Insurance firm name veteran public servant to top director position
Fresh from reporting positive earnings results for Q1 2017 last week, iA Financial Group has announced the appointment of Jocelyne Bourgon as the new chair of its Board of Directors. Replacing the outgoing John LeBoutillier, Bourgon was a natural choice for the role having been a member of the iA board since May 2014, and its vice-chair since May 2016.
Related stories:
iA Financial celebrates 125th anniversary as CEO reaffirms commitment to life insurance market
Industrial Alliance to acquire HollisWealth
The new chair has a wealth of experience in public service, and is perhaps best known for her time as clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the Cabinet for five years, making her the first and only woman to have held that position in Canada.
iA Financial will also have the advantage of having a leader with decades of experience on the international stage. Bourgon has served as president of the UN Committee of Experts in Public Administration, president of the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration & Management (CAPAM), as well as ambassador at the OECD.
She comes into the role after the firm held elections to name directors at its annual meeting on May 11, 2017.
The vote of confidence for Bourgon among common shareholders was overwhelming, with the ballot returning a 99.93% vote in her favour. Joining her on the iA board are Yvon Charest, Denyse Chicoyne, Denyse Chicoyne, Emma K. Griffin, Michael Hanley, Jacques Martin, Francis P. McGuire, Mary C. Ritchie.
It’s a milestone year for iA as it celebrates its 125th anniversary and got off to a good start with net income of $110.3 million in the first quarter. This compared favorably to the Q1 2016 figure of $98.3 million, and the firm’s president and CEO said Yvon Charest identified its insurance operations as a real driver of growth.
“I want to highlight our group insurance and wealth businesses, where all segments reported superior business growth,” he said. “The momentum in our individual insurance and seg fund operations carried over into the first quarter, as it did for our auto and home subsidiary. On the strategic front, we look forward to completing the HollisWealth transaction in August and continue to seek opportunities to expand our presence in the US market."Related stories:
iA Financial celebrates 125th anniversary as CEO reaffirms commitment to life insurance market
Industrial Alliance to acquire HollisWealth
