Manulife Hong Kong appoints four C-level executives to drive strategic developments

HONG KONG,July 23,2020 -- Manulife Hong Kong today announced the appointment of four C-level executives to its senior management team to strengthen the company's leadership capabilities and drive its strategic initiatives in Hong Kong,Macau and the Greater Bay Area.

From left to right: Anthony Buchanan,Chief Information Officer; Carrie Tong,Chief Strategy Officer; Donna Kirmani,Chief Human Resources Officer; Edgar Chan,Chief Operation Officer

Anthony Buchanan,Carrie Tong,and Donna Kirmani from Manulife Asia have joined the Hong Kong business in the first half of 2020 as Chief Information Officer,Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer respectively,increasing the regional expertise in the Manulife Hong Kong leadership team. In addition,Edgar Chan has been promoted to Chief Operations Officer of Manulife Hong Kong earlier this year.

"The high calibre of these new appointments reflects the depth of talent at Manulife,as well as our commitment to ensuring talented people progress within our organization through active leadership development," said Damien Green,Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Hong Kong. "This has enabled us to continue building on our success and develop our business in a way that addresses the needs of both customers and employees. Our latest appointments bring valuable specialist expertise to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency,and to capture new opportunities to better serve our customers."

As Chief Information Officer,Mr. Buchanan is responsible for charting Manulife Hong Kong's overall IT strategy and delivering IT programs to meet business outcomes,ensuring stability and reliability of the company's systems,and addressing control,security and risk matters. He has played a pivotal role steering the Hong Kong and Macau business through the COVID-19 pandemic by astute deployment of technology and delivery of the company's virtual-face-to-face agency sales platform. Previously,Mr. Buchanan was the Head of Operations and IT Performance for Manulife Asia,responsible for the governance,control and rigour of the business functions.

Ms. Tong,as Chief Strategy Officer,will play a key role in setting overall priorities and strategy,while ensuring that future changes to the company's business model are properly assessed and pursued in a deliberate,structured and impactful manner. She will also lead projects that focus on new growth areas,including the Greater Bay Area. Formerly Head of Asia Strategy at Manulife,Ms. Tong has extensive experience of business planning and development of new business strategies for mainland China,Japan,Hong Kong and other Asian markets where Manulife operates.

As Chief Human Resources Officer,Ms. Kirmani will spearhead talent and leadership development and drive Manulife's people agenda to support business goals,improve employee experience and cultivate a high performing culture. She joined Manulife in 2016 to lead the executive recruitment for Wealth and Asset Management Business in Asia. She was later promoted to the position of Asia Segment Office Human Resources Business Partner,covering the Asia functions of distribution,technology and operations,marketing,advanced analytics and customer experience.

In his role as Chief Operations Officer,Mr. Chan oversees customer relations,the customer contact centres,insurance operations and office support for Manulife Hong Kong. He will continue to transform Manulife's customer experience by developing more customer-centric services and processes,and deploying new digital tools. Previously,Mr. Chan was Assistant Vice President,Experience Owner of Search and Buy. In this role,he led Manulife's efforts to transform customers' experience through adoption of digital tools and process optimization supporting the company's growth ambition.

About Manulife Hong Kong

Manulife Hong Kong,through Manulife International Holdings Limited,owns Manulife (International) Limited,Manulife Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited and Manulife Provident Funds Trust Company Limited. As a member of the Manulife group of companies,Manulife Hong Kong offers a diverse range of protection and wealth products and services to individual and corporate customers in Hong Kong and Macau.

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto,Canada,we operate as Manulife across our offices in Canada,Asia,and Europe,and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice,insurance,and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals,groups and institutions. At the end of 2019,we had more than 35,000 employees,over 98,000 agents,and thousands of distribution partners,serving almost 30 million customers. As of March 31,2020,we had C$1.2 trillion (HK$6.6 trillion) in assets under management and administration,and in the previous 12 months we made C$30.4 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia,Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 155 years. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto,New York,and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.

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