Board of Directors
Chinh Chu 4 – Executive Chair of the Westaim Board
Mr. Chu is the Founder and Senior Managing Director of CC Capital, a private investment firm focused on investing in and operating high-quality businesses for the long term. He was the architect behind CC Capital’s strategic investment into Westaim, which catalyzed the company’s transformation into an integrated insurance and asset management platform.
He brings significant experience investing in and creating value in the insurance space. In 2017, he led the acquisition of Fidelity & Guaranty Life (F&G) for approximately $1.8 billion. He served as Executive Chairman of the Board and as the control party for the Form A filing. F&G has grown significantly and currently has ~$4.1bn of book value and ~$54bn in assets.
Most recently, Mr. Chu led CC Capital’s formation of Ceres Life Insurance Company (“Ceres Life”), an advantaged, cloud-native and scalable annuity platform led by industry veteran Deanna Mulligan. In April 2025, Ceres Life combined with Westaim and Arena Investors, LP, a growing and diversified global institutional asset manager, to create a unified platform expected to generate a powerful value-creation flywheel.
In addition to F&G, Mr. Chu has spearheaded CC Capital’s investments into Wilshire, Utz Brands, E2open, and Getty Images. He also led CC Capital’s effort to take Dun & Bradstreet private in a $7.2 billion acquisition that closed in February 2019.
Prior to founding CC Capital, Mr. Chu spent 25 years at Blackstone, where he served as Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Private Equity, and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.
Mr. Chu began his career at Salomon Brothers in the M&A group and holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Buffalo.
Ian W. Delaney 3 – Vice Chair of the Westaim Board
Mr. Delaney has been Director of Westaim since 1996. He is the former Chairman of Sherritt International Corporation, and served as Director (1995-2013) and Non-Executive Chairman (2009-2013). Mr. Delaney was also Sherritt’s President and Chief Executive Officer (2009-2011), Executive Chairman (2004-2008) and Chairman (1995-2004). Prior to joining Sherritt, he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Viridian Inc., President and Chief Executive Officer of The Horsham Corporation, and President and Chief Operating Officer at Merrill Lynch Canada Inc. Mr. Delaney is currently Chairman of Ornge and Director of Arena. Mr. Delaney has also served as a director of a number of other companies including Dynatec Corporation, EnCana Corp., Gerdau Ameristeel Corp., Cenovus Energy Inc., Goldcorp Inc. and MacMillan Bloedel Limited and as a trustee of Royal Utilities Income Fund.
J. Cameron MacDonald, Chief Executive Officer, President and Corporate Secretary
Mr. MacDonald has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Westaim since April 2009 and director since December 2008. He is the former Chairman of the Goodwood Advisory Committee (2012-2014) and former President and CEO of Goodwood Inc. (2000-2012). Prior to Goodwood Inc., from 1990 through 1999, he was a Director, member of the Research and Executive Committee, and shareholder of Connor Clark Private Trust. From 1983 through 1990 he held various positions at CIBC Wood Gundy in Credit, Operations, and thereafter as an Account Executive (Vice President). Mr. MacDonald holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from Wilfrid Laurier University and is a CFA Charterholder.
Matthew Skurbe, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Risk Officer of Westaim
Mr. Skurbe has 30 years of experience spanning a wide range of roles in investment management finance. He currently serves as the CFO of Arena Investors and Westaim, as well as the CRO of Westaim. Prior to joining the firm, he was senior managing director, COO, and CFO of CC Capital. He was also a managing director in finance and the treasurer for Blackstone, chief operating officer for Blackstone Liquidity Solutions, and a member of that firm’s Valuation and Enterprise Risk committees. Before joining Blackstone in 2009, Mr. Skurbe was the CFO for Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust, a $35 billion bank housing several of Merrill Lynch’s consumer lending and banking businesses. He was a member of the bank’s Asset Liability and Market Risk, Finance and Product Control, and Credit committees. Earlier in his career, Mr. Skurbe spent seven years supporting Merrill Lynch’s treasury function and had previous roles with Amerada Hess and Arthur Andersen.
Mr. Skurbe received a BS in accounting from Rutgers University and achieved the CPA and CTP certifications. He is a board member for Project Sunshine and the Children’s Specialized Hospital Foundation.
Richard DiBlasi 2, 4 – Chief Strategy Officer of Westaim
Mr. DiBlasi is a Senior Managing Director at CC Capital, where he has been a key member of the investment team since 2016. With over 15 years of private equity experience, he has played a leading role in several of the firm’s most significant transactions, including the acquisition of Fidelity & Guaranty Life by CF Corp., the take-private of Dun & Bradstreet, and the strategic investment in The Westaim Corporation (TSXV: WED) to build an integrated insurance and asset management platform. He currently serves on the Boards of Westaim and Arena Investors and was appointed Chief Strategy Officer of Westaim. Prior to CC Capital, Mr. DiBlasi was with Blackstone’s Private Equity Group, focusing on investments in financial services, technology, and business services. He began his career at FTI Consulting in the Global Risk and Investigations Practice. Mr. DiBlasi holds a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University.
