Manulife currently takes the second spot among the top Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) service providers in Hong Kong (after market leader HSBC Insurance) in terms of MPF assets under management, according to Towers Watson.
The Canadian-based insurer started to manage pension schemes in Hong Kong in 1936, with more than 1.1 million pension accounts under its wing as at 30 June 2011.
Hong Kong is a net winner in both profit contribution and brand awareness in Manulife's Asian business. The firm's internal research shows the level of brand awareness in Hong Kong is at 90 per cent.
Huddart attributes that to the company's 114-year history in Hong Kong, but stresses of the need to emphasise Manulife's brand attributes in today's busy insurance market, flanked by strong competitors like Prudential and AIA.
In fact, in the expansion fight between the two insurers which dominated the news in 2010, Manulife chose to pull out of the battleground and only launched its first advertising campaign in 2011 after a three-year hiatus.
Its brand-building exercise, however, is still a work-in-progress as Hong Kong comes to terms with its prevalent aging population issue, with opportunities still abound in products like pensions and longevity insurance, Huddart says.