Manulife Poised To Widen Scope Over The Japanese Market

Vanessa Doctor

19 August 2010

Manulife Life Insurance is tapping into Japan's mature insurance market with the aim to provide diversified strategies for the aging population's wealth management and long-term savings plans.

"The aging population has increased demand for products that can accumulate, preserve and transfer wealth," Mark Oberhellman, the vice president and chief product officer of Manulife Japan, said in a statement.

The country has been experiencing weak stock and interest rate performance over the past two decades, leading more residents to turn to alternative asset classes to preserve their life savings. Even before the global financial crisis had erupted in 2008, the Japanese insurance market was already placing a lot of attention on fixed annuities, medical insurance and variable annuities.

"In Japan, our strategy going forward is to provide more diverse products through multiple distribution channels," added Oberhellman.

At present, Manulife enjoys strong sales in new business premiums for individual insurance, allowing it to record 16.7 billion yen in net income for the 2009 fiscal year, from a loss of 26.5 billion yen in the previous year. In 2007, it opened up Manulife Investments Japan to offer investment trust and wealth management services to clients in the country.