News Releases

BMO Financial Group has formed a panel of distinguished Canadians representing a variety of fields to counsel the organization on emerging issues related to the changing realities of retirement. 

This new council reaffirms BMO's continuing commitment to helping clients understand and prepare for the new challenges they face heading into retirement.

The New Retirement Advisory Council is chaired by John MacNaughton, former CEO and founding President of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, former President of BMO Nesbitt Burns and a director of major Canadian corporations. Council members come from a variety of disciplines, including medicine, law, broadcasting, public policy and research. The other members are: Dr. Michael Baker, Mel Cappe, Don Coxe, Allan Gregg, Elena Hoffstein, Moshe A. Milevsky, and Pamela Wallin.

“Our clients are increasingly considering issues that have not traditionally been included in the retirement planning equation, including health and wellness,  professional and career development, family wealth management, elder care and philanthropy,” said Gilles Ouellette, President and Chief Executive Officer, Private Client Group, BMO Financial Group. “To ensure that we stay abreast of developments in other fields and can provide new and creative ideas to meet broader client needs, we have taken the unique step of asking a group of distinguished Canadians to assist us. Their combined knowledge and expertise will stimulate and challenge our thinking and inspire us to be even more proactive and innovative in the ways we meet the evolving needs of our clients.”

BMO recently conducted the most comprehensive survey on Canadian retirement compiled to date, which revealed that the majority of Canadians, 45 years of age and over, want to retire the word retirement because it lacks relevance today.

One outcome from the research was the creation of BMO's New Retirement Advisory Council, which was set up to provide insight and guidance to BMO Financial Group regarding the issues, strategies and solutions related to the new retirement facing baby boomers in Canada. The Council will advise BMO about emerging trends and issues for boomers, retirees and those who are just starting to prepare for the next stage of their lives, with a view to assisting the organization in educating and informing clients. The Council will participate in ongoing discussions with BMO as well as client education and information events. BMO will also leverage the Council's expertise to develop materials and solutions for clients and to help educate BMO employees about various retirement-related issues.

“The Council members see this as a real opportunity to play a constructive role in helping to define this new retirement,” said John MacNaughton, Chair of BMO's New Retirement Advisory Council.  “We will respond to the bank's desire to define their strategy to develop new and creative approaches to retirement planning.”

The first meeting of BMO's New Retirement Advisory Council was held on September 7. Members reviewed the structure, role and mandate of the Council as well as BMO's extensive work on its new retirement initiative to date. The group discussed issues and opportunities related to retirement and developed the Council's agenda going forward.

New Retirement Advisory Council

John MacNaughton (Council Chair) - Served from 1999 to 2005 as the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, a Crown Corporation created by an Act of Parliament to manage the assets of the Canada Pension Plan. Prior to that,  Mr. MacNaughton spent 31 years with BMO Nesbitt Burns and predecessor companies, as a practicing investment banker and then as a senior executive of the firms.  He was President of Burns Fry and then BMO Nesbitt Burns from 1989 until 1999.

Dr. Michael Baker - Physician-in-Chief of the University Health Network and Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Dr. Baker is the first holder of the Charles H. Hollenberg Chair in Medicine. Dr. Baker leads the Department of Medicine at University Health Network, one of Canada's premier academic departments with national prominence in medical education and international leadership in medical research.  

Mel Cappe- President and CEO of the Institute for Research on Public Policy in Montreal.  He began this position on June 1, 2006 after more than 30 years in the public service of Canada, including  having served as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Deputy Minister in several departments and Clerk of the Privy Council.

Don Coxe – Global Portfolio Strategist for BMO Financial Group in Canada and for Harris in the U.S.  With three decades of institutional investing and money management experience in both countries, Mr. Coxe has a unique background in North American and global capital markets. Mr. Coxe was also a member of the Canada Pension Plan Advisory Committee and the Ontario Royal Commission on the Status of Pensions in Ontario where he made significant contributions, particularly in the areas of finance and investments.

Allan Gregg - Co-founder of The Strategic Counsel and Founder, in 1979, of Decima Research.  Mr. Gregg is known and respected as one of Canada's senior research professionals and was a pioneer in the integration of consulting, public-opinion research, public affairs and communications. Over more than two decades, he has brought his skills to bear on such important policy issues as budget measures, transportation and fishery policy, physicians' fees and privatization of Crown corporations.

Elena Hoffstein - practices in the area of personal tax and estate planning, family business succession planning, estate administration and estate litigation. Ms. Hoffstein also practices in the area of charity law, including work with public organizations, private family foundations, hospitals and hospital related organizations and non-profit entities. She has advised both donors and charities with respect to planned giving.

Moshe A. Milevsky, Ph.D. - Associate Professor at the Schulich School of Business, York University and Executive Director of The IFID Centre. Dr. Milevsky is the author of over 40 published articles and five books, including The Calculus of Retirement Income by Cambridge University Press (2006). He has consulted and lectured widely on the topics of risk management, wealth management and insurance. He is the founding co-editor of the Journal of Pension Economics and Finance. And, in the summer of 2002, he was designated a Fellow of the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences.

Pamela Wallin – former Canadian Consul General to New York – an appointment that followed more than 30 years in journalism and broadcasting. From CBC Radio and the Toronto Star, to a long career at CTV, she went on to become the first Canadian woman to co-anchor a nightly national television newscast. In 1995, she founded an independent production company. Ms. Wallin is now the Senior Advisor, Canada-US Relations at the Americas Society in New York. She also serves on the board of directors of Bell Globemedia and Gluskin Sheff & Associates, and the boards of several academic, medical and charitable organizations.

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BMO Financial Group's New Retirement Advisory Council meets for the first time on Thursday, September 7, 2006 in Toronto to discuss the emerging issues related to the changing realities of retirement. The Council is chaired by John MacNaughton, former CEO and founding President of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (at head of the table), and he is joined by a group of distinguished Canadians, including (seated to his right) Don Coxe, Moshe Milevsky, Mel Cappe and Pamela Wallin. Other members not in the photo: Dr. Michael Baker, Allan Gregg and Elena Hoffstein.