Manulife Financial names a chief financial officer for its Asian office in Hong Kong.

Manulife Financial, the Canadian financial services giant, has bolstered its Asian office with a senior appointment in Hong Kong.

Philip Witherington joins the company as senior vice president and chief financial officer for the Asia division. In this role, he will be responsible for providing financial leadership to support Asia's growth strategy, driving transformational change within the finance function and managing all financial aspects for the unit, including income statement, product profitability, tax, capital and risk management and talent development.

Witherington brings over 15 years of insurance and financial services experience both in developed and emerging markets in Asia. He most recently served as head of finance for the retail banking and wealth management global business in Asia-Pacific of HSBC. Prior to that, he was vice president for finance at AIA Group in Hong Kong.

At Manulife, he reports dually to Steve Roder, senior EVP and chief financial officer for Manulife Financial, and Robert Cook, senior EVP and general manager for Asia.

Manulife Asia is one of the three divisions of Manulife Financial Corporation, the other two being Canada and the US, under the John Hancock brand. Its Asia network covers China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and South East Asia, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The division currently makes up around a third of the total company net income.