Royce Mendes joins Desjardins as Managing Director and Head of Macro Strategy

Montreal, January 17, 2022 – Desjardins is pleased to welcome Royce Mendes to its economics team as Managing Director and Head of Macro Strategy. Mendes will report to Jimmy Jean, who held the position before being named Vice-President and Chief Economist in May 2021.

"I'm proud of this appointment, which supports our strategy of expanding our presence in Ontario. We'll be gradually growing the Toronto team to cover regional analysis and fiscal policy, further strengthening Desjardins's economic expertise.  Royce Mendes's solid macro experience and his excellent communication and analytical skills make him the ideal person for this position," commented Jimmy Jean, Vice-President and Chief Economist.

Mendes was Executive Director, Economics, at CIBC Capital Markets prior to this appointment. He led the firm's efforts to monitor and forecast the Canadian economy. In recent years, his team was judged the most accurate by many independent polling firms.

Additionally, he has held the positions of portfolio manager for Canada's foreign exchange reserves, associate editor for the Bank of Canada's Financial System Review, and principal researcher at the Bank of Canada's Financial Markets Department. He also worked as a stock analyst at a Toronto-based hedge fund.

Mendes holds a BA from the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Finance from Smith School of Business, the business school affiliated with Queen's University in Kingston, and is a designated Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).