Tony Comper is retiring after a long and distinguished career spanning 39 years of dedicated service to BMO. As Chief Executive Officer for the past seven of those years, he has led this company in the highly competitive and ever-changing financial services landscape.
Always with a focus on our customers, Tony has helped build a valuable North American financial services company that has produced significant returns for our investors. Over the seven-year period when he was CEO, BMO’s total shareholder return achieved a compound annual growth rate of 17.3%.
Once again, in 2006, your company achieved record results while continuing to invest in strategic initiatives to bolster future growth. This performance reflects Tony’s leadership, as well as the efforts of the management team and of all BMO employees.
A Track Record of Vision and Leadership
With Tony at the helm, BMO has reinforced its position as an industry leader in credit risk management. He has also succeeded in streamlining and focusing BMO’s many lines of business, and in improving efficiency and profitability. In the past seven years, BMO has improved cash productivity ratio by 483 bps from 67.2% to 62.4% and net income has doubled, rising from $1.29 billion to $2.66 billion.
Under Tony’s leadership, BMO has increased its presence in the United States through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion. Our Harris subsidiary ranks among the top three banks for market share in the lucrative greater Chicago area and is positioned for sustainable and profitable growth. And during his tenure, BMO has also strengthened its long-standing relationship with China, expanding our business opportunities there.
The Next Generation of Leaders
One of the most important roles of a company’s CEO is to ensure that it has the right people in place. Tony Comper deserves much credit for having a strong management team in place and for developing the next generation of BMO’s leaders.
Looking forward, I am pleased to see Bill Downe following in Tony’s footsteps. Your Board has been able to observe first-hand his excellent track record here at BMO. He has led a wide range of our businesses in Canada and the United States and we have tremendous confidence that he will put his own mark on the strategic course set by his predecessor.
Commitment to Exemplary Corporate Governance
Under Tony Comper’s stewardship, BMO has become a leader in corporate governance. It is his belief that companies achieve their goals if they are able to continue to earn the trust and loyalty of customers, shareholders and the communities they serve.
The Board and I share this commitment and I am proud to report that the Board and management strive for a high standard of accountability and reporting. I was especially gratified when George Cope, whom we welcomed along with Dr. Martha Piper to our Board this year, praised the way we conduct our Board meetings – open and frank.
His Values, BMO Values
One could never pay tribute to Tony without mention of his exemplary devotion to community service. His wide-ranging contributions to the community at large include his role as Chair of the Campaign for the University of Toronto and Chair of its Governing Council; his tenure as Vice-Chair of St. Michael’s Hospital; his role as a founder of the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre; his board-level involvement in Junior Achievement, the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care, Catalyst, C.D. Howe Institute, the CCCJ among many other causes and more recently, with his wife Elizabeth, the founding of FAST, an initiative to fight antisemitism.
It is also a reflection of the values he holds that Tony has always been a strong champion of diversity. For example, his passion and commitment created a new way of thinking at BMO that led to an increase in the female executive population from 23.5% to 35.4% in less than eight years and to setting the ultimate goal of parity.
On behalf of your Board, we thank him for setting a sound strategic course – and ambitious goals – for this company. His personal integrity, his commitment to the values that define BMO and his strong leadership in corporate citizenship are recognized, respected and reflected throughout this company today.
I know I speak for the entire Board when I say it has been an honour to work alongside him, and we wish Tony all the best in the years ahead.
David A. Galloway
Chairman
Previous