Manulife Asset Management (Hong Kong) has reached an agreement with India's Kotak Mahindra to collaborate on fund management and distribution activities in Asia.

The move is key to Manulife's expansion plans in the region and opens up further opportunities for Kotak Mahindra both the institutional and retail wealth management areas, the firms said.

Upon completion of the deal, MFC Global Investment Management, Manulife's investment management unit, will gain access to Kotak's equity and investment practice in the Indias, which represent about 15 per cent of some major regional indices. MFC presently manages over $33 billion in Asia, of which $8.3 billion is in equities and nearly $1 billion in equities.

"We see considerable opportunity in leveraging our complementary skill-sets in these rapidly evolving capital markets. We will work with Kotak to create quality and forward-thinking wealth management products and services, that cater for our clients’ increasingly sophisticated financial needs both across the region, and globally," Philip Hampden-Smith, executive vice president and general manager of South East Asia operations for Manulife, said in a statement.

Kotak has over $10 billion in assets under management and advisory and covers more than 30 sectors in the Indian market.