Dominic D'Alessandro gets $12.5 Million "Thank You"

Manulife recently promised to pay retiring chief executive officer Dominic D'Alessandro $12.5-million (U.S.) this year in recognition of his "extraordinary performance" at the company.


Manulife Financial's share price plunged 49% last year, so this "Golden Handshake" of sorts should not be seen as a bonus for 2008 or 2009, but more as a bonus for taking Manulife from where it was 15 years ago to where it is today. He will be paid $2.5-million in cash and $10-million in restricted share units.

Mr. D'Alessandro will work just five months of 2009 and plans to retire in May, when he will be eligible to collect an annual pension of $3-million (Canadian). Perhaps he'll write a book, or teach a class at the local community college?

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Neil Skelding

President and Chief Executive Officer - RBC Insurance

As President & CEO of RBC Insurance, Neil Skelding has global responsibility for RBC Financial Group's insurance businesses, including life and health, home and auto and travel insurance as well as reinsurance. He was appointed to his current position in September 2004.

RBC Insurance provides insurance solutions to more than five million North American customers. Mr Skelding joined RBC Insurance in January 2003 as executive vice-president, Life Operations, and also served as President and CEO of RBC Life Insurance Company.

Prior to working for RBC Insurance, Mr. Skelding held a number of senior positions in the Canadian insurance industry with Transamerica Life Canada , Money Concepts, Aegon Dealer Services, Zurich Canada and World Travel Protection.

Mr. Skelding has a bachelor of technology in mechanical engineering and an MBA in Finance. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of North York General Hospital and is on the Principal's Advisory Council for the University of Toronto ( Mississauga campus).

Mr. Skelding is chair of the Canadian Association of Financial Institutions in Insurance (CAFII) and is also a director with the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA).

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Raymond McFeetors

Chairman - Great West Life Co.

A fresh-faced Raymond McFeetors, who holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Winnipeg, first entered the doors of Great-West Life as a junior trainee in 1968. It was a smart career move. The married father of four and homegrown Manitoban earned his chartered financial analyst designation in 1978 and managed to work his way up to senior vice-president and chief investment officer by 1991, making the leap to president and chief executive officer just a year later. McFeetors became co-president and CEO (with William McCallum) of the parent corporation in 2000, and went solo in the top spot last year after McCallum's retirement. In the past year, Great-West Lifeco has bought two annuity blocks in the U.K. with almost $15 billion worth of assets, greatly increasing its European presence. Read Full Post...

André Desmarais

President and co-Chief Executive Officer - Power Corporation

André Desmarais, O.C. (born October 26, 1956, in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian businessman, whose hometown is Montreal, Canada. He is one of two sons of Paul Desmarais, Sr. He is currently the president and co-chief executive officer of his father's founding company the Power Corporation, based in Montreal, Canada. It is a diversified management and holding company, which has holdings in leading financial services and the communications sector. Through its European-based affiliate Pargesa group, Power Corporation holds significant positions in major media, energy, water, waste services, and specialty minerals companies. Power Corporation also has diversified interests in Asia.

He attended Selwyn House School and later obtained a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University, both located in Montreal. Andre Desmarais was appointed as a member of the Hong Kong Chief Executive's Council of International Advisers in the years of 1998-2005[1].

In 2003 he was appointed to the International Council of the JP Morgan Chase Bank. Also in that year he was named an officer of the Order of Canada. He is married to France Chrétien Desmarais, the daughter of former Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien. They have four children.

Born in 1956. Early in his career involved with Corporation Campeau Limitée (real estate). Special assistant to the Minister of Justice of Canada. Institutional investment councillor at Richardson Greenshields Securities. Joined Power Corporation in the early 1980s. Headed the exploitation department at Power Corporation for several years. Director Groupe Bruxelles Lambert since 1990. President and co-CEO of Power Corporation since 1996 and primarily responsible for the publishing arm of the company. Regularly attends the Trilateral Commission since the late 1990s. Member of the International Advisory Council of J.P. Morgan Chase anno 2005. Director and member of the International Advisory Council of the Hong Kong-based CITIC Pacific, a very large industrial corporation operating in China. Member of the Chief Executive's Council of International Advisors of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), together with Paul Volcker (former head FED; Rockefeller protege), Peter Sutherland (chair Goldman Sachs; chair Trilateral Commission), Maurice R. Greenberg (chair AIG; vice-chairman CFR; Bilderberg; Trilateral Commission; Bohemian Grove; trustee Rockefeller University), Sir John Bond (Chair HSBC; Bank of England; Multinational Chairman's Group). Named an officer of the Order of Canada in 2003. Honorary chairman of the Canada-China Business Council, an organization founded by Maurice Strong and his father. Andre Desmarais is married to France, the daughter of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Read Full Post...

Dominic D'Alessandro

President and Chief Executive Officer - Manulife Financial

President and Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Financial since January 1994, Mr. D’Alessandro has led the Company to its 14th consecutive year of record financial performance, resulting in Manulife being among the most profitable life insurance companies in North America.

Mr. D’Alessandro led the successful demutualization and conversion of the Company to public company status in September 1999. This important accomplishment set the stage for the Company to become a world leader in the financial services industry. In 2004, he managed the largest cross-border transaction in Canadian history with the successful completion of the merger with John Hancock Financial Services, creating the second largest life insurance company in North America and the fourth largest in the world.

