Industry moves this week

Each week, Advisor.ca summarizes notable moves across the financial industry.

• Geoff Pilgrim is now director of operations and transitions with Harbourfront Wealth Management Inc. Working out of Burlington, Ont., he’ll support nearly 300 existing staff across the country as well as any incoming advisory teams. He was previously vice-president of supervision and advisor experience with Wellington-Altus Private Wealth Inc., a role that also involved helping with advisor transitions. For most of his career, he worked with RBC Wealth Management Financial Services Inc.
• David Turnbull is senior vice-president and head of Private Company Advisory for IG Wealth Management. He’s been the president and CEO for Toronto-based Arch Capital Inc., an investment banking holding company, for more than 20 years. Throughout his career, he’s also worked with large banks and companies like Manulife Financial Corp.
• Michael Cooke has been nominated as the leader of the board of directors for the Canadian ETF Association (CETFA) for a subsequent two-year term. He was most recently head of ETFs with Mackenzie Investments for eight years. CETFA also said in an email that board vice-chair Ron Landry is serving the second year of his current term, while both secretary Shalomi Abraham (senior vice-president and head of legal, Canada, with Invesco Canada) and treasurer David Roode (vice-president and director and head, ETF product and strategy, with TD Asset Management) have joined for two years.
• Louis Gagnon has left his position as president and CEO with Toronto-based Foresters Financial, for personal reasons. He had been in the role for nearly two years, and with the firm for nearly three. A successor search is underway, a release said, with the board of directors appointing chief legal officer René Zanin to lead on an interim basis.
• John Oakey has joined CPA Canada as vice-president, taxation, succeeding Bruce Ball, who held the role for more than five years. Oakey came from Waterloo, Ont.–based Baker Tilly Canada Cooperative where he was national director of tax services.
• It was reported recently by The Globe and Mail that Toronto-Dominion Bank hired a handful of technology bankers from the Canadian division of the failed Silicon Valley Bank, based on sources familiar with the moves. The group includes Shez Samji (formerly managing director and head of business development with SVB Canada), Michelle Sabourin (formerly a vice-president in credit solutions), Tom Lowden (formerly vice-president of technology banking) and Mark Kiyonaga (formerly director of credit solutions).
• Jeff Elliott is global chief operating officer (COO) with New York–based Mercer. He’ll keep his previous responsibilities as the company’s U.S. and Canada COO, a role he’s held since 2021, and also will lead overall operations and technology globally.
• Barry Perry will be on Royal Bank of Canada’s board of directors, effective Aug. 1, joining the audit and human resources committees. Perry worked for decades with Fortis Inc., a global electric utility holding company based in Atlantic Canada, where he was CFO for a decade, and then president and CEO between 2015 and 2020, a release said. He’s currently on the board for Capital Power Corp. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
• Women in ETFs Canada has added multiple leadership positions with its Toronto chapter. New members include: Amanda Correa as co-head of marketing and communication (she’s head of wealth and insurance marketing with Sun Life Canada); Megan France as co-head of events (she’s director of ETF business development with CIBC Capital Markets); Meaghan Kelly as co-head of mentorship (senior vice-president of strategic communications, research and product innovation with AGF Investments); Roma Lotay, part of the membership team (a partner with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP); and Tiffany Zhang, university outreach (vice-president of ETF research and strategy with National Bank Financial).

If you know of other people moves in the financial industry and/or would like us to consider your announcement, email Katie Keir at katie@newcom.ca.

Katie Keir

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Katie is special projects editor for Advisor.ca and has worked with the team since 2010. In 2012, she was named Best New Journalist by the Canadian Business Media Awards. Reach her at katie@newcom.ca.