Canada $56 Billion Insurer Manulife Appoints CFO Phil Witherington as CEO to Succeed Roy Gori Who is Retiring in 2025 May, Phil Witherington was Appointed as Manulife President & CEO Asia in 2023, 26 Years of Financial Industry Experience at Manulife, HSBC, AIA & KPMG
21st November 2024 | Hong Kong
Canada insurer Manulife ($56 billion market value) has announced the appointment of CFO Phil Witherington as CEO to succeed Roy Gori who is retiring in 2025 May (8/5/25). Phil Witherington was appointed as Manulife President & CEO Asia in 2023, and has more than 26 years of financial industry experience at Manulife, HSBC, AIA & KPMG. Manulife (18/11/24): “Manulife Financial Corporation’s (MFC) Board today announced that President and Chief Executive Officer Roy Gori has informed them of his intention to retire, effective May 8, 2025, with Phil Witherington appointed as his successor and joining the Board of Directors at that time. To support this transition, following Mr. Gori’s retirement he has agreed to serve as an Advisor through August 31, 2025. Phil Witherington has been a member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team since 2017, serving as Chief Financial Officer for five years until his appointment to his current role as President and CEO, Manulife Asia. Holding roles with HSBC and AIA prior to joining Manulife in 2014, Mr. Witherington has over 25 years of experience in insurance and financial services globally, in both developed and emerging markets. Earlier in his career, he spent a decade with KPMG in London and Hong Kong. He holds a degree in Geography from the University of Durham and an executive MBA jointly awarded by the University of EdinburghManagement School and the École nationale des ponts et chaussées and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Phil will continue in his current role as he works with Roy on transition planning and will name his successor in the coming months.”
“ Canada $56 Billion Insurer Manulife Appoints CFO Phil Witherington as CEO to Succeed Roy Gori Who is Retiring in 2025 May, Phil Witherington was Appointed as Manulife President & CEO Asia in 2023, 26 Years of Financial Industry Experience at Manulife, HSBC, AIA & KPMG “
Incoming Manulife President & CEO, Phil Witherington: “It is an honour to be provided with the opportunity to lead the next chapter for Manulife. We are an historic organization that has an incredible footprint, enviable capabilities, and an unrivalled history. It has been a privilege to work closely with Roy and the entire Executive Leadership Team in recent years, and I’m excited by the opportunity we have to build on our momentum, delivering high-quality sustainable growth for the benefit of our customers, colleagues, investors and the communities we operate in around the world.”
Don Lindsay, Chair of the Board of Manulife: “The Board is unanimous in our support for Phil’s appointment As both our Chief Financial Officer and now as CEO of the Asia Segment he has consistently demonstrated the ability to navigate complexity, deliver on commitments and drive change and highly engaged teams through his authentic leadership. Roy is an inspiring, values-driven leader who has transformed the company and delivered outstanding results over his tenure as our President and CEO,” Mr. Lindsay said. “Our company is well-positioned for sustained future growth because of Roy’s disciplined focus on execution and the tremendous team and culture he’s built,” added Mr. Lindsay. “On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Roy for his extraordinary energy, passion for and commitment to our company.”
Manulife President & CEO, Roy Gori: “It has been my honour to serve as Manulife’s President and CEO and I’m extremely proud of our team’s many accomplishments. We’ve delivered superior operating results, de-risked our business, and become a digital customer leader in our industry. These results have enabled us to deliver market leading total shareholder return and wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible dedication and engagement of our outstanding global team. And I’m thrilled that Phil will lead that next phase in the company’s growth given his deep understanding of our global business and principled leadership. He has played a key role in our transformation journey, and I look forward to working with him to ensure a seamless transition.”
Manulife – Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we provide financial advice and insurance, operating as Manulife across Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Through Manulife Investment Management, the global brand for our Global Wealth and Asset Management segment, we serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2023, we had more than 38,000 employees, over 98,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 35 million customers. We trade as ‘MFC’ on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges, and under ‘945’ in Hong Kong.
Manulife Appoints Philip Witherington as President & CEO Asia Succeeding Damien Green, Colin Simpson Appointed as Manulife CFO
16th June 2023 – Canada Manulife Financial Corporation has appointed CFO Philip Witherington as Manulife Asia President & CEO succeeding Damien Green who is appointed as Chair of Manulife Financial Asia (1st July 2023), with Colin Simpson succeeding Philip Witherington as Manulife CFO. Philip Witherington joined Manulife in 2014 as Manulife Asia CFO, and prior, was at HSBC (Head of Finance Retail Banking & Wealth Management APAC), AIA & KPMG. Philip Witherington as Manulife Asia President & CEO, will report to Roy Gori (Manulife President & CEO). More info below.
