TORONTO - Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC) says Richard DeWolfe will become chairman of the insurance company's board when Gail Cook-Bennett retires from the post.
DeWolfe, 68, will initially become vice-chairman effective Saturday, and become chairman at Manulife's annual meeting in May, the company said Friday.
Cook-Bennett, currently 71, will leave the board having reached its retirement age of 72 by the time of the annual meeting. She has been a Manulife director since 1978.
"We have benefited enormously from Dick DeWolfe's keen interest and wise counsel, as a director at large and as chair of the audit committee," said Manulife chief executive Donald Guloien said in a statement.
"I am looking forward to working even more closely with Dick over the next few years."
DeWolfe, who joined the Manulife board in 2004, is the managing partner of DeWolfe and Co., a real estate management and investment consulting firm.
Manulife is one of Canada's largest insurance companies with operations in Canada, the United States and Asia.
The announcement that DeWolfe will become chairman follows a move by the company earlier this week that will see Marianne Harrison lead the company's Canadian division, effective Jan. 1.
Harrison has been president of Manulife's John Hancock Long Term Care Insurance in the United States since 2008.
Her appointment to lead the biggest business unit in the Manulife group follows the appointment of Paul Rooney as chief operating officer of the whole company.
Manulife recently pushed out its target date to reach $4 billion in "core" profits by a year to 2016 as it said it faced "significant headwinds" over the past two years.
Volatile stocks and low bond yields have hammered insurance companies in recent years.
Manulife shares were down six cents at $12.77 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday.
