Business

Saturday January 14, 2012

Manulife expects 40% sales growth this year

By WONG WEI-SHEN
weishen.wong@thestar.com.my


KUALA LUMPUR: Manulife Holdings Bhd expects its new business insurance premiums to increase by 40% this year. It plans to achieve the target through initiatives to expand its recruitment base and its brand.

“Recruitment is our main driver,” chief executive Michael Chan told StarBizWeek.

He said Manulife planned to recruit an additional 1,800 agents.

“We plan to hire at least 25 more branch managers, in addition to the current seven branch managers that we have,” Chan said.

The company also plans to open two or three more regional support centres this year. The support centres will provide both entry and advanced professional training to the company's agents.

Chan, however, is cautiously optimistic about achieving the 40% target. “It will be challenging but we are confident we are able to so, based on the response we received from our recruitment seminars,” he said.

“Three of 10 people who attended the recruitment seminars were interested in joining the company as agents.”

The company will also be launching more retirement, education and medical insurance products.

In terms of Manulife's asset management division, it plans to collaborate with “local” banks to distribute its wealth management products.

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