Bank of Nova Scotia is reorganizing its wealth management and insurance businesses, and says the group head of its global wealth and insurance business, Chris Hodgson, is heading for retirement.
Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) said Friday that Hodgson will be retiring on October 31, and that the bank will be splitting up the division he has headed up since 2010.
In the new structure, James O’Sullivan will lead Scotia’s global asset management and global wealth distribution units as executive vice president, global wealth management. He will report jointly to Anatol von Hahn, head of the Canadian banking division, and Dieter Jentsch, head of international banking.
The Canadian insurance business will now come under Canadian banking, and the international insurance unit will now report to the international banking business line.
“Our objective in creating global wealth & insurance was to fast track growth across Canada and our international footprint,” said Brian Porter, president and CEO of the bank. “Under Chris Hodgson’s leadership, assets under management and earnings for both our wealth and insurance businesses have grown substantially and the business has a clear growth trajectory in key markets. This success creates the opportunity to realign these businesses more closely with our customers, distribution channels, and business partners.”
At the same time, the bank said that its global transaction banking unit will be moved under its global banking and markets division. It will be led by Marian Lawson in the new role of executive vice president, global financial institutions and transaction banking. The current head of global transaction banking, executive vice president, Alberta Cefis, will also retire on October 31, the bank said.
“Diversification remains at the core of our strategy, and these changes will allow us to continue to grow our broad customer base and product offerings within our well-established geographic footprint,” said Porter.