How's this for a bad day? You are Quentin Broad. You are head of equity research at CIBC World Markets. You are staring at your screens. The telecom stocks are on fire. BCE is in play. Telus may get taken out too. It is an equity trader's dream scenario: Ten million shares a day are changing hands in bid, liquid companies. All you need to do is have a view on these stocks, and your firm is going to make a ton of money.
There is a knock on your door. Telecom analyst Amy Glading needs to talk to you. And it ain't about Telus. She's quitting. Going buy side. Goodbye CIBC, hello Ned Goodman and the Dynamic group of funds. She's going to team up with portfolio manager Rohit Sehgal, who was the most active trader on the street before the hedge funds took over, and still qualifies as a good friend to a great many trading desks.
You are Quentin Broad, and you say all the right things to Ms. Glading. She walks out of your office and feels good about herself. And you tell Robert Bek and the rest of the analysts who help cover telecom that they're going to have to work a little harder, and you send out a note to clients explaining Ms. Glading's departure, and you start looking for a replacement. And BCE and Telus are still trading like water, and CIBC World Markets doesn't have a dedicated analyst on these stocks, and you must feel like throwing up.
Andrew Willis