Peter M. Brown

Peter MacLachlan Brown was born in Vancouver, like his father, Ralph, and grandfather before him. Peter Brown's grandfather Brenton was a well-connected businessman and power broker of his time, head of the Crown Life Insurance Co., onetime president of the Vancouver Board of Trade,{{Cite web|url=http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/left-to-right-mr-brenton-brown-president-vancouver-board-of-trade|title=Left to right: Mr. Brenton Brown - President, Vancouver Board of Trade - City of Vancouver Archives|website=searcharchives.vancouver.ca|access-date=2016-09-20}} and a founder of the right-of-centre municipal NPA party.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/vancouverltd0000guts|url-access=registration|quote=peter brown.|title=Vancouver Ltd.|last=Gutstein|first=Donald|publisher=James Lorimer & Company|year=1975|isbn=0-88862-082-9|location=Toronto, Canada|pages=[https://archive.org/details/vancouverltd0000guts/page/142 142]}} His grandson would one day follow in his footsteps.

Peter Brown attended the private Shawnigan Lake School{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/shawniganlake1956shaw/shawniganlake1956shaw_djvu.txt|title=Full text of "Shawnigan Lake School Magazine December, 1956"|website=archive.org|access-date=2016-09-20}} and later St. George's School, where he graduated in 1958, as did his brothers Ralph ’53, Alan ’54, and Robert ’68; and his sons James ’86 and Jason ’89.{{Cite web|url=http://www.stgeorges.bc.ca/page/List-Detail?pk=69684&fromId=181319|title=2007 - Peter Brown '58, OBC, LLD|access-date=2016-09-20}} He studied at the University of British Columbia, entering at age 15{{Cite news|title=Sultan of Stock Deals Spurns Political Role|last=Hunter|first=Jennifer|date=August 18, 1986|work=The Globe and Mail|page=B1|via=Proquest}} and “majoring in partying”,{{Cite news|title=Once Pilloried, Now a Pillar, Peter Brown Has Done It All|last=Mulgrew|first=Ian|date=November 23, 2001|work=The Vancouver Sun|page=C4|via=Proquest}} but left at age 20 to work for brokerage firm Greenshields; he worked at various points in Greenshields offices in Montreal, Toronto, and New York.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bcbusiness.ca/people/peter-brown-lifetime-achievement-award|title=Peter Brown, Founder and Chair, Canaccord Financial Inc. {{!}} 2010 Entreptreneur of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award {{!}} BC Business|website=www.bcbusiness.ca|access-date=2016-09-20}} It was during this time, he says, that he turned “from a wastrel into a workaholic”.{{Cite web|url=http://peterbrowncapital.com/full-biography/|title=Peter M. Brown {{!}} Peter Brown|website=peterbrowncapital.com|access-date=2016-09-20}}

In 1967 he transferred to his hometown and the next year joined a boutique investment firm called Hemsworth, Turton, and Company. A year later, owner Ted Turton recruited Brown as sales manager, and five years after that, Brown bought into the firm, now renamed Canarim Investment Corp.{{Cite web|url=http://blog.ceo.ca/2014/01/20/canaccord-co-founder-ted-turton-remembered/|title=Canaccord Co-Founder Ted Turton Remembered|date=2014-01-21|website=CEO.CA|access-date=2016-09-20}}

It was a rocky start. “Everyone said we’d fail,” he has said. Far from it, when noted Canadian historian Peter C. Newman included Brown in the second volume of his Canadian Establishment series, he described the Vancouver financier as “the single most important player on the Vancouver Stock Exchange, underwriting nearly three-quarters of its new issues — worth a projected $225 million in 1981 alone”.{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19811031&id=yzsyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CaUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1731,5434593&hl=en|title=The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|access-date=2016-09-20}}

Over time, Canarim expanded, opening offices across the Prairies. By 1993, the company, renamed Canaccord Capital, had grown to 400 staff, with investment advisors in six branches across Canada. In 2004, Canaccord went public, raising $70 million in its initial listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange; the year after that, the company also listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol CF.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/CF:CN|title=CF:Toronto Stock Quote - Canaccord Genuity Group Inc|website=Bloomberg.com}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.canaccordgenuity.com/en-CA/wm/Wealth-Management-Canada/Choose-Canaccord/Our-Company-History/|title=Our Company History - Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management|website=www.canaccordgenuity.com|access-date=2016-09-20}}

By that time, Brown, then 64, had been at the head of Canaccord, renamed Canaccord Genuity, for almost four decades, and begun to consider succession. “I’d never given it much thought, to be honest,” he says. “It was my baby and I guess I sort of imagined I’d be there forever. But I realized I’d had enough. It’s a very hard, stressful, Type A business — the market’s changing every minute. So I went to Paul Reynolds, who’d worked for me for 24 years, and asked if he wanted to take over”. Brown resigned from Canaccord Genuity in 2014.{{Cite web|url=https://vancouversun.com/Canaccord+founder+Peter+Brown+resigns+after+year+career/9872807/story.html|title=Canaccord founder Peter Brown resigns after 46-year career|last=Kwantes|first= James|access-date=2016-09-20}}

