Exclusive | Insurer Manulife wants to redomicile Hong Kong unit from Bermuda to the city, to tap Greater Bay Area growth, CEO Graham says
- Manulife, which started its business in Hong Kong 126 years ago, also uses the city to oversee 13 markets with about 13 million customers in the region
- The Hong Kong government and the industry are all behind creating a pathway for insurers to redomicile in the city, CEO says
Canadian insurer Manulife (International) wants to redomicile its Hong Kong unit in the city from Bermuda as it has big plans for expansion in the Greater Bay Area, according to its Hong Kong and Macau CEO, Patrick Graham.
Manulife, which started its business in Hong Kong 126 years ago, is the city’s second-largest life insurer and largest pension provider. It also uses the city as its Asian headquarters, overseeing 13 markets with about 13 million customers in the region.
The insurer and Hong Kong’s other 11 large insurance firms – such as AIA, AXA and HSBC Life – are, however, currently incorporated in Bermuda because of an estate duty Hong Kong levied at the time they were set up, which was later scrapped.
Manulife has been working with other firms and the Hong Kong government on reforms that will allow such insurers to come back to the city and incorporate here.
“Manulife has been a driver behind this agenda,” Graham said in an interview. “It is a quirk of history that we all started in Bermuda. But the good news is, the government [of Hong Kong] and the industry are all lined up to make it happen, to create a pathway for us to redomicile here.”
