Transcript
President and CEO Manulife Financial Corporation
Dominic Alessandro, the third of four children in his family, was born in Molise, Italy, in 1947.
When he was three, he immigrated with his family to Montreal, Canada, where they settled in an
ethnic neighborhood called Little Burgundy-a community of brick, cold-water walk-ups. When
D'Alessandro was six, his father was working as a laborer when he was killed in a construction
accident. His mother, who could only speak Italian, had few ways to earn money and still care
for her young children. She rented the house next door and took in boarders, and also cooked
and did laundry for newly arrived immigrants.
Dominic Alessandro describes his childhood as difficult, but he was able to find solace in books.
Often, his mother took him with her to the Salvation Army thrift store in their neighborhood.
While she looked for the second-hand items she needed, he went to the used book section. The
library clerks got to know him and soon he was allowed to take home all the books he could
carry for 25 cents. "I immunized myself from my surroundings through books," he says. "I had a
thirst for knowledge and a desire to see the world."
At home, young D'Alessandro spoke Italian, but with his neighborhood friends he spoke French.
When he started school, he quickly learned English. A precocious student, he skipped grades 4
and 6. D'Alessandro graduated high school when he was only 14. On graduation day, the
school gave out a variety of prizes for academic achievement and D'Alessandro won most of
them. He went on to Loyola College, an all-boys Catholic school in Montreal. During his last
year of college, D'Alessandro taught grade 12 physics as a part-time instructor at one of
Montreal's most elite private schools.
Following graduation, he joined the accounting firm of Coopers and Lybrand. At night he
attended McGill University to become a certified accountant. A star student once again, Dominic
Alessandro was third in the nation when the CPA test results were released.
Dominic Alessandro's firm sent him to their Paris office for a year. Upon his return to Montreal,
one of his audit clients, Genstar Limited, offered him a position. During his seven years with that
firm, he worked in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, as director of finance and subsequently general
manager of a large marine transportation company with extensive operations throughout Arabia
and the surrounding Gulf States.