Manulife CFO resigns

Manulife Financial has announced the resignation of its chief financial officer, Michael Bell. He will remain with the company to oversee its annual 2011 financial reports and until his successor can be chosen.

“I would like to thank Mike for his substantial ongoing contributions to Manulife,” said CEO Donald Guloien. “His family moved back to Philadelphia in June 2011. We have come to a mutual arrangement regarding his departure. We are very appreciative that he has agreed to stay with us in order to allow us to hire a replacement CFO and to allow for an orderly transition. A search process for a new CFO is now underway.”

The announcement came as a footnote to the latest quarterly results for the insurer, which posted a net loss of $69 million for the fourth quarter. The loss wasn’t as bad as it sounds, from an operating perspective; it was the result of a hefty one-time charge.

“As a result of the current and anticipated low interest rate environment and actions in 2011 taken to reduce the impact associated with low interest rates, the carrying value of goodwill for our John Hancock Life Insurance business was reduced by $665 million,” the company said in its earnings report.

The company managed to post $129 million in net income for the full year.

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Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.