Greg Stumph wants to help the well-kept secrets of the small- and mid-cap world to pop up on investors’ radar.
The president and chief operating officer of Peterson Capital oversees a team that provides a wide range of services to small and medium-sized firms to help them garner attention in Canada’s capital markets sector.
“We work with companies that lack market and general awareness and help them tell their story from coast to coast in Canada as well as the U.K. and continental Europe,” he says.
“These high growth companies are looking to stand out in a crowded space. There are thousands of companies vying for the attention of retail investment advisors.”
Many of these small- and mid-cap companies operate in sectors such as resources, life sciences, technology, green energy and pharmaceuticals.
In addition to facilitating meetings between companies and the investment community, Edmonton-based Peterson also provides advisory services, marketing services and communications support. Its goal is to help companies “tap into the power of retail.”
“We work with them on refining their pitch and getting the attention of investors,” he says.
Peterson deals with a vast network of advisors, ranging from bank-owned firms such as BMO Nesbitt Burns and RBC-Dominion Securities, to independent players such as Industrial Alliance and Winnipeg’s own Wellington-Altus Private Wealth. Peterson, which was launched 21 years ago, also works with a growing number of family offices looking to deploy capital.
Stumph sees his job as a bridge-builder.
“There is so much competition in this space and investment advisors are busy. They have tough jobs managing clients, doing research and building their businesses, so it’s tough for these companies to get in front of the people they need to support not just their growth, but Canada’s growth,” he says.
Stumph says Winnipeg is a great place for relatively unknown gems to get in front of investment advisors.
“Winnipeg is often overlooked. When people and companies think about marketing to investors, they think about Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. Edmonton, Winnipeg and Atlantic Canada aren’t top of mind but there is a tremendous amount of wealth in these areas, not to mention great people,” he says.
“We want to showcase what these cities have to offer. We want Winnipeg to be right there. We have a network of people we connect with in these cities and we draw exposure to some high-growth public companies that are leading the growth of Canada.”
Peterson has had a network in Winnipeg pre-dating the COVID-19 pandemic but there’s no doubt that telling investment stories through a computer screen had its challenges. That’s why Stumph and his team of 12 have made it a priority over the last few months to hop on planes to meet face-to-face with the people they’re talking to and find out what type of companies they want to learn about for their clients.
For example, Stumph was recently in Winnipeg speaking to advisors about Taseko Mines, a B.C.-based mine builder and operator specializing in copper and nickel. Taseko operates Gibraltar Mine in south-central B.C., the second-largest open-pit copper mine in Canada, and is in the planning stages for several other mines. It has a market capitalization of more than $600 million.
Last summer, Peterson partnered with Volatus Aerospace, an Ontario-based specialist in commercial drone technology, to help it tell its story to advisors.
Peterson Capital is also working with Cytophage a Winnipeg-based bio-tech company specializing in natural alternatives to antibiotics in our food system, specifically the poultry market. It has been generating headlines recently for its Health Canada-approved bacteriophage (phage) therapy for an Ottawa patient suffering from a severe bone and joint infection.
Peterson gets an up-front fee for its services and its clients continue to pay fees as long as Stumph and his people continue to build up the profiles of their companies. “Our clients will continue to work with us as long as we do good business. For us, it’s about market awareness,” he says.
Peterson Capital
9340 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton
petersoncapital.ca
