Better

Better is at the heart of who we are. It’s what drives us and gives us purpose.

On February 28th, four Manulife colleagues and one of our customers took the stage at our Global Colleague Forum to share what Better means to them, connecting their own Better story to our mission and purpose.

On March 26th, four Manulife colleagues and one of our agents shared their Better stories at the Asia Global Colleague Forum, diving deep into how Better fuels and inspires them.

Thousands of colleagues joined both in-person and virtually to support our speakers and gain a better understanding of the importance of the work we do.

Take a look at our colleague stories:

Longer. Healthier. Better. The Role Behavioral Insurance Plays in the Lives of Families

Ana Senior leads external communications for John Hancock. Since joining in 2018, she has led communications strategies to increase John Hancock’s share of voice among competitors. Ana lives in Boston with her husband and daughter, and in her spare time, enjoys giving back via Boston-based non-profits.

Ana’s Better story showcases the role of behavioral life insurance in customer lives, told through the lens of personal loss. She recounts the day her father, a graduate of Culver Military Academy, was unexpectedly taken to the hospital, and tragically passed away. Ana describes all of her tumultuous emotions from the day, culminating with the realization that her father had also planned to take care of his family after his death. Ana explains how this helped her family focus on their grief instead of worrying about the future, thanks to her father who prepared for this moment. Ana also highlights the meaningful and important work we do to better the lives of our customers and their families.

Meet C, My Purpose Here at Manulife

Godfrey Jerry leads our Group Life, Individual Disability and Federal Group Operations from the Halifax office. Godfrey oversees a large team of life and disability management professionals who provide for our customers in the Canadian Disability and Group Life organization. With 20+ years at Manulife, Godfrey has worked with a variety of employers and group associations to understand their specific needs when it comes to life, absence and disability services.

Godfrey’s Better story details his bond with one of our customers, and how this friendship ignited a passion for cultivating better connections that drive emotional, financial, and physical wellbeing with the goal of improving the lives of our customers every day. Godfrey delves into the long emotional journey they underwent together and how her death was an inflection point in his career, making him more determined than ever to help others be better.

I Was Born to be a Retirement Plan

Wayne Park is CEO of John Hancock Retirement and has oversight on all aspects of our business, including sales, relationship management, marketing, product development, technology, and operations. Based in Boston, Wayne joined the organization in 2023 and has more than 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry.

Wayne's Better story speaks to the power of retirement security, especially for multi-generational families, and his personal connection to Manulife’s purpose and business. He unpacks the cultural expectations of his South Korean heritage, and recounts how he had to deal with challenges of helping his parents with their financial and retirement goals from when he was as young as nine years old. He also delves deeper into why working in the retirement business aligns with his personal purpose of helping families live better lives post-retirement.

How Manulife Supported My Journey to Motherhood

Jennifer Young is a Global Human Resources Business Solutions Consultant from our Waterloo office who designs solutions to streamline our HR tools and technologies that improve the employee experience. She worked on our expanded benefits offering for maternity and paternity leave, not thinking she would need to use our benefits less than a year later upon becoming pregnant.

Jennifer’s Better story focuses on her journey to become a mother and how Manulife’s benefits and workplace culture helped fuel her personal growth. Jennifer shares her turbulent pregnancy, which made her turn to short-term disability coverage, maternity leave, and mental health benefits. She unpacks how our choice to offer these benefits helped turn her stress, and pain, into support, and solutions.

Success is about progress, not perfection

Sabrina joined Manulife Cambodia in 2023 as Chief Agency Officer and was instrumental in rebuilding and transforming the Agency business. She was appointed Chief Distribution Officer and expanded her role to lead the Bancassurance business in 2024. Sabrina joined Manulife in 2020 as Head of Distribution Learning & Development, Asia Segment.

Sabrina’s Better story will discuss her experience growing up with traditional Chinese family dynamics, and how Manulife’s culture and values have made her a better leader. Now overseeing an agency team to support our customers, her story hopes to inspire the next generation of leaders by embracing where they came from, while committing to being better.

Creating Space for Chances & Change

Randell is the Transformation Change Lead for Asia Region, based in Hong Kong. Since joining the company in 2022, Randell’s work has focused on transformation initiatives related to branch servicing and contact centers. He is also the current co-chair of Hong Kong PROUD, Manulife’s employee resource group for members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community. Outside of work, he enjoys giving back to his community through socio-civic and inclusion-focused volunteer projects as a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum since 2020 and an Obama Leader in Asia Pacific since 2023

Randell’s Better story focuses on how we can embrace a change mindset for continued transformation at Manulife. He will discuss how following a series of obstacles, he embraced change for survival, and how this taught him the importance of resilience to achieve better outcomes.

