Canadian insurer Manulife delivered what it called a «milestone year» in Asia with earnings growth in 2024.
Manulife’s core earnings in Asia rose 27 percent year-on-year to $1.9 billion in 2024, according to the insurer’s financial results. This included annualized premium equivalent sales growth of 36 percent to $4.4 billion and an increase of 35 percent in new business value to $1.6 billion. New business contractual service margin was also up 38 percent to $1.6 billion.
«2024 was a milestone year for Manulife and our Asia business,» commented Manulife Asia president and CEO Phil Witherington who was recently promoted to global president and CEO, effective May 9. «Our robust full-year results in Asia highlight the significant strides we've made in driving new business and core earnings growth.»
Globally, Manulife posted $5.4 billion of net income attributable to shareholders in 2024, up 5 percent.
Regional Developments
Some of the regional developments highlighted by the insurer this year included the expansion of Manulife Pro to Indonesia, Japan and Hong Kong. Manulife Pro is the firm's proprietary proposition for top-tier agents that includes differentiated resources and tools, such as dedicated underwriting support and enhanced customer engagement services with access to customer leads.
The insurer also launched two new products that cater to the protection, legacy planning and wealth management needs of high net worth customers. On technology, it launched a generative artificial intelligence sales tool in Singapore and Japan that enables agents to automatically create personalized engagement strategies.
«We are advancing toward becoming the number one choice for our customers by launching innovative health initiatives and high-net-worth solutions, alongside deploying generative AI solutions to enhance agent-customer interactions,» Witherington added.
