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IGM Financial Hires O’Sullivan as CEO as Carney Steps Down

IGM Financial Hires O’Sullivan as CEO as Carney Steps Down

IGM Financial Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Carney has stepped down after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and the Canadian wealth- and asset-management firm named longtime Bank of Nova Scotia executive James O’Sullivan as his replacement.

O’Sullivan spent 30 years at Scotiabank, where his last executive role was as group head of Canadian banking before leaving last year. He was chosen because of his broad experience, which also includes stints in wealth and asset management, investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, and finance, according to Chairman Jeffrey Orr.

“His experience spans the entire market, so he’s got that great knowledge, and he’s also a great leader,” Orr said in an interview.

IGM Financial Hires O’Sullivan as CEO as Carney Steps Down

Carney will continue to serve in an advisory capacity to IGM Financial’s companies, according to the statement. Carney had pursued a client-focused strategy for IG Wealth Management that has improved the company’s competitive position and re-established Mackenzie Investments as an industry leader, the firm said.

“I have been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and while this is a tough decision to make, stepping aside at this time is the right move for both my family and the company,” Carney said in the statement.

O’Sullivan said his main priority will be providing continuity during the transition from Carney’s leadership and continuing the company’s recent momentum. Longer term, the firm will have to grapple with issues including rock-bottom interest rates, the rise of passive investing and rapid technological changes, all of which O’Sullivan said are putting market share up for grabs.

“There is a sufficient amount of change going on in this industry that there’s going to be winners and there’s going to be losers,” O’Sullivan said in an interview. “I love the amount of change that’s out there in the industry. My job, with the executive team, is to position this company to emerge a winner in the face of it.”

IGM, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, also appointed Damon Murchison, executive vice president and head of retail at the firm’s Mackenzie Investments mutual-fund unit, as president and CEO of IG Wealth Management, with the changes effective immediately.

Shares of IGM rose 1.5% to C$32.29 at 1:08 p.m. in Toronto.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.