Douglas Newton 4, 6
Mr. Newton is a Senior Managing Director and Co-Founder of CC Capital, where he brings over two decades of experience in both public and private market investing. At CC Capital, Mr. Newton has played a key role in leading major transactions, including those involving Dun & Bradstreet, E2Open, Fidelity & Guaranty Life, Getty Images, Westaim and Wilshire.
Prior to founding CC Capital, Mr. Newton was a Founding Partner of The WindAcre Partnership, LLC, an investment firm that owns a concentrated, long-term portfolio of global public equities and takes a private equity approach to public market investing. Earlier in his career, he held investment roles at Seneca Capital and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, and began his career in investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Mr. Newton holds an A.B. in Economics from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Kevin Parker 1, 2
Mr. Parker is currently the Managing Partner at SICM. He has over 35 years of investment experience. Prior to SICM, Kevin was a Member of the Management Board of Deutsche Bank for 10 years and the former Global Head of Deutsche Asset Management from 2004 to 2012. In this role, he was responsible for more than $750 billion dollars invested across a broad range of assets including Equities, Fixed Income, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Private Equity, Hedge Funds, Sustainable Investments and other businesses. Also at Deutsche Bank, Mr. Parker served as the Global Head of Institutional Equities from 2000 until 2004 and from 1997 until 2000 was responsible for building and developing Deutsche Bank’s Equity Derivatives, Prime Brokerage Services, Equity Trading and Equity Proprietary Trading Businesses. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Mr. Parker was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and served in a variety of positions, including Head of Asian Derivatives, Global Head of Equity Derivatives Trading and Chief Information Officer. Mr. Parker holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from New York University.
Menes Chee 7
Mr. Chee was a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone Inc. from 2009 to 2024 and a founding partner and member of the investment committee of Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities Group. Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Chee served as a Principal at TPG-Axon Capital and a private equity investment professional at Texas Pacific Group. He began his career at Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette in the Leveraged Finance Group and worked at Credit Suisse First Boston in the Merchant Banking Group. Mr. Chee has served on numerous boards, including Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT, Acrisure Holdings, Inc., DRB Capital LLC, Lia Holdings Ltd., New Point Ltd., Philadelphia Financial Group, Inc. and Viva Capital. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School and a B.A. from the College of Arts and Sciences, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Michael Siegel 3, 5
Mr. Siegel is Chief Executive Officer, Legeis Capital, LLC. From August 2009 to January 2020, Mr. Siegel was a Managing Director of RBC Capital Markets, LLC (an investment bank) and from January 2017 to January 2020, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of RBC Alternative Asset Management, LLC (an affiliate of RBC Capital Markets, LLC).
Bruce Walter, Director 1, 3
Mr. Walter is currently Chair of Nunavut Iron Ore, Inc., a position he has held since 2011. From 2008 to 2023, he served as Vice Chair of Centerra Gold Inc. From 2002 until 2007, he was a director and officer of Dynatec Corporation, initially as Vice-Chair and from 2005 as President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior thereto Mr. Walter’s career included serving as President of Sherritt Inc., President and Chief Executive Officer of Plaintree Systems Inc., and Managing Director and Co-Head of the Media, Telecom & Technology investment and corporate banking group at BMO Nesbitt Burns. Mr. Walter also served as Vice-President of Horsham Corporation and was a partner in the predecessor law firm to Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP. Mr. Walter received his Juris. Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Business Administration degrees from York University in 1981. He received his PhD in law in 1985 from the University of Cape Town.
Deanna Mulligan, Chief Executive Officer, Ceres Life
Ms. Mulligan is focused on building a de novo, next generation insurance company and has brought to bear all her significant relationships, insurance expertise, and regulatory experience. Prior to that, she was the Chief Executive Officer of Purposeful, where she provided strategic advisory services to CEOs and private equity-funded startups.
Ms. Mulligan is the former Chair, President & CEO of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) and was a member of the company’s Board of Directors. She joined Guardian in 2008, was named CEO in 2011, and retired as Chair and CEO at the end of 2020. She was a Principal at McKinsey & Company, where she spent eight years in the Financial Services group, and held senior positions at AXA Financial and New York Life Insurance Company.
Ms. Mulligan served as a trustee on the Board of Directors for The Vanguard Group (2017-2024), and currently serves as a Director at DuPont de Nemours, Inc., where she has served since 2021. She is also the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Hire Purpose: How Smart Companies Can Close the Skills Gap. Ms. Mulligan graduated from the University of Nebraska with High Distinction and holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Numbers indicate the individual’s committee membership:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
- Member of the Investment Committee
- Chair of the Audit Committee
- Chair of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee
- Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee