the top of the list. U.K. last year, I think, listed 22nd in the markets where IPOs happen.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

I don't know 21 other markets where IPOs happen. To rank 22nd is pretty bad. The new issue market in London is difficult, because there's not a lot of investors out there. It continues to be a good domestic market for us. What we've done in London strategically is aligned it with the rest of our business. It does a lot of tech, it does a lot of mining, it does a lot of healthcare, sustainability, the sectors we're good at otherwise globally. That's what it's meant to do. As a result, it doesn't carry a lot of incremental costs. It's very easy for us to not lose money in a difficult new issue market. Where we've been investing there is in our M&A and strategic business.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

It is important both to our global franchise and the U.K. that it's aligned from an M&A perspective with the rest of our market. I wouldn't envision us making material investments in the U.K. or divestitures in the U.K. It's fine right now. It doesn't burn a hole in our pocket, it's strategically important to the rest of our franchise. I'll say this, I'll be proven wrong down the road, it really can't hurt us. As a result, it really can't help us a lot either. It's not structured that way.

[Stephen Boland, Analyst at Raymond James]

That's great. Maybe two small questions on Australia. When I look at the compensation formula, comp to revenue, it seems elevated compared to the rest of the business. Is there a change or a difference in how the compensation works in Australia?

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

No. I think you're referring to the wealth side of the business there as opposed to the capital markets side of the business. I think our capital markets comp ratios are pretty much in line. Maybe the broader business. The wealth business, it's just a scale game at the end of the day. Right now the business has CAD 20 billion in assets, but it was running at CAD 13 billion the quarter before, pre the Wilsons acquisition. What you tend to find is there's a lot of comp in back office and support and infrastructure that doesn't go up when the business gets bigger. Just like our U.K. business went from mid-teens margins, EBITDA margins to approaching even 30 at one point, our Canadian margins are improving as the business scales. That's what's going to happen with the Australia business over time.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

You will see the margins improve, part of that is compensation, because a big chunk of compensation is not variable. It is relatively fixed, in terms of back office support. Think compliance, infrastructure, all that kind of stuff won't go up as the business increases. The capital markets side of the business, the comp ratio is more or less in line. All of our comp ratios are elevated a little this quarter in capital markets because of our PSU charge. We have a comp-based scheme that's tied to the performance of our stock and our results. When our stock goes up and when our results are stronger, you will see compensation go up. It's non-cash. It's an accrual. Our overall comp ratio was probably just over 2% Nadine higher this quarter because of PSU charges.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

On our apples to apples basis, our comp would've been 59.5% across the firm. It was elevated this quarter. That was all because of PSU charges and just Nadine having fun with accounting.

[Stephen Boland, Analyst at Raymond James]

I might stand corrected there. Just on Australia as well There was a big jump in advisory fees. I'm not sure if this is just a one-off or is it addition like a team-

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Yeah

[Stephen Boland, Analyst at Raymond James]

or so that you brought in that I'm just trying to get an idea how sustainable or-

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Yeah. I think one-off. If I had to classify it as one-off or continual, I would go more towards the one-off spectrum. We did have a large advisory fee close in Australia in the quarter. I don't expect that to continue. Although we have invested in advisory in Australia. Like two years ago, we did no advisory in Australia. We've hired some people, and we continue to grow that platform. No, I wouldn't I think we won CAD 16 million, would've put up in Australia advisory. That ain't going to happen again next quarter.

[Stephen Boland, Analyst at Raymond James]

Okay

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

I think it's kind of going up slowly over time. Occasionally, you get hit by a pitch, which is what happened that last quarter.

[Stephen Boland, Analyst at Raymond James]

Okay. That's all I had. Thanks very much.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Your next question comes from Graham Ryding with TD Securities. Your line is now open.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Hi, Graham.

[Graham Ryding, Analyst at TD Securities]

Hi. Good morning. Maybe I could just touch on the employee partnership side.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Yeah.

[Graham Ryding, Analyst at TD Securities]

It looks like in June you did a third round here of this program.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Yeah

[Graham Ryding, Analyst at TD Securities]

share purchases. Can you just give us some context on how that program works in terms of the size of loans that Canaccord's providing, and then how much of that gets repaid throughout the year before you sort of move on and do the next round of repurchases?

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Yeah. It started at CAD 80. These are rough numbers, Graham, and Nadine can correct me when I get them wrong. It started at a CAD 80 million program. A CAD 80 million program was reflective of about 100 people at the beginning, so you can kind of do the math as to how much per person. It really was meant to match about one times what somebody got paid. The reason why it was one times what someone got paid is because we take 20% of what they get paid every year and repay the loan. The loan is structured to repay over five years. Sometimes it repays quicker, sometimes it repays slower. It depends on the level of compensation and what we take away. They're fully recourse loans. In other words, if you leave, I can seal your house. They pay interest. They're interest-bearing loans.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Interest more or less matches the dividend on the stock, so it's not a big cash outlay, but that's the plan on these things. Remember that employees to participate in the Employee Partnership, yeah, they'll get a CAD 1 loan, but they have to come up with CAD 0.20 in cash and actually buy some stock as well. There's good coverage on the loan. There's no exposure on the loan. Right now, the loan balance in the Employee Partnership is roughly CAD 65 million. I'll tell you why it's still CAD 65 million in a minute. The underlying interest in the partnership, at 15% of fully diluted shares outstanding, is like CAD 250 million. There's all kinds of coverage between what the partnership owns and the loans outstanding versus that, like 4:1 or certainly over 3:1.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Very, very little company exposure or risk in the underlying loan amount to the employees. There's really no cost to the company. As you can tell, we put this loan program in place for the last three years, and you haven't seen our comp ratio move. No matter how you flow the money in and out, there hasn't really been a cost to the company. What a great program, where now we have the employees owning over 15% of the business as not as stockholders, as stuckholders. Like that stock's gone forever. It's in the Employee Partnership, and it's never coming out. It's been a really good program in terms of aligning the employees' long-term interests with our shareholders' long-term interests. We're delighted that take-up's been so strong and good.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

