Manulife strengthens ties with Bank of China
From Life Nov 14 2011 BY: Will Jackson
, Contributing editor
, International Adviser
Donald Guloien, Manulife & Chen Siqing, Bank of China
Manulife Financial, the Canada-based insurance giant, has signed a new framework agreement with Bank of China, which it says will run for a minimum of two years.
The deal is designed to strengthen cooperation between the two firms in areas such as insurance custody and bancassurance in China, and “other business arrangements” in North America.
Donald Guloien, the president and chief executive officer of Manulife, said he expected the bancassurance partnership between the firm’s joint venture company – Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance (MSL) – and Bank of China to be an important source for future growth.
MSL signed a bancassurance distribution deal with Bank of China in May, enabling the sale of its products, via the bank, in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In addition, Bank of China acts as a custodian and distributor for Manulife’s joint venture fund management business, Manulife-TEDA Fund Management.
“As more and more Chinese and Canadian companies and citizens look to each other’s home country for business opportunities, academic pursuits or simply as a holiday destinations, we view closer cooperation between Bank of China and Manulife as an opportunity to realise business opportunities together,” said Guloien.
A ceremony to mark the occasion took place at Bank of China’s headquarters in Beijing, and the agreement was signed by Guloien and Chen Siqing, the executive vice-president of Bank of China.
As reported by International Adviser in August, Manulife announced plans to aggressively target Hong Kong’s mandatory provident fund market.