John Taft
CEO of RBC U.S. Wealth Management

John Taft is CEO of RBC U.S. Wealth Management and Chairman-Elect of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), the leading securities industry trade group representing securities firms, banks, and asset management companies in the U.S. and Asia.

Prior to leading RBC's U.S. wealth management business, Mr. Taft served as head of Asset Management and Products for RBC's U.S. and International division and as CEO of Voyageur Asset Management. He also served as head of North American Wealth Management Services, part of Royal Bank of Canada's Global Asset Management division.

Mr. Taft has been in the financial services industry since 1981, with prior experience as president and chief executive officer of Dougherty Summit Securities, as a member of the Board of Directors of Segall, Bryant and Hamill, the Clifton Group and Vintage Mutual Funds, and as managing director of public finance for Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood Inc.

Mr. Taft has served as assistant to the mayor of the city of St. Paul and has also worked as a journalist. He has appeared on CNBC, FOX, FOX Business News and Bloomberg TV, and has been published in The New York Times, National Journal, Parade Magazine, The New Republic, the Real Paper, Taos News, Santa Fe New Mexican, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Saint Paul Pioneer Press.

In January 2010, Mr. Taft was named the "Outstanding Corporate Diversity Leader" by the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).