TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC SEHK:
945
Phil Witherington Appointed President and CEO,
Manulife Asia
Colin
Simpson to Succeed Mr. Witherington as Manulife's Chief
Financial Officer
TORONTO and HONG KONG ,
June 15,
2023 /CNW/ - Manulife announced today leadership
changes across its executive leadership team to accelerate
Asia growth and financial
performance globally.
Phil Witherington,
Manulife's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), is now appointed
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Manulife Asia,
effective July 1, 2023. Mr.
Witherington will continue reporting to Roy
Gori, President and CEO of Manulife, and remain on
Manulife's Executive Leadership Team. Mr. Witherington replaces
Damien Green, who will now chair
Manulife Financial Asia Ltd. (MFAL), working with Mr. Witherington
to ensure a smooth transition.
As Manulife's CFO, Mr. Witherington helped the organization
transition to the new IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 accounting standards and
contributed significantly to financial performance. Prior to his
appointment as Manulife's CFO in 2017, Mr. Witherington served as
Manulife Asia's CFO. Before joining Manulife in 2014, Mr.
Witherington was the Asia-Pacific
head of finance for retail banking and wealth management at HSBC.
He also held finance roles at AIA and was a financial services
specialist at KPMG.
Colin Simpson, CFO for the
US and General Account, succeeds Mr. Witherington and is appointed
Manulife's CFO, also effective July 1,
2023. Mr. Simpson will report to Mr. Gori and join
Manulife's Executive Leadership Team. Mr. Simpson joined Manulife
in November 2022 to help deliver on
US Segment strategic priorities, including portfolio optimization,
expense efficiency, and capital efficient growth. He joined
Manulife from Aviva plc, where he held the position of Interim
Group CFO, having previously served as CFO for Aviva Canada, and Director of Investor
Relations. Prior to his roles at Aviva, Colin was Vice President,
Equity Research at Goldman Sachs International.
"Phil has helped strengthen our solid financial foundation as we
enter the next stage of our journey," said Mr. Gori. "We have bold
ambitions for Asia and Phil's deep
appreciation of our team, market, and opportunity across the region
will help accelerate our growth agenda for this critical part of
our business. As our new Chief Financial Officer, Colin's
experience and perspective will allow us to build on our solid
foundation and continue to drive financial performance."
"I'd like to thank Damien for his leadership of Manulife Asia
this past year and our Hong Kong
business before that. Throughout his tenure, his commitment to our
customers, team and agents has helped secure our competitive
position across the region."
About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international
financial services provider, helping people make their decisions
easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in
Toronto, Canada, we provide
financial advice and insurance, operating as Manulife across
Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the
United States. Through Manulife Investment Management, the
global brand for our Global Wealth and Asset Management segment, we
serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members
worldwide. At the end of 2022, we had more than 40,000 employees,
over 116,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners,
serving over 34 million customers. We trade as 'MFC' on the
Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges
and under '945' in Hong Kong.
Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For
additional information, please visit manulife.com.
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SOURCE Manulife Financial Corporation