Exclusive | Manulife’s new Macau office will help insurer tap Greater Bay Area opportunities, CEO says
- The Canadian insurer will in October move into a new office in Yoho Treasure Island, a mixed-use complex capable of accommodating 1,000 sales and general staff
Manulife, the largest insurer in Canada and the largest pension provider in Hong Kong, will move to a new office in Macau in October to support its expansion in the former Portuguese colony.
The company has leased 64,000 sq ft of office space in the grade A Yoho Treasure Island complex on Macau peninsula. Named after the adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, the mixed-use complex faces Nam Van Lake and includes a five-star hotel and shopping centre.
“Even though Macau’s population is roughly only 10 per cent of Hong Kong’s, the insurance penetration rate in Macau is half of that in Hong Kong,” Patrick Graham, the insurer’s Hong Kong and Macau CEO, said in an exclusive interview with the Post. “But the demand for life insurance is attractive in Macau.”
Manulife joins a slew of financial firms expanding in the gaming hub.
OCBC last month said it will spend HK$1.5 billion (US$192 million) over the next three years to upgrade its Hong Kong and Macau digital platforms, offices and branches. Southeast Asia’s second largest bank sells policies of its insurance partners through its 11 branches in Macau.
UK-headquartered Prudential set up its first office in Macau in July last year, while HSBC Life opened its first wealth management centre in Macau a month later.
