Archive for May, 2009

The question I get asked the most (after what’s Dominic D’Alessandro really like) is this: Is Manulife safe? The answer is a resounding yes. All life insurance policies, annuities, and other products are hale and hearty. No policy holder or client needs to worry. The fact that Manulife this week raised $350 million in a preferred share issue (announced at $250 million and increased because of demand) is further proof that investors have confidence in the company. The preferred issue pays 5.6 per cent, a nice rate when GICs are in the 2 per cent range.

Manulife’s dilemma was never financial, it was accounting. Regulators demanded the company put up an additional $11 billion in capital because 250,000 out of 20 million clients had variable annuities. It was a crazy demand at the time and one that caused Manulife’s share price to fall from $40 to $9. Share price is now back to the $23 range.

I’m wise enough not to predict where share price will go for Manulife or any other company, but as for Manulife’s corporate health … there is not now and never was a problem.

UPDATE: Manulife followed up this week with a massive $1 billion debt issue, another sign of good health. The five-year notes were priced to pay interest of 4.896 per cent.

Part of the joy of finishing a new book is the free time available. Eighteen months of 14-hour days researching/writing/editing are suddenly over. The book is published. Now what?

The publicity tour, that’s what. Many authors complain about having to do publicity. Not me. What’s wrong with talking about your baby, telling favorite anecdotes, and celebrating its very existence? To be sure, many of the interviewers at newspapers and broadcast outlets haven’t read the book. Just as the interview is about to start, they lean in and whisper, “I’m sorry, I haven’t had a chance to read the book yet. I’ve been so busy.” They say it with such honesty it’s as if they think I’ve never before heard such a confession.

In the early years (my first book was published in 1983) I’d be offended but I soon learned that gave me an opening. I could take charge of the interview, tell the stories I wanted, and make sure to mention the title of the book often. Make the interviewer look good and the piece will run longer than if you got angry with her lack of knowledge about your tome.

Along the way, I discovered another secret of television. Don’t bother answering the question, just tell your stories. No one ever complains, they’re delighted to fill the required minutes.

Still, some interviewers are better than others. A few spend time thinking about the topic and have a planned approach. Such a one is John Maciel of CKWR in Kitchener-Waterloo. It was a pleasure to talk to him again this week. He made life easy for me and interesting for his listeners on FM 98.5.

There is also fun on the road. I was once picked up at an airport by the wrong publicist. We got all the way to the first interview before she realized I was not Wayne Johnston, the novelist. That was followed by the fastest trip back to the airport I have ever taken, whereupon I was unceremoniously dumped at the main door while she went looking for her lost man.

And there are always those interviewers who blithely introduce me as Rod McKuen. “No, no,” I protest, “he’s the bad poet.” Which leads me to the author’s prayer: Say what you like; just get my name right.

The first executive appointment under new management at Manulife bespeaks a departure from the past. David Paterson, the face of General Motors in Canada as the automaker’s main spokesperson, will become responsible for public affairs at Manulife on June 1. As such, Paterson will come in over Jennifer Rowe, vice president, corporate affairs. Rowe will focus on employee communications and engagement.

Interesting that new Manulife CEO Donald Guloien, who replaced Dominic D’Alessandro just last week, would pick public affairs as the first place to make his mark. To me, this means the beginning of the shift in the corporate culture of Manulife as the company moves away from one-man rule to a more modern management style. “It’s important that it does change because it has become synonymous with Dominic. A company has to be more than a single person, more than an iconic CEO. That’s Don’s challenge, to make sure that happens, that it is a more broadly based leadership and a more broadly perceived strong management team,” Diane Bean, executive vice-president, human resources, told me during my research on the book.

Paterson’s appointment sends a signal that Guloien is wasting no time putting his stamp on the place.

As Dominic D’Alessandro heads into retirement, he is being honored at various celebrations. Last Wednesday, the evening before the annual meeting, D’Alessandro was feted at a dinner attended by senior management, the board of directors, and the forty-eight Stars of Excellence, the top sales performers from around the world. As a parting gift, D’Alessandro received a maquette of a portion of the Community sculpture that is featured on the outside back cover of my book.

At the annual meeting itself, an occasion he described as “bittersweet,” D’Alessandro was given a standing ovation at the end of his speech. Not only was it his last speech as CEO, it was the first such occasion in which he did not tackle some weighty topic with his trenchant views. He reported on the numbers, thanked everyone, and sat down.

Tomorrow, employees at head office get a chance to shake his hand and say farewell when various departments gather at designated times in a format similar to a New Year’s levee.

As Chair Gail Cook-Bennett said at the annual meeting, “We look forward to seeing how you define retirement.”

In case you missed it, I appeared on Business News Network this afternoon as part of the publicity campaign for my new book. The interview opens with a brief clip from the interview with Dominic D’Alessandro who appeared on Howard Green’s Headline show later in the day. Both D’Alessandro and Green had complimentary things to say about the book. Here’s the link.

Yesterday was pub date, publication date, of my new book, the day when traditionally a new book is widely available for sale. Indeed, in addition to Amazon.ca “Manulife” is now offered at the Chapters.Indigo online site for 34% off list.

How can you resist? One click and it’s yours. Online reviews welcome!

Books are now available in some stores as well as online at Amazon.ca so just click on “Buy this book” below the cover image to buy copies at a 37 per cent discount off the suggested list price.

Official publication date is May 5 and all book stores should have inventory by then. Manulife’s annual meeting, when Dominic D’Alessandro steps down as CEO, will be held Thursday May 7.