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Donald Guloien is President and Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Financial Corporation. He is also a Manulife director and Chair of the Company’s Executive Committee.
A 28-year company veteran, Mr. Guloien has held leadership roles in both Manulife’s insurance and investment operations, and brings significant experience leading global M&A and business development activity. Before taking on his current role, he served as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, where he was recognized as a leading global investment executive.
In that role from 2001 to 2009, Mr. Guloien was responsible for Manulife's worldwide investment operations, including management of the Company's $190 billion of general fund assets. He also led the significant growth of the company's external (third-party) asset management business, MFC Global Investment Management, a global leader in wealth management services, where as Chair he oversaw the management of more than $95 billion of diverse assets for external clients, including large pension funds, endowments and financial services companies. During that period, he also led the integration of Manulife’s investment operations with those of John Hancock in 2004, creating one of the strongest global investment management franchises in the industry.
Mr. Guloien brings wide-ranging international experience. In his investment role he was responsible for Manulife’s global investment operations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Asia. In June 2007, Mr. Guloien’s portfolio was expanded to include the company’s Asian Insurance and Wealth Management operations representing Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Macau.
From 1994 to 2001, he led Manulife’s Business Development unit, spearheading a number of key acquisitions, divestitures and strategic initiatives, including: the merger of Manulife with North American Life Assurance Company; the sale of Manulife’s U.K. business; Manulife’s transformational demutualization project (the conversion of the company from a mutual life insurance company to an investor-owned, publicly traded stock company); and its entry into Japan.
Mr. Guloien joined Manulife in 1981 as a research analyst and quickly moved through several strategic and marketing roles in both the Canadian and U.S. Divisions. In 1990, he became Vice President, US Individual Business, where he was responsible for the operations of the Company's individual insurance and annuity business in the United States.
Mr. Guloien is a member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and a Director of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association. He is also a member of the Young Presidents' Organization. Mr. Guloien is a former board member of the Children’s Aid Society Foundation, ThinkFirst Foundation of Canada and LIMRA International. He is actively involved with the University of Toronto, where he is a member of the Campaign Cabinet for the Rotman School of Management, and a former member of the Governing Council, the Dean’s Advisory Committee for the School of Graduate Studies and the Hart House Board of Stewards. He is a 1998 recipient of the Arbor Award for his contributions to the University.
Mr. Guloien holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto.