Vibha Coburn, Manulife Malaysia Chief Executive Officer.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 (Bernama) -- Manulife today announced the appointment of Vibha Coburn as Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Manulife Holdings Berhad (MHB) and CEO of Manulife Insurance Berhad (MIB). Her appointment is effective 1 October 2020.

Coburn will be responsible for MHB’s operations in Malaysia, including its life insurance, health insurance, wealth management and retirement solutions businesses. She also sits on the Board of Manulife Investment Management Services Berhad Malaysia. Coburn is a member of Manulife’s Asia and Global Leadership Teams and reports to Sachin N. Shah, General Manager, Emerging Markets, Manulife Asia.

Most recently, Coburn was Chief Distribution Officer at Manulife Asia. Under her leadership, Manulife’s agency force in Asia grew significantly and became the world’s third best in terms of Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) membership. Coburn strengthened Manulife’s bancassurance capabilities, delivering strong growth to its regional partnership with DBS Bank in Singapore, as well as to local partnerships with Bank Danamon in Indonesia and Techcom Bank in Vietnam. She also championed the adoption of digital channels and tools throughout Manulife’s distribution network across Asia.

“Vibha’s accomplishments demonstrate her strengths in terms of accelerating our digital transformation and driving growth,” said Anil Wadhwani, President & CEO, Manulife Asia. “This appointment reflects the significance of our Malaysia business and our commitment to the market.”

Coburn said: “I am thrilled to be leading this strong business and to have the opportunity to make the lives of Malaysians every day better. With a high-performing team already in place at Manulife Malaysia, I look forward to progressing our bold ambition to be the most digital, customer-centric global company in our industry.”

“Vibha’s leadership has had a highly positive impact on the distribution of our products in Asia,” added Shah. “With this appointment, I am confident that she will make significant contributions to Manulife Malaysia’s operations and further strengthen our Emerging Markets leadership team.”

With more than 30 years of experience in senior roles in banking, insurance and management consulting, spanning Asia, Europe and Australia, Coburn joined Manulife in 2016. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Western Australia.

Coburn succeeds Lee Sang Hui, who moves to a new role as CEO of Manulife Vietnam. 

About Manulife Malaysia
Manulife Holdings Berhad is part of Canada-based Manulife Financial Corporation. Through its subsidiary companies, Manulife Malaysia offers an innovative range of financial protection, health and wealth management products and services to meet different customer needs. Manulife Malaysia currently serves the needs of over 270,000 policyholders and wealth management customers. Manulife Holdings Berhad has been listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia since 1984. As at 30 June 2020, its assets under management were over RM11 billion. To learn more about Manulife Malaysia, visit: www.manulife.com.my. 

About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2019, we had more than 35,000 employees, over 98,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving almost 30 million customers. As of June 30, 2020, we had C$1.2 trillion (US$0.9 trillion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made C$30.6 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 155 years. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong. 

SOURCE: Manulife Insurance Berhad 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name: Asha Devi
Manager,Brand & Communications
Manulife Insurance Berhad
Tel: (603) 2719 9294
Email: asha_devi@manulife.com

--BERNAMA