Source: The Canadian Press

The head of Canaccord Financial Inc. (TSX:CF) offered some careful optimism Friday about the state of the investment industry, there are signs of stability but nothing is certain.

“Business is getting done that is properly priced and properly marketed,” Canaccord chief executive Paul Reynolds said Friday in an interview after the company’s annual meeting in Toronto.

The Vancouver-based investment bank’s capital markets division was rebranded Canaccord Genuity last month after the acquisition of Genuity Capital Markets, a Toronto-based firm created several years ago by a former chief executive of CIBC World Markets.

Reynolds said Canaccord has been able to execute several deals in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada when they’ve been properly priced.

“The market’s different in all three regions we’re doing business, but it is on slightly shaky ground,” Reynolds said.

Canaccord held a sparsely attended annual meeting Friday in downtown Toronto, which was unusually quiet as shops and businesses closed as a precaution ahead of weekend G20 meetings.

Fewer than 10 of the company’s investors attended the meeting in person.

“Unfortunately when we scheduled the meeting… we didn’t anticipate the G20 meeting here in Toronto,” Reynolds told the shareholders, noting many of Canaccord’s staff were asked to stay at home and listen through a webcast.

Reynolds said the firm is growing its internal operations at the moment, hiring in both Britain and the States.

He also said that he expects interest rates which will remain low for “longer than people think” and that will be good for stocks.

“For the next 12 months interest rates aren’t going any higher, which means that equities at certain times are going to look very attractive,” he said.

Last month, Canaccord reported that its annual revenue was up 20.9% from fiscal 2009, rising to $577.5 million from $477.7 million.

“We’ve made a concerted effort to reduce costs and drive revenue growth,” Reynolds said.

Canaccord shares traded Friday afternoon at $9.25, up 15 cents, on the Toronto Stock Exchange.