FACING adversity is nothing new to Edward Rigg, having grown up on a farm, often in drought conditions, at Coorow, north of Perth. The ability to devise innovative and practical solutions while assessing risk are characteristics from this time that have served him well, he says. Mr Rigg’s integrated investment bank, Argonaut, focuses on companies in the oil and gas, mining, agribusiness and contracting sectors. Argonaut was built on a premise to offer high quality, big firm service without the big firm fees, originating as a corporate advisory firm. It now offers stock broking and capital raisings, funds management and investments and resources incubator divisions as part of the Argonaut Group. Mr Rigg started the business in 2002, in the wake of the dot.com market crash. With three years’ experience at global investment bank CIBC World Markets in Sydney, he recognised the potential for a corporate advisory firm in Perth’s resources sector. He gained support from CIBC and business partner Charles Fear, whose relationships with some of Western Australia’s largest industrial companies were critical to the business’s early success. While managing the growth of Argonaut, Mr Rigg has been integral in the ASX or AIM listing of six companies, which now have a combined market capitalisation of about $250 million. With his family, Mr Rigg has established a high-quality horse breeding, racing and agistment facility at Lake Clifton and has earned qualifications as a responsible officer under the Australian Financial Services Licensing regime and as a responsible executive, the highest accreditation level under ASX rules.