Peter Brown has served on many boards, including as vice-chairman of Expo 86{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/three-federal-appointments-made-to-vanoc-board/article1109224/|title=Three federal appointments made to VANOC board|newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=2 November 2006 |access-date=2016-09-20}} and chair of the UBC board of governors,{{Cite web|url=http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/board.html|title=University of British Columbia Library - University Archives|website=www.library.ubc.ca|access-date=2016-09-20}} the Vancouver Stock Exchange,{{Cite news|title="'Little Steps' Took Canaccord Founder to the Top"|last=Kwantes|first=James|date=May 11, 2011|work=The Vancouver Sun|page=C6|via=Proquest}} BC Place Corporation,{{Cite web|url=http://www.businesslaureatesbc.org/laureates-Peter-Brown.html|title=Business Laureates of BC|website=www.businesslaureatesbc.org|access-date=2016-09-20}} and the BC Enterprise Corporation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.orderofbc.gov.bc.ca/members/obc-2003/2003-peter-brown/|title=2003 Recipient: Peter Brown – Vancouver : Order of BC|website=www.orderofbc.gov.bc.ca|access-date=2016-09-20}} He was appointed Lead Director and Member of the Finance Committee for the 2010 Winter Olympic & Paralympic Games.{{Cite web|url=http://nouvelles.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?crtr.sj1D=&mthd=advSrch&crtr.mnthndVl=&nid=252419&crtr.dpt1D=&crtr.tp1D=&crtr.lc1D=&crtr.yrStrtVl=&crtr.kw=london&crtr.dyStrtVl=&crtr.aud1D=&crtr.mnthStrtVl=&crtr.yrndVl=&crtr.dyndVl=|title=Archived - New Members Appointed to Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee Board of Directors|date=November 2, 2006|website=Canadian Heritage|publisher=Government of Canada|access-date=September 20, 2016}}

Since retiring he has steered the Peter and Joanne Brown Foundation, dispersing (in 2014) $537,298 to various charities.{{Cite web|url=https://chimp.net/charities/peter-joanne-brown-foundation|title=Peter & Joanne Brown Foundation|website=Chimp|language=en-US|access-date=2016-01-19}}

Brown has received formal recognition for his contributions to the financial industry and community.

Peter Brown has received honorary doctorates of law from Wilfrid Laurier University (2015),{{Cite web|url=https://legacy.wlu.ca/page.php?grp_id=2284&p=9466|title=Wilfrid Laurier University - University Secretariat - Senate - Honorary Degree Recipients|website=legacy.wlu.ca|access-date=2016-01-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319113823/http://legacy.wlu.ca/page.php?grp_id=2284&p=9466|archive-date=2015-03-19|url-status=dead}} the Justice Institute of British Columbia (2013),{{Cite web|url=http://www.jibc.ca/student-services/convocation/honorary-degree-recipients/past-honorary-degree-recipients|title=Past Honorary Degree Recipients {{!}} Justice Institute of British Columbia|website=www.jibc.ca|access-date=2016-01-19}} and the University of British Columbia (2005),{{Cite web|url=http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/hdcites/hdcites13.html#brown|title=UBC Archives - Honorary Degree Citations - 2003-07|website=www.library.ubc.ca|access-date=2016-01-19}} and an honorary doctorate of letters from the Emily Carr University of Art + Design (2012).{{Cite web|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1CTABrOLl2uVWF6cVNXMHdvMlk/view|title=HD Recipients to 20142.pdf|website=Google Docs|access-date=2016-01-19}}

Brown has been recognized many times over his career, including the Order of British Columbia,{{Cite web|url=http://www.orderofbc.gov.bc.ca/members/obc-2003/2003-peter-brown/|title=2003 Recipient: Peter Brown – Vancouver : Order of BC|website=www.orderofbc.gov.bc.ca|access-date=2016-10-28}} and lifetime achievement awards from the IIAC Investment Industry Hall of Fame (2015),{{Cite web|url=http://iiac.ca/halloffame/|title=Hall of Fame {{!}} IIAC|website=iiac.ca|access-date=2016-01-19}} Canadian Business Hall of Fame (2014),{{Cite web|url=http://cbhf.ca/peter-m-brown|title=Peter M. Brown {{!}} CBHF|website=cbhf.ca|access-date=2016-01-19}} Business Laureates of B.C. Hall of Fame (2011),{{Cite web|url=http://www.businesslaureatesbc.org/laureates-Peter-Brown.html|title=Business Laureates of BC|website=www.businesslaureatesbc.org|access-date=2016-10-28}} the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame (2010),{{Cite web|url=http://mininghalloffame.ca/inductees/a-c/peter_m._brown|title=The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame|website=mininghalloffame.ca|access-date=2016-01-19}} and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (2010).{{Cite web|url=http://www.ey.com/CA/en/About-us/Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneur-Of-The-Year/EY-Entrepreneur-Of-The-Year-Meet-the-winners|title=EY Entrepreneur Of The Year - Meet the winners|website=www.ey.com|access-date=2016-01-19}} In 2012, he was awarded the IIAC Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal{{Cite web |last=Canada (IIAC) |first=Investment Industry Association of |title=The IIAC Announces Diamond Jubilee Medal Recipients |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/content/prnewswire/us/en/news-releases.detail.html/null.htm |access-date=2023-08-12 |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en}} and the Vancouver Board of Trade's Rix Award for Engaged Community Citizenship.{{Cite web|url=https://www.boardoftrade.com/about/rix-awards-for-engaged-community-and-corporate-citizenship|title=Rix Awards for Engaged Community and Corporate Citizenship|website=www.boardoftrade.com|access-date=2016-01-19}} In 2009 he was recognized by the Fraser Institute with the T. Patrick Boyle Founder's Award.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fraserinstitute.org/tp-boyle-founders-award|title=The TP Boyle Founder's Award|website=Fraser Institute|date=12 June 2014 |access-date=2016-01-19}}

• {{Official website|http://peterbrowncapital.com/}}
• [http://www.canaccordgenuity.com/ Canaccord Genuity]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Peter M.}}

Category:1941 births

Category:Living people

Category:Businesspeople from Vancouver

Category:St. George's School (Vancouver) alumni

Category:Shawnigan Lake School alumni