Manulife shifts HQ to HK

Manulife shifts HQ to HK

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Canada's biggest mutual life insurer, Manulife Financial, has moved its regional headquarters from Singapore to Hong Kong, the Business Times said yesterday.

The shift reunites offices split in 1994 when a Singapore office opened to cover Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and South Korea, leaving greater China, including Taiwan to the Hong Kong operation.

David Allen, head of Manulife's Asian operations, said in an interview with the Business Times that the firm had chosen Hong Kong as its base because it had been operating there for more than 100 years and had a large number of staff there.

"This enables us to promote cross-knowledge and consistency of approach; it was not a cost issue or a regional crisis issue," Allen said.