Tony Poole
President and CEO - Unity Life of Canada
& President Foresters Canada


Tony Poole, President and CEO, Unity Life of Canada joined Unity Life in 2001 as Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing. He was appointed President of Unity Life in 2005 and CEO in 2007. A results-oriented leader, Tony has contributed to Unity Life achieving record growth, taking the company to over $1 billion in assets in just a few short years under his leadership.

Tony’s career spans over 30 years of diverse experience in progressively more senior executive, sales, marketing and general management roles in the financial services industry. He was appointed President of Foresters Canadian Division in April 2008 when Unity Life became a wholly owned subsidiary of Foresters as a result of Canada’s first sponsored demutualization. Before joining Unity Life and Foresters, Tony held senior executive positions with Mutual of Omaha and Citadel Assurance, including roles in sales and marketing, administration, underwriting, information systems and operations.

Tony has a B.A.A. degree from Ryerson University in Toronto. He is a champion of community and charitable causes, including volunteering at Toronto’s annual Santa Claus Parade, Children’s Miracle Network Radiothon and Foresters Canada community park build events. Tony also serves on several industry committees through the Life Insurance and Market Research Association (LIMRA), the Life Office Management Association (LOMA) and the Industry Advisor Committee of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Compensation Corporation (Assuris).

Robert F. Baboth
Vice-President, Sales & Marketing
Unity Life of Canada

Rob Baboth, Unity Life’s Vice-President, Sales & Marketing joined Unity Life in 1996. His career spans over 22 years in both the mutual fund and Insurance Industry.

Before joining Unity Life, Rob was a Top Producer for Toronto Mutual Life (now Unity Life) with a local MGA organization, providing him with both an individual sales and management perspective when working with independent brokers and agencies.

An active community leader and industry spokesperson, Rob has been on many community Boards of Directors including 8 years on the LUA/CAIFA Board. He has also served on the CAIFA Executive for Greater Hamilton for the past 5 years.

Rob has a degree from the University of Guelph. His consultative approach and unique management philosophy have greatly assisted Unity Life’s distribution partners in building a profitable insurance practice.

Robert E. Hewitt
Vice-President, Pre-need Marketing & Sales
Unity Life of Canada

Robert joined Unity Life of Canada in 2001 as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Pre-need. He is responsible for leading the development and launch of Unity Life’s Pre-need product portfolio and managing its distribution channel relationships for the Pre-need product line across Canada.

Robert has over 40 years of proven insurance industry experience. Having held numerous senior management roles in his career, he has experience in product development, service coordination, policy service, and sales and marketing of life insurance and Pre-need products.

Katharine E. Rounthwaite
JD ─ Corporate Secretary
Unity Life of Canada

Kate Rounthwaite is Vice President, General Counsel & Executive Secretary of Foresters. She earned her Bachelor of Arts (1972) and J.D. at University of Toronto (1976), and her Masters in Canadian History at Carleton University (1973).

Prior to joining Foresters in 1993, Kate worked as Counsel at Crown Life Insurance Company and at Aetna Canada. In December 1998, she was appointed Vice President & General Counsel, and then in March 2003, she was appointed Executive Secretary to the Board of Directors. July 1, 2009 she became a Senior Vice President.

In her 31 years of practicing law, Kate has developed expertise in the areas of insurance law, litigation management, employment relations, and corporate commercial law in both US and Canada.

Kate has served on the NFCA Board from 2004 to 2009. She is also a member of the NFCA Law Committee.

As her community service commitment, Kate is currently a Board member of the Alliance Hospice. She has fulfilled a variety of other community service roles in the past, such as Chair of her children’s School Parents Association, and Convener of girls’ basketball league for six years.

Hendrik Verdurmen
Vice-President & Chief Financial Officer
Unity Life of Canada

Hendrik Verdurmen was appointed to his current role as Unity Life’s Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer in September of 2005. A Certified Management Accountant and Fellow of the Life Management Institute, Hendrik’s career spans over 25 years in the Canadian financial services industry.

Before joining Unity Life, he was Assistant Vice President, Pensions at Manulife Financial. He also held several senior leadership positions with Maritime Life and Aetna Life, including seven years as Vice-President and Controller at Equinox Financial, a division of Aetna Life. His experience is broadly based and has included roles in Life, Group, Pensions and Property & Casualty operations for these carriers.

