Dr. Sherry Cooper is a sought-after speaker, writer and advisor renowned for her ability to simplify and de-mystify the complex issues of economics and finance. Among her many accomplishments, she received the 2010 Lawrence Klein Award for U.S. forecasting accuracy, beating out a panel of 50 leading economists. She was a member of the Economic Advisory Committee of the American Bankers Association and gives more than 70 speeches and presentations each year. Most recently, Dr. Cooper was appointed the TMX Industry Professor at DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University. She is also Chief Economic Counsel to MDC Partners—a Nasdaq-listed global strategic marketing organization based in New York City.
Sherry is now pursuing corporate board appointments and has been chosen as one of the Diversity 50 in 2013 www.boarddiversity.ca/diversity-50. This is a selection by the Canadian Board Diversity Council of the 50 most Board ready diverse candidates in Canada. She is also a member of the Women on Board, a mentorship program. Her mentor and sponsor is Thomas O’Neill, Chairman of the Board of Bell Canada and member of the boards of Loblaws and Toronto Dominion Bank. Sherry has also been sponsored for the Catalyst Corporate Board Resource by William Downe, CEO of BMO Financial Group.
Named “the megawatt celebrity economist” by Canada’s national newspaper –and repeatedly cited as one of the most influential women in Canada, Sherry served as Chief Economist and Executive Vice-President of BMO Financial Group (which includes the Bank of Montreal in Canada and BMO Harris Bank in the U.S.), where she led a highly-respected team of economists. She was responsible for global economic and financial forecasting as well as country-risk and industry-risk analysis. She joined BMO Financial Group in 1994 when it acquired Burns Fry, where she had been Chief Economist, Co-Head of Fixed Income, Vice- Chair and the first woman appointed a Director of a Bay Street investment firm. Frequently quoted in the financial press and interviewed on TV and radio in the U.S. and Canada, Sherry also published her third book in 2008 – The New Retirement: How It Will Change Our Future – which was a block-buster best-seller.
Dr. Cooper has an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh. She began her career at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. where she worked very closely with then-Chairman, Paul Volcker, a relationship she maintains today. After five years at the Fed, she joined the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) as Director of Financial Economics. Sherry retired from BMO Financial Group in 2013 to consult, write and speak all over the world.
The global economy is in the midst of the most pervasive financial crisis in a generation, which has destroyed untold sums of wealth in housing and financial assets. This is truly a synchonized global contraction, with deleveraging now underway.
Canada started off in better shape but the economy is taking a beating of its own. On the policy front, unprecedented easing efforts by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada are working, and quantitative easing is the next step. Indeed, there are signs that a bottom is forming in the U.S. economy, but this will take time. Stimulative measures in place around the world, and aggressive stimulus packages, will help ease the credit crunch.
Dr. Sherry Cooper will discuss the economic and financial outlook for Canada and the U.S. against this backdrop of important cross-currents.
Global economic strategist Sherry Cooper explains that the boomer generation will be reaching traditional retirement age very soon and that an enormous wave of boomer retirees will crest in 2025. This phenomenon will profoundly affect the labour markets, the economy, and financial markets for decades. But will boomers retire the way their parents did? Will they work longer and transition gradually into semi-retirement?
Cooper tells us that boomers will redefine retirement with great energy and creativity, working well beyond age 65 and mostly by choice. With the dramatic rise in their longevity, healthy goal-driven boomers will seek purposeful leisure—focusing on regeneration, rejuvenation, and low-stress contributions to society and their own personal wealth.
Follow Cooper through her own journey to discover the route to financial security. Learn how the new retirement is about living well while achieving both monetary security and your personal goals.
