TD Bank Hires Top Wall Street Talent to Expand Deal Team

TD Bank is making a clear push to strengthen its position in the highly competitive U.S. capital markets arena. By hiring senior dealmakers from some of North America’s biggest financial institutions, the Canadian lender is signaling that it wants a larger role in financing the next wave of corporate growth.

The moves also come at a pivotal time for TD, as the bank works to expand fee-based revenue and sharpen its investment banking footprint after a difficult year in the U.S.

TD’s latest Wall Street hiring push

TD Bank has brought in six senior bankers in New York to accelerate growth across its debt and equity capital markets businesses, according to a Reuters report citing comments from senior TD executives.

The hires were made through TD Securities, the lender’s capital markets division, and include managing directors recruited from JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Canada, Goldman Sachs, Bank of Montreal, and Bank of Nova Scotia.

The goal is straightforward: strengthen key advisory and financing teams in areas where TD believes demand is rising and where competition for mandates is fierce.

Where TD is placing its bets

Grant Miller, TD’s head of global capital markets, said the bank sees room to compete more aggressively across industries, and the hiring spree was designed to deepen expertise in priority segments.

Rather than spreading the hires broadly, TD appears to be concentrating leadership in areas tied to major funding needs, including:

• Leveraged finance
  

• Private credit
  

• Debt capital markets (DCM)
  

• Equity capital markets (ECM)
  

This targeted approach reflects how capital markets activity is increasingly shaped by sector-specific knowledge and relationships, especially in industries that require large-scale financing.

Focus areas: finance, energy, tech, and infrastructure

Christopher Gerry, TD’s head of global debt capital markets, said the new managing directors are being deployed across several core coverage groups.

Their responsibilities include advising clients in industries such as:

• Financial institutions, including regional banks and insurance firms
  

• Natural resources
  

• Technology
  

• Infrastructure
  

Gerry also highlighted fast-growing financing needs linked to modern digital infrastructure, including data center development, which has become a major investment theme across North America.

In practical terms, that means TD wants to be in the mix for the bond deals, structured financings, and capital raises needed to support high-demand projects tied to the evolving economy.

Why capital-raising demand is becoming a bigger opportunity

Executives pointed to the scale of financing expected across key industries as a major driver behind the hiring decisions.

Gerry described the current environment as a significant opening for banks that can deliver strong advice and execution, emphasizing the need for firms to be positioned for the volume of capital companies may need to raise.

That view aligns with what many dealmakers are seeing: companies across infrastructure, energy, and technology are navigating higher capital requirements—whether for expansion, modernization, or refinancing.

Meet the key hires joining TD Securities

The six managing directors joining TD Securities were recruited between October 31 of last year and this month, according to Reuters.

Here are the new additions and their roles:

Mark Trudell

Trudell joined from Bank of Montreal and will lead industrials coverage for leveraged finance and private credit.

Nadine Yang

A former JPMorgan banker, Yang will oversee TD’s U.S. equity capital markets coverage for technology, a segment that remains central to growth-focused fundraising.

Sean McCarty

McCarty came from Scotiabank and will lead TD’s U.S. energy coverage within debt capital markets.

Catherine Awong

Awong joined from RBC and will co-lead the U.S. financial institutions DCM practice, alongside another new hire.

Tom Healy

Healy arrived from Goldman Sachs and will work with Awong to help run TD’s financial institutions debt capital markets efforts in the U.S.

Anthony Ragozino

Ragozino joined in October from RBC to lead TD’s regulatory advisory and capital solutions team, a role that has become increasingly important as financial regulation and capital planning remain under scrutiny.

Collectively, the hires strengthen TD’s ability to cover multiple sectors while also building deeper leadership in specialized financing categories.

The bigger context: TD’s shift toward fee-based growth

TD is Canada’s second-largest lender, and the expansion comes as CEO Raymond Chun focuses on increasing the company’s fee-driven revenue streams.

That strategic emphasis follows what Reuters described as a turbulent period for TD, during which the bank’s U.S. personal banking business faced a fine tied to anti-money-laundering compliance failures.

For major banks, fee-based businesses, such as investment banking, underwriting, advisory, and trading, are often viewed as a way to diversify earnings beyond traditional consumer lending and deposits.

This makes TD Securities’ growth plans particularly notable, because they reflect a deliberate effort to strengthen the parts of the business that generate non-interest income.

How Cowen’s acquisition fits into the strategy

TD’s capital markets ambitions have also been shaped by its $1.3 billion acquisition of Cowen in 2023, a deal that significantly expanded the bank’s U.S. investment banking capabilities.

Cowen brought deeper access to U.S. corporate clients and a stronger advisory platform, giving TD a bigger base to compete for mandates in the world’s most lucrative investment banking market.

The latest hires suggest TD is continuing to build on that foundation, moving beyond integration and toward expansion in specific product lines and coverage groups.

Expert insight: TD wants to compete across industries

Executives interviewed by Reuters framed the hiring push as a direct response to market opportunity.

Miller said TD believes it has a strong chance to compete broadly, and the firm wanted to strengthen areas where bringing in outside experience could help it pursue those openings more effectively.

Gerry’s comments also reinforced the idea that the bank sees major capital-raising needs ahead, and wants its teams positioned to provide high-quality guidance to clients navigating those transactions.

According to a Reuters report, these remarks were shared during interviews with TD executives about the hiring strategy and the bank’s capital markets priorities.

What this could mean for TD and the market

TD’s hiring spree reflects a broader reality in modern investment banking: talent is strategy.

By bringing in managing directors with deep networks and sector expertise, TD can potentially:

• Expand deal origination in key U.S. industries
  

• Improve execution strength in leveraged finance and private credit
  

• Grow its presence in debt issuance and equity fundraising
  

• Strengthen credibility with large corporate and institutional clients
  

The focus on areas like technology, infrastructure, and energy also signals that TD is aligning itself with sectors expected to require heavy financing over the coming years.

At the same time, the competitive stakes remain high. TD will be going head-to-head with entrenched U.S. and Canadian rivals that already dominate large portions of the underwriting and advisory market.

TD is building for the next phase of growth

TD’s latest round of Wall Street hires shows a bank trying to play offense in capital markets, at a moment when financing needs across the economy are shifting and growing.

With experienced managing directors joining from top competitors and a stronger U.S. platform after the Cowen acquisition, TD Securities appears focused on becoming a more consistent contender in high-value dealmaking.

If the strategy succeeds, it could help TD deepen client relationships, expand fee-based revenue, and strengthen its long-term position in North American investment banking.

(With inputs from Reuters.)

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