Manulife sees opportunities in Asia

Manulife Financial Corp is interested in a range of insurance and asset management acquisition opportunities across several markets in Asia, a top executive said recently.

The company is looking to strengthen its position in Japan and Hong Kong, its two biggest markets in Asia, as well as add capabilities in fast-growing segments such as China, Philippines and Vietnam.

Manulife is looking to take advantage of its own capital position and favorable demographic trends in the region, said Roy Gori, chief executive of Manulife Asia.

"You've got a middle class that's growing very rapidly, you've got an aging population," he told Reuters. "And wealth will more than double in the next 10 years."

The company has about 10,000 employees in Asia and operates in 12 markets. The region accounts for about a third of Manulife's earnings and about half of its insurance sales.

"An important part of our strategy is to diversify our business and to have some far smaller businesses gain greater scale," he said, adding that such moves would help improve margins and better deal with market volatility.

"Bancassurance is a key aspect of growth and opportunity for us. So we'll continue to pursue that," he said.