The Toronto-based Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC) announced its inaugural inductees for the IIAC Investment Industry Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

“The newly established IIAC Investment Industry Hall of Fame provides a platform to pay tribute to the talent and integrity of professionals in the Canadian securities industry,” said Ian Russell, president and CEO of IIAC, in a statement. “These individuals have strongly contributed to the growth and prosperity of Canada and the wealth of all Canadians.”

A total of eight people, four living and four posthumous, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony following IIAC’s annual conference in Toronto on October 3.

The four living inductees include:

  • Lawrence Bloomberg, chairman, board of directors, BloombergSen Inc., director, National Bank of Canada, advisor, National Bank Financial, and chancellor, Ryerson University
  • Tony Fell, former chairman, RBC Capital Markets
  • Donald Johnson, former president, Burns Fry and vice-chair, investment banking, BMO Nesbitt Burns
  • Jacques Ménard, chairman, BMO Nesbitt Burns and president, BMO Financial Group, Quebec, and chancellor, Concordia University

For Ménard, the recognition is a nice surprise although he is glad the criteria is not the same as for inductees of other hall of fames.

“Part of my surprise is that unlike hockey players that end up in the Hockey Hall of Fame I haven’t hung up my skates yet,” said Ménard, “I’m still working and I have no real short-term designs to retire.”

Regardless as to the timing, however, Ménard appreciates the recognition from an industry he has enjoyed working in for the past 40 years.

“It’s a very gratifying honour coming from my peers and my industry,” said Ménard. “I feel I’ve been blessed working in an industry whose mission, when you think about it, is to ensure the financial well-being of families and individuals, corporations and institutions.”

The four posthumous inductees include:

  • Pierre Brunet, former president and CEO, Lévesque Beaubien and National Bank Financial
  • Rodolphe Casgrain, founder and former chairman, Casgrain & Company
  • John MacNaughton, former president, BMO Nesbitt Burns and inaugural president and CEO, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
  • Edward Rogers (E.R.) Wood, co-founder, Dominion Securities and founding president, Bond Dealers Association of Canada

The inductees were selected by the IIAC Hall of Fame Selection Committee. All members of the committee are Canadian who work or have worked in politics, law, academia, business and the investment industry.