Manulife’s global CMO is set to depart amid broad leadership restructuring that will see the chief marketing role assume responsibility of analytics.
The financial services company has announced that global CMO Gretchen Garrigues is among one of several executives set to exit before the end of the year. She is leaving to “pursue opportunities in the U.S.,” according to a statement sent to strategy.
Garrigues will be replaced on an interim basis by current chief analytics officer Cindy Forbes at the end of May. Forbes had previously announced her decision to leave the company before the end of the year.
Beginning with Forbes, the CMO’s mandate has expanded to include oversight of Manulife’s analytics team. Meanwhile, Stacey Grant-Thompson, named CMO of Canadian operations last April following Glenn Hollis’s departure, maintains her current role and responsibilities.
The spokesperson was unable to confirm whether the title of global CMO has been eliminated, saying only that the new position will incorporate the analytics function.
The biggest leadership change is the elimination of the chief operating officer, currently held by Linda Mantia, who is leaving at the end of July to “pursue her interests in innovation,” according to the company. Under the new structure, the CIO, CMO and a newly created chief operations officer – which previously reported into Mantia – will instead report directly to president and CEO Roy Gori.
Since joining Manulife in October 2016, Mantia has had oversight of key functions including corporate strategy and innovation. The company will be hiring someone for a new chief operations officer, which will have a more narrow scope than the one Mantia previously held.
In addition to Garrigues, CIO Gregory Framke and senior adviser to the CEO Stephani Kingsmill are set to leave before the end of the year.
In an emailed statement, Manulife said the changes “will better position us to accelerate our transformation” and “enable us to move with even greater speed, agility and focus as we transform into the most digital, customer-centric global company in our industry.”
The shakeup follows Manulife’s recent global rebrand that included a new logo and streamlined approach to its marketing. At an investors’ day in June, CEO Roy Gori outlined the company’s goal to become a customer-first organization and to “improve [our] net promoter score by 30 points by 2022.”