Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland has decided to quit as a primary dealer of Irish Government bonds and wind down its debt desk as it seeks to prioritise its wealth and investment business, according to sources.
The firm, led by chief executive Gerard Casey, has told the five staff on its bond desk that their jobs are at risk. However, sources said some are expected to be redeployed within the company.
Cantor Ireland has informed the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) that it plans to resign as a primary dealer.
There was a two-year period earlier this decade when Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland was the only local primary dealer, between the time Davy was dropped by the NTMA in March 2021 amid the fallout from a Central Bank of Ireland fine and reprimand and Goodbody Stockbrokers being recognised by the agency as a primary dealer in June 2023.
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“Cantor is redirecting focus to where we can deliver the greatest value for our clients, particularly in the expanding Irish wealth and investment management market,” said a spokesman for the firm. “We’re working in close partnership with the NTMA to ensure a smooth transition for all parties.”
The decision has come as a surprise to industry observers. An expected surge in public and private debt issuance by semi-State and private-sector companies in the coming years, as investment in infrastructure and the green transition accelerates, has prompted both Davy and Goodbody to invest in recent years on building up their bond desks. By contrast, activity on the equities side of their capital markets divisions has been affected by a slew of companies exiting the stock market.
Cantor’s bond desk has been focused on government bonds. It is led by head of debt capital markets, Peter Blessing, and includes traders and debt salespeople. He joined the company in 2013 as a trader from PTSB’s treasury unit and reports to David Tilson, head of capital markets, who joined the firm from Bank of Ireland three years ago.
The company has also pulled back its corporate finance offering in recent times. Its wealth and investment management business has almost €11 billion of client assets under management or advice.
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Davy started rebuilding a bond desk from scratch in late 2022 under the ownership of Bank of Ireland, after the previous desk was closed and the entire firm put up for sale in March 2021 in the wake of the firm being hit by the regulatory fine and rebuke over a breach of market rules in a 2014 bond deal involving junior Anglo Irish Bank bonds.
Davy was recognised again by the NTMA early last year as a primary dealer and has a nine-member team, led by Michael Cummins, who was hired three years ago, including staff working on private debt placings.
The Goodbody Stockbrokers team has grown to nine people, across trading, distribution and advisory, from a two-man desk when that firm was acquired by AIB in 2021. It is headed by Garret Grogan.
However, the primary focus of Davy, Goodbody and Cantor Ireland is wealth and investment management, which is seen as an area that offers strong growth prospects against the backdrop of rising household wealth, a growing but ageing population, and, more recently, plans by the Government to set up a savings and investment scheme for small investors.
Total Irish net household wealth has grown 124 per cent over the past decade to €1.4 trillion, with average net wealth standing at €729,000 at the end of 2025, driven by property assets, according to a report published during the summer by Fordel, a high-net-worth wealth management firm.