Hendrik is an Economics and Finance graduate of The University of Western Ontario.

Henry Auyeung
Assistant Vice-President, Business Solutions
Unity Life of Canada

Henry Auyeung was appointed to his current role as Unity Life's Assistant Vice President, Business Solutions in January of 2008. A Fellow of the Life Management Institute, Henry's career spans over 30 years in the Canadian life insurance industry.

Before joining Unity Life, Henry was Director, Group Benefits Outsourcing at Manulife Financial. He also held several leadership positions with Maritime Life and Aetna Life, managing Group Finance, Corporate Actuarial Financial, Individual Financial Reporting/Planning and Reinsurance Administration.

Prior to his career in the Canadian insurance industry, Henry was an economics teacher in Hong Kong. His experience is broadly based and has included roles in financial management, client services, acquisitions, organizational re-engineering and budgeting.

Brock Campbell
Assistant Vice-President, Life & Specialty Markets
Unity Life of Canada

Brock Campbell, Unity Life’s Assistant Vice-President, Life and Specialty Markets, joined Unity Life on a consulting basis in 2007 and was appointed to his current role in 2008.

He has over 25 years experience in the insurance industry in progressively senior marketing and sales positions at leading Canadian insurers, including London Life, North American Life, Manulife and Equinox Financial Group.

Before joining Unity Life, Brock was President of Quest International Marketing Inc., where for over 12 years he operated a consulting practice in the areas of marketing, sales, and administration for leading insurers across North America.

Mervyn P. Gillson
Assistant Vice-President & Chief Underwriter
Unity Life of Canada

Merv Gillson joined Toronto Mutual Life (now Unity Life) as Chief Underwriter in 1991, progressing through a number of senior management roles.

Before Toronto Mutual Life, Merv held several positions with Norwich Union Life in new business, policy service, claims and systems, and group insurance areas.

Merv is a Fellow of the Academy of Life Underwriting, a Fellow of the Life Management Institute, and has attained his Associateship of the Life and Health Claims curriculum. He has also been a member of the Academy Life Underwriting Education Committee for 10 years and has been involved in other industry underwriting organizations throughout the years.

Geoffrey Harrison
Assistant Vice-President, Compliance & Assistant Secretary
Unity Life of Canada

Geoffrey Harrison was appointed to his current role as Assistant Vice-President, Compliance and Assistant Secretary in April of 2008. He has extensive experience in compliance, office services, human resources and various corporate roles.

Geoff’s employment with Unity Life commenced in 1979, when he joined Unity Life’s predecessor, Toronto Mutual Life as Manager of Policyholder Service.

Geoff has an undergraduate degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, is a Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI) and holds several LOMA associate designations. He also recently obtained his Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) designation and serves on the Human Resources Section committee of LOMA Canada.

Myles Meyers
Assistant Vice-President, Strategy & Business Planning
Unity Life of Canada

Myles Meyers was appointed to his current role of Assistant Vice-President, Strategy and Business Planning in 2009. Myles began his working relationship with Unity Life in 2005 when he was first contracted as a consultant.

He has over 20 years diversified experience in the Life Insurance and related industries and has held positions that have provided depth and breadth to his knowledge in planning, operations, marketing and product development.

In 2004 Myles co-founded and subsequently sold a healthcare services company that focused on developing consumer-driven healthcare strategies for Canada and the US. Previous to that, Myles was Vice President Marketing Client Services for Aon Affinity Markets serving some of Canada's largest consumer focused businesses. Myles was an originating team member of the Equinox Financial Distribution model that was set up in the late 80's and early 90's.

Henry Yi
Assistant Vice-President, Product Actuarial
Unity Life of Canada

Henry Yi was appointed to his current role as Unity Life’s Assistant Vice-President, Product Actuarial in August of 2008. A Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, Henry's career spans over 15 years in the international and Canadian financial services industries.

Before joining Unity Life, Henry was Manager, Analytics at AXA Insurance and prior to that, AVP Life Actuary at ACE Tempest Life Re. Henry has also worked as a consultant for Towers Perrin and also for Manulife. His industry experience includes life insurance, disability, fixed and variable annuities, life and annuity reinsurance and personal lines insurance.

Henry has a Bachelor of Mathematics Degree from the University of Waterloo.