John Appel, RBC Dain Rauscher’s vice chairman and president of fixed income capital markets, will retire on January 1, the firm announced today.

Appel will be succeeded as president of fixed income capital markets by Larry Holtz, director of fixed income sales and trading and a 17-year veteran of the securities industry. Holtz has worked at Dain Rauscher’s fixed income division since 1986.

Holtz began his career at Dain Rauscher as an institutional trader on the government bond trading desk in Minneapolis. Currently, he oversees the firm’s taxable fixed income and municipal sales, trading and underwriting functions. A native of the Twin Cities, he has a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from the University of Minnesota. “Larry is a proven leader who attracts great people with his common-sense, competitive approach to the business,” Appel said. “He is the ideal person to lead fixed income capital markets in the future.”

Joining fixed income capital markets as director of taxable trading will be Jerry Phillips, manager of fixed income trading, institutional sales and public finance groups at Tucker Anthony Sutro, the Boston-based brokerage firm which Royal Bank intends to acquire and integrate with Dain Rauscher later this year, pending regulatory approval. Phillips is an 11-year veteran of Sutro & Co.

Appel’s departure will mark the end of an era for Dain Rauscher. He joined the firm in 1986 as chief financial officer. By 1997, he had risen to chief executive officer of Dain Bosworth Inc. When Dain Bosworth was combined with Rauscher Pierce Refsnes to form Dain Rauscher, Appel assumed the role of CFO for the combined enterprise. In 1999, he was named president of fixed income capital markets. “I’ve been so fortunate to finish my career working with an outstanding group of people,” Appel said. “They’re the ones who deserve the credit for fixed income’s current success. As we face the challenges of becoming a bigger organization, I know they’ll continue to run a successful and profitable business.”

Appel is moving to Oregon, where he will pursue personal interests. “I couldn’t ask for more from my career at Dain Rauscher,” he said. “It has been, and will continue to be, a great franchise, and I’ll miss all of the good people who work here. But it’s time for me to commit more time to some of my personal goals that have been on the back burner for awhile.”