MARK BAKER: Hello. I'm Mark Baker, Deputy Editor of Euromoney. I'm joined today by Robbie Pryde, Head of Corporate and Investment Banking at TD Securities, the firm that won Euromoney's award for Canada's best investment bank this year. Welcome, Robbie. Now, TD Securities isn't the biggest investment bank in Canada, but we felt it punched above its weight in our awards period, with good lead table rankings and some impressive revenue increases, too. Debt capital markets is a business that's always been a big contributor, and it was again in the period we were considering. Tell us a bit more about that.
ROBBIE PRYDE: Well, certainly our debt capital markets franchise, Mark, has been a cornerstone of TD Securities since the inception of TD Securities a number of years ago. So it's a group that is very experienced. And I think, as I mentioned, since the inception, TD Securities has been very focused on the debt capital markets side. I think we're coming out of a very interesting year, to say the least, and it was a test for all of us. And it was a great test for our group, our partners to really come through for our client base during the pandemic. And as we all know, especially the early stages of the pandemic, the debt area was very, very active globally, and our team shone through right from the Canadian base through our North American franchise, right to our global partners, as well.
MARK BAKER: Yeah. M&A advisory is one area, in particular, where TD's made a lot of progress. Obviously, in completed deals, that was helped by working on your own TD Ameritrade deal, but you're also ranking well in announced transactions.
ROBBIE PRYDE: Yeah. It was, again, a very active year. So the beginning of the pandemic, it was basically pens down on the M&A side, and then it really picked up afterwards. And it wasn't just a result of the pandemic, in terms of what happened with the activity. It was really a function of long-term relationships, deals that we were already working on. And clients basically just got the courage up to start making change from a corporate perspective.
So M&A is an area that we've been very focused on for a number of years now. The end of the day, we sort of tip to tail in terms of advisory. We want to make sure that we are able to be in the C-suite at a very strategic level, helping guide our clients. It's very important to us that we're viewed as a first call. And it's a testament to the hard work and dedication of my partners, but not just within the M&A group.
As I mentioned, it is sort of tip to tail. And it truly is a global effort, meaning our global markets partners are working closely with us. It's just delivering all that we can to our clients. And in a very tumultuous year, it was really important to our clients that we were there in the most trusted fashion possible because there was a lot going on, a lot of volatility, a lot of decisions to be made quickly. And it was really up to us to be there as that trusted partner. So a difficult year, but I'm very proud of the number of deals that we did and the quality of deals that we did.
And there was a couple of the largest deals, certainly, in Canada. You know, the the Shaw and Rogers transaction, Mark, was a culmination of really decades of building relationship. And it is game-changing. It's not approved yet, but it's game-changing for the landscape in Canada. Other larger deals, certainly the energy patch went through quite a stretch through the pandemic, lows to highs. And the Cenovus-Husky transaction was a big one and transformational, and one that, again, we're very proud of. So it was a busy year, and the group really shone through.
MARK BAKER: TD's equities franchise also helped drive a big increase in your global markets revenues during the pandemic year. That's been an area where it's been really important to capture the opportunities presented by that volatility that you talk about.
ROBBIE PRYDE: Indeed. You know, again, when the pandemic started, we weren't really sure how things were going to unfold, whether it was on the BCM side or the ECM side, or M&A, for that matter. So from an equity capital markets perspective, yes, we've got a very strong team, very deep veteran team that really did shine through. So great sales and trading, and a very respected research group, no question about it. So from an equity capital markets perspective in the past year, the activity was driven in many sectors, but in particular the IPO market was very active, both on the technology and the renewable side.
And there was lots of demand for new product, and we were very active there. So again, that's a full team approach, from the sales and trading coverage and the strength of that team, our ECM group in particular, but the investment bankers to actually bring the clients forward for the IPOs. There was lots of follow-on deals, as well. I will call it the regular part of our ECM franchise was very busy, as well. So again, coming into the year that we're being focused in here, it was very volatile in the beginning, and leveled out. And lots of business got done. It was a very busy year.
MARK BAKER: OK. Thanks very much, Robbie, for joining me today. Best of luck in next year's awards. And a reminder to everyone that you can read the full write-up of this award and all of our awards at www.euromoney.com.
ROBBIE PRYDE: Thank you, Mark. And TD Securities are very proud to have been honored by Euromoney this year. And we will work hard to be hopefully back here again with you next year.
MARK BAKER: OK, thanks very much.
