CONFEDERATION LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
Fairbank Lumber and Sprucegrove Farm may be long gone, but certainly not forgotten, certainly not by John Watson, who in fact, went on to honour both names. John started with a Bachelor of Commerce (1966) and an MBA (1967) from the University of Toronto, and he had a great desire to get out and see what Bay Street had to offer, so when he received an offer to join Confederation Life as a security analyst, he jumped at the opportunity. “I started on July 17, 1967, and six months later, I knew this was the job for me,” says John. “I loved what I was doing, studying businesses, and determining whether they were overvalued or undervalued and, if undervalued, convincing my leaders of the day that they should own it, on behalf of the policyholders.”
Subsequently, John went on to earn a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation (1973), and enrolled in a program to become a Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI designation 1973), in which he was able to study many aspects of the life and health insurance business, such as actuarial science and claims management, as well as economics and investing. He began to work his way up the ladder at Confederation Life, from junior security analyst to security analyst to senior security analyst to assistant vice-president in charge of research and finally, vice-president and senior vice-president in charge of investments. “It took a number of years, but I was always doing what I loved to do,” says John.
In and around 1989, John was asked to relinquish the role of head of the investment operations of the parent company, as that role was being divided among the three global businesses: Canada, United States and United Kingdom. He had been Chairman of the Board of a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, Confed Investment Counselling Limited (CICL), since 1977. In late 1989, John was asked to take on the role of President and Chief Executive Officer, a task that was right up his alley. During the period 1990 through 1993, there was a change in senior management at Confederation Life. In a nutshell, the new CEO of Confederation Life, Paul Cantor, did not see eye to eye with John on an important matter related to an incentive compensation plan for the employees of CICL. When Paul Cantor was unable or unwilling to deliver on promises made in that regard, John resigned on July 19, 1993, 26 years after he started, almost to the day. Interestingly, two of his partners and longtime colleagues at CICL and Confederation Life, Ian Fyfe (1973) and Peter Clark (1978) also resigned a few weeks later.
Subsequently, John went on to earn a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation (1973), and enrolled in a program to become a Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI designation 1973), in which he was able to study many aspects of the life and health insurance business, such as actuarial science and claims management, as well as economics and investing. He began to work his way up the ladder at Confederation Life, from junior security analyst to security analyst to senior security analyst to assistant vice-president in charge of research and finally, vice-president and senior vice-president in charge of investments. “It took a number of years, but I was always doing what I loved to do,” says John.
In and around 1989, John was asked to relinquish the role of head of the investment operations of the parent company, as that role was being divided among the three global businesses: Canada, United States and United Kingdom. He had been Chairman of the Board of a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, Confed Investment Counselling Limited (CICL), since 1977. In late 1989, John was asked to take on the role of President and Chief Executive Officer, a task that was right up his alley. During the period 1990 through 1993, there was a change in senior management at Confederation Life. In a nutshell, the new CEO of Confederation Life, Paul Cantor, did not see eye to eye with John on an important matter related to an incentive compensation plan for the employees of CICL. When Paul Cantor was unable or unwilling to deliver on promises made in that regard, John resigned on July 19, 1993, 26 years after he started, almost to the day. Interestingly, two of his partners and longtime colleagues at CICL and Confederation Life, Ian Fyfe (1973) and Peter Clark (1978) also resigned a few weeks later.