The Canada-headquartered group, with operations in a number of regions, has announced a set of leadership changes, including those affecting wealth management.

Toronto-listed Manulife is putting its wealth and asset management businesses into a key financial reporting unit, naming a new head of that operation, taking over from a predecessor who is stepping down. The changes were announced yesterday as part of other moves affecting business lines in Asia, Canada and the US.

The company said the changes were designed to “drive better alignment with its strategic priorities”, boost its growth and make the most of its closed legacy businesses in North America.

The global wealth and asset management business will be formed into a “primary reporting segment”, Manulife said. This group will be led by Paul Lorentz, who has been at the firm since 1993, working across its wealth and insurance businesses. His appointment is effective October 1 and Lorentz reports to Warren Thomson, chief investment officer. Separately, Kai Sotorp, who was head of global wealth and asset management, having joined Manulife in 2014. The firm praised Sotorp for having had a “significant impact on the company's asset management business, helping scale and grow its capabilities around the world”.

North America legacy business
The firm also appointed Naveed Irshad to run its closed legacy businesses in North America, which include Manulife’s annuity business, long-term care insurance and certain other insurance products. Irshad has served as CEO of Manulife Singapore and his career with Manulife spans 20 years. Irshad will report jointly to the heads of Manulife's US and Canadian businesses and will join Manulife's executive committee.

“Manulife has a stated objective to improve returns in its legacy businesses, and the creation of this new role will enable it to more aggressively pursue this opportunity with stronger accountability and focus on in-force management, cost efficiencies and leveraging scale, as well as potential strategic transactions for these businesses where it makes sense,” the firm continued.

Asia
Anil Wadhwani has been appointed president and CEO of Manulife Asia, effective November 13. Wadhwani is a global financial services leader who has spent his 25-year career with Citi, primarily in growth roles across consumer banking in Asia, with a focus on customer experience and digitization. 

He has extensive wealth management and insurance distribution experience, and most recently served as the global head of operations for Citi's consumer bank, based in New York. He has lived and worked in Asia, Europe and the US. 

US
Dianne Harrison has been appointed President and CEO of John Hancock, Manulife's US business, effective October 1. Harrison serves as president and CEO of Manulife Canada, and has worked in the financial services sector for three decades.

Canada
Manulife said Michael Doughty has been appointed president and CEO of Manulife Canada, also effective October 1. He has served as the interim president and CEO of John Hancock since May, and, prior to that, led John Hancock Insurance. He joined the business in 1992.

In other segments, Steve Roder, Manulife's chief financial officer, has decided to retire for personal reasons, effective December 31, 2017..

Philip Witherington, currently the interim President and CEO of Manulife Asia, has been appointed Manulife's CFO, effective January 1, 2018, subject to immigration approvals. Before taking his current role, Witherington served as Manulife Asia's CFO since 2014. Prior to joining Manulife, Witherington was the Asia-Pacific head of finance for retail banking and wealth management at HSBC. He also held finance roles at AIA, and prior to that he was a financial services specialist at KPMG.