RBC Hires Three Citi Retail Investment Bankers in Expansion

Kevin Orland, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Royal Bank of Canada’s capital-markets division is bulking up its consumer and retail investment-banking franchise with three bankers from Citigroup Inc., including hiring Douglas Trauber as the new global head of the business.

Also joining RBC from Citi are Hugh Paisley and Jason Neumann, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News. Carrie Cook, RBC’s current global head of consumer and retail investment banking, was promoted to co-head of Canadian investment banking.

RBC Capital Markets Chief Derek Neldner has said he plans to hire around 25 managing directors globally this year, even amid fierce competition for top talent. The firm’s consumer and retail franchise has been involved in recent transactions including Neighbourly Pharmacy Inc.’s C$435 million ($345 million) acquisition of Rubicon Pharmacies and Pet Valu Holdings Ltd.’s C$226 million secondary offering.

Trauber will take over as global head of consumer and retail investment banking and be based in New York, according to the memo from RBC Capital Markets’ U.S. investment-banking co-heads Matthew Stopnik and Jim Wolfe, along with European investment-banking head Josh Critchley and Canadian investment-banking chief Trevor Gardner.

Trauber joined Citi in 2015, and was the firm’s global head of retail investment banking. Before that, he was head of retail investment banking at Credit Suisse Group AG and covered the sector at UBS Group AG. Throughout his 30-year career, Trauber has advised on more than $75 billion of transactions, according to the memo.

Paisley is joining RBC as managing director and co-head of U.S. consumer and retail investment banking, working alongside Marco Habert. He’ll be based in New York.

Paisley was Citi’s co-head of North American retail investment banking and previously covered the retail sector at Credit Suisse and UBS. He has advised retailers including Walmart Inc., Lowe’s Cos. and Williams-Sonoma Inc.

Neumann will join the firm as a managing director in the consumer and retail group. Prior to Citi, he worked at Credit Suisse as part of its consumer and retail investment-banking coverage teams, with experience in categories including specialty, discount, food and beverage, fitness and e-commerce.

(Updates with previous global head’s promotion in second paragraph.)