RBC forms new global markets team for private capital push

Group will work on generating business and assist with sourcing deals

Royal Bank of Canada is forming a new unit within its global markets group to bolster its push into private financing transactions, structured products and alternative investments.

The new Alternative & Private Capital Solutions unit, located within RBC’s global markets group, will be led by Rehana Kassam and Steven Andrews, according to an internal memo Thursday from Jonathan Hunter, head of global markets. Kassam and Andrews will report to Michelle Neal, head of RBC’s U.S. fixed income, currency and commodities business and its global head of senior relationship management.

Andrews will have a dual reporting line to Eric Wise, head of alternate finance.

The unit will work with the newly formed global private capital group within RBC’s investment banking division that was announced last month. The teams will work together on generating business, while the new team in the markets group also will assist with sourcing, structuring and placing deals.

The new team “will function as a center of excellence for coverage and coordination across strategic private transactions within global markets,” Hunter said in the memo.

Kassam, like RBC based in Toronto, joined RBC in 2009 and has held roles in the team that manages credit-valuation adjustments and the derivative solutions group, with a focus on Canadian investors f or structured product solutions.

Andrews, based in New York, joined RBC last year with a focus on developing relationships with issuers and investors in structured credit and senior relationship management coverage for financial sponsors and alternative asset managers.

The unit will initially focus on North America, but will co-ordinate with colleagues in Europe and Asia to facilitate global opportunities.