Argonaut boosts Perth team

Stockbroking firm Argonaut has announced two high profile recruits, while Canaccord Genuity has also bolstered its Perth team.

Both firms have recruited new people from Hartleys, which is in the process of being acquired by ASX-listed Euroz.

Argonaut has recruited experienced broker David Keogh, who is returning to Perth after nearly 20 years in Sydney.

Mr Keogh has become a shareholder in Argonaut after buying shares from former chairman Charles Fear and current executive chairman Eddie Rigg.

Argonaut has also recruited gold analyst John Macdonald, who has been with Hartleys for the past four years.

Both men previously worked at CIBC Eyres Reed with Mr Rigg and Argonaut managing director Glen Colgan.

Messrs Colgan and Macdonald go back even further, as they initially met while playing football for South Fremantle in 1982.

Mr Keogh moved to Sydney with CIBC, which was one of the largest broking firms in Perth in the 1990s.

Since then he has worked with Southern Cross Equities and Bell Potter Securities.

Mr Rigg described Mr Keogh as one of Australia’s top retail brokers with a client list that included many high net worth families.

He said Mr Macdonald was sometimes seen as polarising by corporates because of the negative calls he made but was admired by fund managers.

Mr Rigg said Argonaut was entering its 19^th year with strong momentum after being involved in numerous equity raisings and success stories in 2020.

“Argonaut is on track to record its best September quarter ever,” Mr Rigg said.

As well as equity markets deals, Mr Rigg said Argonaut was working on several major debt financings, for companies including Salt Lake Potash, Calidus Resources and Myanmar Metals.

Meanwhile, Canaccord is understood to have recruited institutional equities dealer Digby Gilmour from Hartleys.

This comes shortly after mining analyst Paul Howard moved from Hartleys to Canaccord.