2010 News Releases

Hong Kong — Manulife (International) Limited (MIL) has announced the promotion of Kareen Chow to Vice President & Head of Agency Sales, Hong Kong. 

In this expanded role, Ms Chow will be in charge of more than 4,440 agents, 74 districts and 1,260 agency leaders, with responsibility for driving agency productivity and for devising development programmes to promote growth for Manulife Hong Kong’s agency force. 

Ms Chow was named an Agency Director in 2004 and Head of Agency Directors in 2009. Over the last decade, she has played a major role in making Manulife’s Agency distribution team one of the fastest-growing in the industry, increasing the force from 2,000 to 3,000 in less than three years and defying the recent adverse economic environment with strong headcount growth and sales momentum.

Commenting on Ms Chow’s appointment, Emil Lee, Vice President and Chief Agency Officer, MIL said: “With her passion, commitment and high levels of energy, Kareen will further enhance the professionalism of our agency force in Hong Kong as we embark on the adoption of new technology and the development of an innovative financial-planning platform.” 

Ms Chow’s outstanding achievement and contribution to the company has made her a Corporate Honouree in Star of Excellence programme, Manulife’s global employee recognition programme, in 2008. 

Other senior Agency Manager promotions include that of Daniel Chu to Regional Director. He has had an outstanding career with the company since joining it 20 years ago, winning awards for exceptional production, growth and recruitment, which is one of his specialties. Achievements in team building and agency management also brought him numerous industry recognitions over the years. 

Also promoted to Regional Director is Eric Tsoi, who has made a big impact in a short period of time  — being named Recruiter of the Year in 2008, only nine months after joining the company. He, too, has received various company awards and industry accolades for his achievements in recruitment and team building in 2008 and 2009. 

Another recruitment specialist, Credy Chong, has been promoted to Senior District Director after a decade with Manulife that has been punctuated with internal awards, culminating last year in his earning the prize for highest production, growth and recruitment by a senior branch manager. 

In addition to these promotions, upgrades to the position of District Director were announced for Dick Wong, James Ng, Johnny Wong, Timmy Lee and Steven Wong — all of whom are deemed to have made strong contributions to the success and development of Manulife’s agency force over the last decade. 

About Manulife (International) Limited

Manulife (International) Limited is a member of the Manulife Financial group of companies. Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 22 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners.    Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were C$440 billion (HK$ 3,256.8 billion) as at December 31, 2009. 

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under ‘945’ on the SEHK.  Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com. 

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Media Contact:

Lily Chan / Loren Tam
Manulife (International) Limited
Tel: (852) 2202 1284 / 2510 3130
Fax: (852) 2234 6875
lily_wk_chan@manulife.com/
loren_sb_tam@manulife.com