Wellington West named as a top 10 employer in Canada for fourth consecutive year

    WINNIPEG, Dec. 24 /CNW/ - Wellington West Holdings Inc., a privately
held, employee-owned financial services firm, today announced it has once
again been ranked within the top 10 of Best Employers in Canada, according to
the 50 Best Employers in Canada survey conducted by Report on Business
magazine and Hewitt Associates, a leading global human resources outsourcing
and consulting firm.
    "Earning a spot in the top 10 is especially meaningful to us this year,"
said Charlie Spiring, CEO and Founder, Wellington West Holdings Inc. "This is
a tough time to be in the financial services industry. The fact that our
employees and new recruits continue to connect with our culture and corporate
vision is a huge advantage and gives us great confidence as we work our way
through the challenging capital markets."
    Wellington West was ranked No.6 in the Best Employers in Canada survey
and was one of only two wealth management firms to make the top 10 list. In
the past three consecutive years, Wellington West was ranked as No. 1 or No.
2.
    "We owe everything to the commitment and quality of our people," said
Kish Kapoor, president, Wellington West Holdings Inc. "Combined with the
external pressure of the markets, over the past eighteen months we have
undergone a transformation of our internal organization. While change is never
easy, it is this discipline that has allowed us to emerge with a rock-solid
balance sheet and a strong competitive position for future growth."

    About Wellington West

    The Wellington West group of companies provides full-service brokerage,
financial planning, asset management and capital markets services. In the 15
years since its inception, the employee-owned Wellington West has become one
of the largest and fastest-growing independent full-service wealth management
firms in Canada with approximately $8 billion in assets under administration.
Among its many corporate achievements, Wellington West has been ranked among
the top 10 of Best Employers in Canada for the past four years, named one of
Canada's Fastest Growing Companies in 2007 and re-qualified as one of Canada's
50 Best Managed Companies in 2007. In addition, Wellington West ranked No. 3
in the 2007 Brokerage Report Card survey, having held the No. 1 spot for four
of the past five years.

For further information: visit www.wellingtonwest.com; Media Contacts:
Janine Waschuk, [phone] or [e-mail]