HONG KONG, May 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Manulife group of companies operating in Hong Kong ("Manulife Hong Kong")[1] today reported strong results for the first quarter of 2018.
Compared with the first quarter of 2017, key highlights are:
"We are pleased with our performance in the first quarter of 2018, particularly our strong growth in wealth and asset management gross flows, premiums and deposits and NBV," said Guy Mills, Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Hong Kong. "With our financial strength, customer-centric solutions and strong distribution capabilities, we are well-positioned to continue to grow our businesses and deliver long-term value to our key stakeholders in Hong Kong."
First quarter APE sales were HK$1.2 billion, an increase of 10% from HK$1.0 billion in the same quarter of 2017. The increase was driven by new customer solutions and increased productivity of our growing agency channel.
"In addition to our agency force, contributions from the broker channel and our key bancassurance partner DBS Bank also helped us achieve higher APE sales for the quarter, demonstrating the success of our diversified distribution strategy," added Mr. Mills.
First quarter wealth and asset management gross flows increased significantly by 38% to HK$8.4 billion from HK$6.0 billion in the same period of 2017. This was mainly attributable to more transfer-in of employees' personal accounts, new employer clients and higher MPF sales from Standard Chartered Bank. As at end March 2018, Manulife continues to lead in the MPF market as the No. 1 MPF scheme sponsor in Hong Kong, with a market share of 22.5% in terms of assets under management and 27.2% in terms of estimated net cash flows for the first quarter.
Total premiums and deposits during the first quarter were HK$17.8 billion, up 37% from HK$12.9 billion in the same period of 2017, attributable to growth in new business and higher renewal premiums.
First quarter NBV increased to HK$721 million, up 31% from HK$545 million in the first quarter of 2017, reflecting higher APE sales and improved margins.
"Another remarkable achievement in the first quarter is the launch of claimsimple.hk, an innovative e-claims solution that lets customers make a medical insurance claim online anytime, anywhere via their mobile device or PC in less than one minute," said Mr. Mills. "In just three months after launching, we are now receiving over 20% of customers' medical claims through this online platform. Looking ahead, we will continue to initiate new e-services that suit the modern lifestyle of our customers."
| [1] Manulife Hong Kong includes all our Hong Kong businesses including insurance, insurance based wealth accumulation products, and our wealth and asset management businesses.
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About Manulife Hong Kong
Manulife Hong Kong offers a diverse range of protection and wealth products and services to individual and corporate customers via Manulife (International) Limited, Manulife Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited and Manulife Provident Funds Trust Company Limited, which are members of the Manulife group of companies.
About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance, as well as wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2017, we had about 35,000 employees, 73,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving more than 26 million customers. As of March 31, 2018, we had over C$1.1 trillion (HK$6.7 trillion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made C$26.9 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 100 years. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.
Notes:
i All percentage changes are stated on a year-over-year basis, except for MPF market share.
ii Annualized premium equivalent (APE) sales are presented to provide consistency of scope for NBV disclosures and industry practice. APE sales consist of insurance and insurance based wealth accumulation products, and exclude our wealth and asset management businesses. They comprise 100% of regular premiums/deposits sales and 10% of single premiums/deposits sales.
iii Premiums and deposits are the aggregate of (i) general fund premiums, net of reinsurance, reported as premiums on Manulife's Consolidated Statements of Income, (ii) segregated fund deposits, excluding seed money, ("deposits from policyholders"), (iii) investment contract deposits, and (iv) mutual fund deposits.
iv Wealth and asset management gross flows is comprised of fee based business with little or no insurance risk, including mutual funds and pensions products.
v New business value ("NBV") is the change in embedded value as a result of sales in the reporting period. NBV is calculated as the present value of shareholders' interests in expected future distributable earnings, after the cost of capital, on actual new business sold in the period using assumptions that are consistent with the assumptions used in the calculation of embedded value. NBV is a useful metric to evaluate the value created by Manulife Hong Kong's new business franchise.
vi MPF market shares are measured by scheme sponsor share of asset under management and net cash flows. Source: Table on p. 5 of Mercer MPF Market Shares Report as at March 29, 2018.