What the board has mandated us to do, ISS doesn't love it, to be honest, what the board has mandated us to do is as the loans repay in one year, we take 20% of that compensation, we repay loans. That loan repayment in the first year was CAD 15 million because it was a bad year. Last year, I think it was CAD 23 million. I'm making up these numbers, but I'm not too far off. We can recycle the loans and invite new people into the partnership or top up people as they mature in the business. That's all board-approved on an individual-by-individual basis. They say, "Okay, that's a good person. You can give them a loan to come into the employee partnership." We did another 2% or 3% last year. It's every year, it's like another CAD 20 million.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

As a result, you've seen the ownership go from 10% up to 15%+ over the last three years. We expect that to continue, another 2% or so every year. I guess it'll depend ultimately on where the stock price is and what the loan repayment amount is. We're not taking the loan balances up. It is what it is. It's been a really, really good program. I think we've got maybe 150 participants now in the employee partnership. There was, I think, close to 30 new participants this year we invited in. It's been a really good program for everybody. Did I answer all your questions on that? Graham?

[Graham Ryding, Analyst at TD Securities]

Sorry, I was on mute.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

No.

[Graham Ryding, Analyst at TD Securities]

Roughly, that was helpful. You're saying the CAD 65 million has roughly been steady over the last few years?

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Yeah. Not roughly. It's been exactly steady. Like we literally, whatever the loan repayment comes in, that's what the board's given us permission to issue a new one. It's dead steady.

[Graham Ryding, Analyst at TD Securities]

Okay. Understood. Maybe I can just jump to UK Wealth. It looked like the organic flows rate picked up this quarter, I think sort of 3% annualized, just over 3% annualized.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Yeah

[Graham Ryding, Analyst at TD Securities]

If I'm reading that correctly?

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

You are.

[Graham Ryding, Analyst at TD Securities]

Anything to call out that drove the improvement there, and is this a reasonable run rate for this platform?

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Yes, I think it's a reasonable run rate for the platform. I actually think it's stronger than that between you and I. Because what we really track is the managed flow run rate, and we reported 3%. There is a small element of execution-only business in the U.K., which is relatively flat. The managed flows were actually a little stronger than 3%. Lots of things to point out. It's been a three-year herculean effort by David Esfandi and the team there in terms of getting net organic assets. Remember, we buy a lot of companies in the U.K., and every time you buy something, it kind of distracts you a little bit away from growing the business organically because you lose assets when you buy things and you're busy integrating and all that.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Between our new chief commercial officer over there that's got a robust pipeline, we've been recruiting into that business. There's been other acquisitions in that market, and we've been hiring advisors that aren't happy with whoever bought them. We've got a restricted product offering there that's working well. We've been converting assets from other platforms onto our platforms there. That's worked out really well. It's a really multi-pronged attack. Then we're using a lot of AI in the business, not only for lead generation, attracting new assets, but also to prevent asset outflows. Remember, you're measuring net new assets, so if you can keep a dollar, it's like getting a dollar. Right across the board, the business has been good. Then a lot of integrated financial planning, investment advice, that's been a big growth driver for us as well.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

It's really a five, six-pronged attack, and these things are starting to work. We're seeing this is the second quarter now where we've had really good growth, and we don't see a reason for it to stop. You never know. Right now, it seems like it's working well, and the team seems like they're executing well on that plan.

[Graham Ryding, Analyst at TD Securities]

Okay. That's it for me. Thank you.

[Operator]

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Daviau for closing remarks.

[Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO at Canaccord Genuity Group]

Okay. Well, thanks, everyone. Those are really good questions. As always, we're available to answer more if you'd like. I'd like to thank everyone for joining us. Certainly appreciate your continued interest and support. We have our AGM today. It'll begin at 10:00 A.M. We'll be on that shortly. Details are available on our information circular and on our website. Otherwise, we look forward to updating you again on our second quarter results, which will be in November. With that, operator, we can close the lines. Thank you very much.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. Thank you for participating. You can now please disconnect your lines.

Participants

Executives

• Dan Daviau, Chairman and CEO
• Nadine Ahn, CFO

Analysts

• Jeff Fenwick, Analyst at ATB Cormark
• Stephen Boland, Analyst at Raymond James
• Graham Ryding, Analyst at TD Securities