Manulife announced that Linda Mantia will join Manulife as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), effective October 3, 2016. Ms. Mantia will be a member of the Executive Committee and the global leadership team, and she will lead approximately 7,100 people around the world. Ms. Mantia will provide leadership to many of Manulife's essential group functions, ranging from strategy creation to execution, on a global basis, ensuring they deliver strong and consistent value, expertise and thought leadership to Manulife's and John Hancock's businesses around the world. Paul Rooney, who currently serves as COO, has made the decision to leave the company. He has agreed to stay until the end of December and work with Ms. Mantia to ensure a smooth transition. Mr. Rooney joined the company in 1986 as an actuarial student, and held a wide variety of increasingly senior positions which developed him into one of Manulife's top leaders. Most recently, Ms. Mantia served as Executive Vice President of Digital, Payments and Cards at Royal Bank of Canada.