Asia head new Manulife CEO

M anulife

Financial Corp’s head of Asian operations, Roy Gori, will take over as chief executive officer at Canada’s largest life insurer this year as Donald Guloien retires, underscoring the company’s push to expand in Asia and modernise products for a new generation of customers.

“Our industry is still very paper based and very manual,” Gori, 48, who joined Manulife from Citigroup Inc in 2015, said in an interview on Thursday.

“Our ambition is to really see how we can digitise all of our processes and create a huge differentiation versus the competition,” he added.

Manulife, like all big traditional insurers, is contending with declining consumer interest in some products as well as the pinch of low bond yields.

The Toronto-based company also seeks to capitalise on burgeoning insurance markets in Asia. The continent generated 36% of Manulife’s revenue last year, almost as much as the United States and more than the company’s domestic market.

While Guloien helped stabilise the insurer after the credit crisis, the stock is still down more than 40% from its 2007 peak. Manulife has also underperformed the Canadian benchmark stock index since he became CEO in 2009.

“The speedy rise of Roy Gori shows how he has delivered as Asia CEO and how important Asia is going to be for the company,” Linda Sun-Mattison, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co, said by email.

Asian operations are set to become a bigger part of Manulife’s profit and earnings, according to Gori, who is moving from Hong Kong to Toronto early next month.

“Asia is obviously growing at a faster pace than the rest of our business,” he said. “That’s a function of the economies in Asia and the low penetration of insurance in that part of the world.”

“Still, Manulife has ambitious growth plans across all its markets and business lines, including the wealth and asset-management units,’’ the incoming CEO said.

“Gori, who was already set to become Manulife’s president next month, will succeed Guloien as CEO on Oct 1 and join the board,’’ Manulife said in a statement Thursday.

Guloien, 60, said he didn’t plan to take on any other CEO positions and would remain an adviser to the company.

“While I’m not going to meddle in Roy’s decision making in any way, shape or form, I will be available to him 24 hours a day for any advice that he needs or to represent the company,” he said in a telephone interview. “Gori is ready to take the company to the next stage of success.”

“I’ve been working since age 13 and is ready for some relaxation time, especially at his cottage in Ontario,’’ Guloien added.

“He has been open about not expecting to work until the typical retirement age,’’ Manulife spokesman Sean Pasternak said in March.

Manulife on Thursday also announced the departure of Craig Bromley, general manager of the company’s John Hancock division in the US. Michael Doughty has been promoted to that role on an interim basis.

Bromley’s departure was “unexpected,” Barclays analyst John Aiken said in a note to clients on Thursday.

“While Guloien’s departure is disappointing, Gori is a strong replacement and he doesn’t expect any material changes in business or strategy at the company.’’

Prior to joining Manulife, Gori oversaw consumer banking at Citigroup for North Asia and Australia. He also was the bank’s regional head of retail banking for the Asia Pacific region, a role that included oversight of insurance and wealth-management businesses.