Mr. D’Alessandro continues to endorse and promote Manulife’s values, established under his leadership in 1994, common to all business divisions around the world. These values are summarized by the acronym PRIDE, which stands for Professionalism, Real Value to Customers, Integrity, Demonstrated Financial Strength, and Employer of Choice. Manulife is widely recognized for putting these values into practice. In 2007, it once again received first place ranking in the Globe and Mail's Corporate Governance survey. In addition it was named as the top Canadian Brand on the list of the world's 250 most valuable brands as well as one of Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures. In early 2008 it was cited as a Best Employer of New Canadians.

Being a good corporate citizen is an integral part of the Company’s values. Donation and sponsorship commitments to the communities where the Company does business have increased considerably. Mr. D’Alessandro is also personally committed to citizenship. He is currently co-chair of the Montreal Neurological Institute’s fundraising campaign, a five-year, $40-million initiative to invest in people and expand facilities and services. He was Campaign Chair for the Salvation Army, Ontario Central Division’s first Capital Campaign. He was also Campaign Chair for the Greater Toronto United Way Campaign in 1998 and, in 1996, served as Co-chairman of the Corporate Fund for Breast Cancer Research Campaign.

Mr. D’Alessandro is a Vice Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and is a Director of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association. He also Co-Chairs the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council. As President of Manulife, Mr. D’Alessandro is a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee.

As well as receiving numerous other awards, Mr. D’Alessandro was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in August 2003. He was named ‘Canada’s Most Respected CEO’ for 2004 and ‘Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year 2002’ by his peers for his contribution to business and the community. In November 2006, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper named Mr. D’Alessandro to the Advisory Committee on the Public Service of Canada, and in June 2006 appointed him to NAFTA’s North American Competitiveness Council. In July 2008, he will be inducted into the International Insurance Society Hall of Fame. Mr. D’Alessandro received honourary doctorates from the University of Ottawa and Ryerson University in June 2008. He received the International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award from the University of Manitoba in June 2007, and has also received the Canadian Business Leader Award from the Alberta School of Business in March 2007, an Honourary Doctorate from York University in June 2006, a 2005 Horatio Alger Award, a Special Lifetime Management Achievement Award from McGill University in February 2005, Concordia University’s Loyola Medal in May 2004, the University of Toronto’s Arbour Award in September 1999, and an Honourary Doctorate from Concordia University in June 1998. Mr. D’Alessandro was also made a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1993.

Career Highlights
Mr. D’Alessandro graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Mathematics from Loyola College, Montreal. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1971. Mr. D’Alessandro has an extensive and varied background in the financial services industry. From 1968 to 1975, he was employed by Coopers & Lybrand, where he also spent time in the firm’s Paris office.

In 1975, Mr. D’Alessandro joined Genstar Ltd. During his six years with the firm, he worked in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia as Director of Finance and subsequently General Manager, and was later based in San Francisco as Vice President of Genstar’s Materials and Construction Group.

Mr. D’Alessandro joined the Royal Bank of Canada in 1981 where he held a number of positions including Executive Vice President, Finance.

In November 1988, Mr. D’Alessandro was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Laurentian Bank of Canada. Read Full Post...

Gordon Nixon

President and Chief Executive Officer - RBC Financial Group

Gordon Nixon is president and chief executive officer of RBC Financial Group, the brand name for Royal Bank of Canada and its subsidiaries. He is also a director of Royal Bank of Canada and chairman of RBC's Group Executive.

Mr. Nixon began his career in 1979 at Dominion Securities in Toronto where he worked in Global Markets and subsequently the Investment Banking division. In 1986, he transferred to Tokyo to assume responsibility for the firm's operations in Japan. Dominion Securities was acquired by Royal Bank of Canada in 1987 and Mr. Nixon returned to Toronto in 1989 as a Managing Director of Investment Banking. In 1995, Mr. Nixon was appointed head of Global Investment Banking and in 1999 became Chief Executive officer of RBC Capital Markets and a member of Royal Bank's Executive Committee. He was appointed President of Royal Bank of Canada on April 1, 2001 and Chief Executive Officer on August 1, 2001.

Mr. Nixon is Chairman of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, and is on the Board of Directors of The Hospital for Sick Children, the International Monetary Conference and MaRS Discovery District for which he will become Chairman in 2009. He is also on the Canadian Advisory Boards of Daimler/Chrysler, Catalyst and Queen's University School of Business.

In 2007 Mr. Nixon was invested into the Order of Ontario and was the recipient of Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year Award. He has an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Queen's University, and is a recipient of the CIJA/UJA Words and Deeds Leadership Award, the Rotary Foundation's Paul Harris Fellowship, a Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal, a Learning Partnership Champion of Public Education Tribute and an American Banker Innovator of the Year Award. Born in Montreal in 1957, Mr. Nixon attended Queen's University where he received an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree. He and his wife live in Toronto and have three children.

Rank:1

Age:49

Tenure:5 yrs., 10 mos.

Salary:$1.4 mil

Bonus:$5 mil

Gordon Nixon received $14.9 million in total compensation last year, the most ever paid to a Canadian bank CEO. But Canada's largest bank also had a record 2006 under his leadership, earning a $4.7-billion profit, the biggest yet for a Canadian bank. The Montreal-born, Queen's University — educated Nixon led the growth by signing off on five U.S. acquisitions, including the first retail takeovers since fall 2003, when the bank paid US$80 million for a group of Florida branches owned by Provident Financial Group. On tap? Nixon said in March he wants to continue finding even more American banks to buy.

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