Desjardins Securities has appointed Germain Carrière as its new president and chief operating officer. Prior to his appointment, Carrière was vice chairman of the board, corporate strategy, at National Bank Financial. He joins Desjardins on August 29.

Carrière has been working in the securities field for nearly 30 years. After joining the Lévesque Beaubien team in 1979 as vp, corporate finance, he was appointed senior vp, individual investor services (1983) and then executive vp, individual investor services (1989). In 1995, he assumed the position of senior executive vp, individual investor services and information technology. He was then promoted to president and COO, individual investor services of National Bank Financial (1999) and, since 2002, vice chairman of the board, corporate strategy.

Carrière is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario (MBA) and of Université de Sherbrooke (Law). He also sits on the boards of a number of companies operating in various economic sectors.

Carrière will focus on the development of Desjardins group’s brokerage firm by continuing to work in collaboration with the caisse network and other Desjardins components to strengthen Desjardins’ position as top financial wealth manager. He will also sit on the Desjardins strategic management structure committee.

“We are proud to welcome an outstanding executive such as Mr. Carrière to our team,” said Alban D’Amours, president and CEO of Desjardins Group, in a release. “Throughout his career, he has acquired in-depth knowledge of the securities industry and its challenges, as well as the Canadian financial and banking market. We can count on his extensive experience to ensure the growth of Desjardins Securities and make it a key player in the brokerage field in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada.”

Desjardins Securities offers full-service brokerage through its investment advisors, and online brokerage services through its online brokerage Disnat division. It has 311 investment advisors throughout Quebec and Ontario.