Yvon Charest has been named the 2008 Quebec Financial Person of the Year by the Finance et Investissement newspaper.

This is the second time the president and CEO of Industrial Alliance heads the list of Top 25 economic and financial newsmakers for the year, as compiled by the Quebec financial newspaper. He was also awarded the title in 2004.

Charest maintained IA on a course of growth in 2008, despite today’s troubled economic and financial waters. The company made several acquisitions during the year to further bolster its position in the Canadian life and health insurance and financial services market.

In May 2008, IA bought National Financial Corp., adding 350 financial advisors and $2.8 billion in assets to the company’s fold. In November, it acquired Quebec-based Dundee Wealth’s mutual fund advisory and insurance network of financial advisors, merging the latter’s 410 advisors and $2.6 billion in assets with IA subsidiary Investia. In the span of a few years, IA has succeeded in joining the ranks of Canada’s five leading distributors of mutual funds, excluding banks.

The company also reinforced its position in the mutual fund management sector with the acquisition of Sarbit Asset Management and their $130 million in assets under management, which have been integrated with IA Clarington, another IA subsidiary.

IA also purchased L’Excellence, a company that specializes in health insurance. It also concluded its first major acquisition in the U.S., United Family Life Insurance. This transaction will enable Quebec City-headquartered IA to obtain operating licenses in 49 of 50 U.S. states. The new subsidiary will be known as IA American Life Insurance Company. This raises IA’s sales from outside Quebec to 47%, and the figure keeps increasing by 1 or 2% each year. Charest’s objective is for sales outside Quebec to account for two-thirds of the company’s overall sales within the next four years.

The Top 25 also includes 24 other financial newsmakers featured in the February issue of Finance et Investissement, in a special segment titled “Le Top 25 de l’industrie financière au Québec.” The Top 25 were chosen by reporters and editors from the various financial newspapers and magazines published by Transcontinental Media.

Finance et Investissement is the sister publication of Investment Executive.

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