Roy Gori, Manulife President & CEO: “Phil has helped strengthen our solid financial foundation as we enter the next stage of our journey. We have bold ambitions for Asia and Phil’s deep appreciation of our team, market, and opportunity across the region will help accelerate our growth agenda for this critical part of our business. As our new Chief Financial Officer, Colin’s experience and perspective will allow us to build on our solid foundation and continue to drive financial performance. I’d like to thank Damien for his leadership of Manulife Asia this past year and our Hong Kong business before that. Throughout his tenure, his commitment to our customers, team and agents has helped secure our competitive position across the region.”
Manulife Appoints Philip Witherington as President & CEO Asia Succeeding Damien Green, Colin Simpson Appointed as Manulife CFO
Manulife (15th June 2023) – Phil Witherington, Manulife’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), is now appointed President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Manulife Asia, effective July 1, 2023. Mr. Witherington will continue reporting to Roy Gori, President and CEO of Manulife, and remain on Manulife’s Executive Leadership Team.
Mr. Witherington replaces Damien Green, who will now chair Manulife Financial Asia Ltd. (MFAL), working with Mr. Witherington to ensure a smooth transition. As Manulife’s CFO, Mr. Witherington helped the organization transition to the new IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 accounting standards and contributed significantly to financial performance. Prior to his appointment as Manulife’s CFO in 2017, Mr. Witherington served as Manulife Asia’s CFO. Before joining Manulife in 2014, Mr. Witherington was the Asia-Pacific head of finance for retail banking and wealth management at HSBC. He also held finance roles at AIA and was a financial services specialist at KPMG. Mr. Witherington will continue reporting to Roy Gori, President and CEO of Manulife, and remain on Manulife’s Executive Leadership Team. Mr. Witherington replaces Damien Green, who will now chair Manulife Financial Asia Ltd. (MFAL), working with Mr. Witherington to ensure a smooth transition.
Philip Witherington
Phil Witherington is Chief Financial Officer at Manulife. He is responsible for managing Manulife’s financial affairs, including finance, accounting, capital, treasury, taxation, investor relations, financial regulation, and for our property and casualty reinsurance operations.
Prior to this appointment, he was the Interim President & Chief Executive Officer Manulife Asia. Phil is a member of Manulife’s Executive Leadership Team. Previously, Phil was Chief Financial Officer, Manulife Asia, leading transformational change within the finance function in Asia and providing strong financial leadership to business decisions by influencing divisional strategy and business unit profitability, as well as leading financial due diligence of all merger and acquisition opportunities. Phil joined Manulife in 2014 and has 20 years of experience in insurance and financial services, in both developed and emerging markets within Asia. Prior to joining Manulife, Phil led finance in Asia Pacific for the Retail Banking and Wealth Management business at HSBC and earlier served as the Deputy Regional Chief Financial Officer for its Asian insurance businesses. Previously, Phil was Vice President Finance at AIA, based in Hong Kong. He also spent a decade with KPMG, based in London and Hong Kong, specializing in financial services audit and advisory services, with a particular focus on life insurance clients.
Phil holds an Executive MBA jointly awarded by the University of Edinburgh Management School (United Kingdom) and the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (Paris, France). He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (FCA) and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FCPA). Outside of work, his contributions to the community include being a member of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) Steering Committee on Digital Finance.
Colin Simpson
Colin Simpson, CFO for the US and General Account, succeeds Mr. Witherington and is appointed Manulife’s CFO, also effective July 1, 2023. Mr. Simpson will report to Mr. Gori and join Manulife’s Executive Leadership Team. Mr. Simpson joined Manulife in November 2022 to help deliver on US Segment strategic priorities, including portfolio optimization, expense efficiency, and capital efficient growth. He joined Manulife from Aviva plc, where he held the position of Interim Group CFO, having previously served as CFO for Aviva Canada, and Director of Investor Relations. Prior to his roles at Aviva, Colin was Vice President, Equity Research at Goldman Sachs International.
About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we provide financial advice and insurance, operating as Manulife across Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Through Manulife Investment Management, the global brand for our Global Wealth and Asset Management segment, we serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2022, we had more than 40,000 employees, over 116,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 34 million customers. We trade as ‘MFC’ on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under ‘945’ in Hong Kong.
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