Briefly:

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Canaccord Financial has announced the successful integration of Genuity Capital Markets into its operations. The global capital markets division of Canaccord has now been rebranded Canaccord Genuity.

“I would like to thank our operations team for making the seamless integration of Genuity Capital Markets possible,” said Paul Reynolds, president and CEO of Canaccord. “They have worked tirelessly over the past several weeks to ensure all Canaccord Genuity employees have the information, support and resources needed as we add more capacity to our global capital markets platform.”

Additionally, Canaccord Financial Ltd., the principal operating company in Canada, has been renamed Canaccord Genuity Corp.; Canaccord Adams Inc., the US capital markets operations, became Canaccord Genuity Inc.

Canaccord Adams Limited, the UK capital markets operations, became Canaccord Genuity Limited, and Canaccord Financial (USA) Inc.has been rebranded as Canaccord Wealth Management (USA) Inc.

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Jantzi Social Index founders in April

April was a tough month for the socially responsible investors to beat the market, in Canada at least, as the Jantzi Social Index (JSI) trailed the overall S&P/TSX Composite Index by 144 basis points, according to Jantzi-Sustainalytics.

The JSI returned just 0.23% for the month, while the broad index earned 1.67%. The S&P/TSX 60 Index gained 1.55%.

In April, the JSI benefited most from the energy sector, which contributed 66.75 basis points to its return. That was mostly eliminated by the materials sector, however, which lopped off 57.46 basis points.

Over the longer term there is very little light between the JSI and TSX Composite. Since the JSI’s inception January 1, 2000, it has provided an annualized return of 5.92%, compared to 5.91% for the Composite. Over the same period, the S&P/TSX 60 returned 5.79%.

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Mavrix names Levi as president, CEO

Mavrix Fund Management has announced changes in its management structure aimed at streamlining operations. David Levi has been named CEO and president of the company, and Murray Munro has been named senior vice-president, national sales.

“GrowthWorks’ acquisition of Mavrix gave us a unique opportunity to build on the strengths of our companies,” said Levi, who is also president and CEO of GrowthWorks Ltd. “These changes reflect some consolidation of executive management of GrowthWorks and Mavrix as part of a plan to streamline operations.”

Former Mavrix CEO Mal Spooner, former SVP of national sales Mario Arra have both departed the company.

“As a founder of Mavrix, we thank Mal for his vision in developing a solid platform of specialty mutual funds and we wish him continued success in the future” said Levi. “As a co-founder of Mavrix, we also thank Mario for his work in developing the firm over many years and wish him well.”

Levi is also president and CEO of Matrix Asset Management Inc., the new TSX-listed parent company of both GrowthWorks and Mavrix. He will also be appointed as CEO of Mavrix’s subsidiaries, including Mavrix Multi Series Fund Ltd. and the general partners of the Mavrix flow-through limited partnerships.

(05/10/10)