Less than three months into his tenure at Dundee Wealth Management Inc., Kym Anthony is making his mark, hiring a pair of industry veterans to head the retail division and bringing in Greg Reed to steer the independent dealer’s banking arm.

“My job wasn’t to come here and maintain the status quo,” says Anthony, CEO of Dundee Securities Corp. , as well as head of Dundee’s mutual fund and insurance dealerships and its mortgage brokerage.

Anthony, who served as president and CEO of National Bank Financial Ltd. for six years, joined Toronto-based Dundee in late November after selling his investment firm, KL Nova Financial Ltd., to his new employer.

By acquiring Toronto-based professional advisory company Harrington Lane Inc. , Anthony brings on board founders James McClocklin and Daniel Britnell to head Dundee’s retail sales force of more than 1,900 advisors. McClocklin and Britnell, who will begin their new roles in March, are both alumni of Merrill Lynch Canada Inc., at which McClocklin was senior vice president and Britnell was national director of international private-wealth services.

The two left Merrill four years ago to start Harrington Lane, which provided training and advice to advisors, but which will now be dissolved. Dundee purchased it for $2 million cash plus 350,000 common shares to be paid out to the co-founders over the next five years.

Anthony says the duo’s training skills and methodologies, as well as their experience dealing with a variety of companies and platforms, bring “incredible value” to Dundee.

“Over the past several years, they’ve had a look-see at what everybody’s doing: what works, what doesn’t work. And they’ve had a chance to recharge their view of what’s doable from a retail strategic and management standpoint,” Anthony says.

Industry consultant Dan Richards, president of Toronto-based Strategic Imperatives Ltd. , says McClocklin and Britnell have a good track record and could bring real value. “But there’s always going to be an adjustment to make,” he says. “Their experience is on the Investment Dealers Association of Canada side, so there is going to be a learning process.”

Anthony says the two are well-equipped to deal with their new roles: “They are both retail management types who did something else for the past few years, rather than trainers who are deciding to be managers.”

Discussing his appointment of Reed, Anthony, who also serves as the banking arm’s chairman, says he wanted to have the best executive possible to head fledgling Dundee Wealth Bank, which received its order to commence operations last July.

“There’s going to be a very measured approach to bringing capabilities and product offerings to the consumer. Once we do that, we’ll move pretty aggressively,” Anthony says.

Reed, who left his position as president and CEO of Toronto-based Altamira Investment Services Inc., a subsidiary of National Bank of Canada, in May 2005, says Dundee Wealth Bank will work through Dundee Wealth’s advisory base to grow. “At the moment, our advisors are focused on the investment management needs of their clients. But if they have access to banking products, they can start to provide tailored solutions,” Reed says.

Regarding what’s on the horizon for Dundee, Anthony has more changes planned for the next six months to a year, although new acquisitions are not on the front burner. “You’ll see growth right across the board, from finance securitization through the capital markets business,” he says. IE