In May 2001, Gilles Ouellette was named to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of BMO Financial Group's Private Client Group, which comprises the bank's North American wealth management businesses. He is also Deputy Chair, BMO Nesbitt Burns.

Mr. Ouellette entered the investment industry in 1979 after three years of teaching investment management at the University of Western Ontario and six years as the owner/manager of a small business. From 1979 to 1983, Mr. Ouellette built a successful career as an Investment Executive at Burns Fry Limited. In 1983, he was promoted to Branch Manager and in 1988 assumed the position of National Director of Sales. In 1990, Mr. Ouellette was promoted to the position of Managing Director of Investor Services and in 1993 became Executive Vice-President of Burns Fry Limited. The 1994 merger of Nesbitt Thomson and Burns Fry resulted in Mr. Ouellette's appointment as Executive Vice-President, Private Client Division and in 1997, he was appointed Director of the Private Client Division and Vice-Chairman of Nesbitt Burns.

Mr. Ouellette holds an undergraduate degree and a master of business administration degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Mr. Ouellette was Co-Chair of leadership giving for the United Way 2006 Campaign. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIAR). He serves on the Advisory Board of the Richard Ivey School of Business. He is a director of the Art Gallery of Ontario Foundation Board of Trustees.

(January 2007)

G. Ouellette (high resolution picture, jpg, 2408k)