Manulife Hong Kong appoints Head of Health to focus on expansion of health business

HONG KONG,March 2,2020 --Manulife today announced the establishment of a new health function that will further strengthen its strategic focus in this high-growth area. Wilton Kee,who has been Manulife Hong Kong's Vice President,Chief Product Officer for Individual Financial Products since October 2016,is expanding his responsibilities to Vice President,Chief Product Officer and Head of Health,effective from March 1,2020.

Wilton Kee,Vice President,Manulife Hong Kong

In addition to his role as the Chief Product Officer leading the development of a full suite of individual financial products,Kee will lead Manulife's health business in Hong Kong covering both individual and group life and health solutions. These include the development of medical and critical illness products that serve the needs of individuals and families,employers and employees as well as management of medical service provider relationships.

"Demand for protection is rising tremendously as people become more health-conscious,especially in Hong Kong where we enjoy the highest life expectancy in the world. As a pre-eminent health expert in the industry,Manulife has a compelling suite of products to meet this growing demand," said Damien Green,Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Hong Kong and Macau. "With our strong position in the market,I believe that now is our time-- our time to provide more tailored solutions for our customers to cover their health needs and enhance their experiences."

"Wilton is a dynamic,highly respected and impactful leader. With his leadership in driving our health business and our new,sharper focus on health strategy,Manulife will concentrate on broadening our customized health solutions for both individual and group customers,enhancing the efficient deployment of our resources and creating increased synergies between related functions," Green added.

As part of Manulife's drive to enhance its health product portfolio,Manulife recently launched Manulife Supreme,an advanced Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) flexi plan that adds to the two VHIS plans it launched last year. Manulife has in fact been a front-runner in the tax-deductible solutions market since those launches. Demand for the health protection and retirement savings plans has been consistently strong,driving much of the company's growth in 2019. In addition to its VHISs,Manulife also added ManuVital Care,a critical illness product that provides essential coverage for more than 110 critical illnesses and diseases at affordable,guaranteed premiums.

Kee joined Manulife in 2013 as Assistant Vice President & Pricing Officer,Individual Financial Products,Hong Kong,overseeing its marketing actuarial functions. In 2015,he took on the dual role of heading up both marketing actuarial and product development for the individual financial products business,in which he played an active part in its overall strategy and direction. As a key driver in the revitalization of its Hong Kong product portfolio,Kee has revamped Manulife's products substantially,making them more customer-focused,competitive and timely to market. He has been leading the formation of Manulife's health strategy-- a crowning achievement of which was the successful launch of our latest VHIS last year.

Kee holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Hong Kong and is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) of the United States. He has also attained the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation issued by the Global Association of Risk Professionals and holds a Certificate in Quantitative Finance (CQF).

About Manulife Hong Kong

Manulife Hong Kong,through Manulife International Holdings Limited,owns Manulife (International) Limited,Manulife Asset 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 December 31,2019,we had C$1.2 trillion (HK$7.2 trillion) in assets under management and administration,and in the previous 12 months we made C$29.7 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 100 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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