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Manulife, Canada’s biggest insurance company, is on track to surpass its earnings target in Asia, thanks to the launch of several innovative products that have been lapped up by wealthy customers and mainland visitors buying policies in Hong Kong, according to a top executive.
The Toronto-based insurer’s third-quarter results released last week showed a 17 per cent increase in core earnings – profits generated from its primary business activities – in Asia. The region was also the largest profit contributor, accounting for 44 per cent of the group’s total earnings. This was up from 37 per cent last year and approaching its target of 50 per cent from Asia by 2027.
“We are making tangible progress towards our target of 50 per cent or more of our earnings coming from Asia,” Phil Witherington, CEO of Manulife Asia, said in an exclusive interview with the Post. “We remain absolutely confident that we will achieve that milestone before the end of 2027.”
Hong Kong, its Asian headquarters, has been a driving force behind the stellar gains. Annualised premiums collected from insurance sales rose 173 per cent year on year to US$570 million in the third quarter, as a rising number of mainland visitors continue buying insurance cover in the city. Mainland visitors’ purchases represented 30 per cent of the total, with the rest coming from locals.
In the first half of the year, the city received 21 million tourists, an increase of 64 per cent from a year ago, according to data published by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Two-thirds of them were from the mainland.