The Problem with Nice

Dan is Director of Customer Experience & Transformation for Manulife Hong Kong. Since joining the company in 2013, Dan has held multiple roles with a focus on rethinking the way we communicate and engage with our customers, as well as leading culture change initiatives embedding our customer obsession and change management programs that drive adoption for transformation projects. Prior to joining Manulife, Dan worked with NBA favourites Yao Ming and Steve Nash, sprinting-sensation Usain Bolt at the Beijing Olympics, and even a NASA astronaut. Dan spends as much time as he can with his wife and two sons, hiking Hong Kong’s beautiful trails or cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

Daniel’s Better story focuses on how becoming a father changed his outlook on life and how Manulife provided him with tools and resources to become a better role model for his family. As a former committee member of PROUD, GWA and current co-chair of the Male Allies ERG, Dan believes he has only begun his journey to become a better parent, colleague, and person.

Manulife Agent Perspective on Bettering Lives

Kito is a Senior Financial Advisor and Agent at Manulife Philippines. Kito graduated from De La Salle University in 2015 with a degree in BS Entrepreneurship. He started at Manulife in April 2015 and received his very first recognition at the company as the Top Diamond Awardee in Manulife’s Fast Starters Awards. His most prestigious accomplishment yet was in 2018 when he was the main speaker at the 2018 Malaysia MDRT day. He is also the unit head of Phoenix Summit Vision. In his spare time, Kito enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, white water rafting, and spelunking.

Kito’s Better story focuses on the fact that his job is about helping people prosper. He discusses how his outlook shifted after he worked with his friend Lorenz and helped him navigate through illness. He highlights how this experience made him realize that while his mantra of YOLO (you only live once) is true, he now prefers to go by you only live once in the service of others.

Embracing storms: my path to growth

Linh Vo currently serves as the Head of Communications for Manulife Vietnam, overseeing both internal and external communications. Since joining the company in December 2020 as a PR Manager, Linh has been instrumental in driving the company’s share of voice from #3 to #1 in the market. Linh founded Volunteer House Vietnam, a non-profit organization, and dedicated three years to its management before relocating to the United States to pursue her scholarship program as a Rotary Peace Fellow. Linh has also co-authored ten books for children since her college years and published her debut novel in 2014.

Linh’s Better story focuses on how embracing challenges has helped her step out of her comfort zone and learn what it means to be a true leader at Manulife. She discussed the critical role of Communications in the trust-dependent business of life insurance, emphasizing how clear and effective communication has helped gain customers’ trust.

Throughout our call for Better stories, we caught up with leaders, customers, agents, and community partners about what purpose means to them. Have a listen.

Jon Feinman, Founder and CEO of InnerCity Weightlifting, talks about the importance of his work and his purpose in life. The organization’s mission is to amplify the voice and agency of people who have been most impacted by systemic racism and mass incarceration. Manulife has partnered with InnerCity Weightlifting for nearly a decade and are enabling them to build and scale a financial literacy curriculum.

Mike Serbinis, Founder and CEO of League, a leading healthcare technology provider, talks about how League empowers Manulife customers’ personal health journey to help them live happier, healthier, and longer lives. In 2023, Manulife announced a strategic partnership with League that will offer Group Benefits members more integrated digital healthcare experiences.

This compilation of customer success stories shows the power our people have to make tough days a little easier. We are proud of the impact we can have on the lives of so many, often during the hardest and most trying times of their lives.

Susan Roberts, Head of LTC Customer Care Transformation, U.S. Division, Manulife, shares a personal story about her father that fuels her own purpose in her work and highlights the importance of Manulife’s support of long-term care policy holders.

Pankaj Banerjee, Chief Distribution Officer, Manulife Asia, discusses how working with colleagues to make a positive change in society energizes and drives him at work.

Benoit Meslet, CEO of Manulife Japan, shares his personal connection to our company’s mission and discusses the impact our products have on customer lives.

A Manulife Canada customer shares her own story of how we helped make her life better and helped to provide protection for her family despite a pre-existing condition.

Brooks Tingle, President and CEO of John Hancock, unpacks his understanding of Better, his passion for our products, and his personal connection to our mission.

Rotha Chan, CEO of Manulife Cambodia, discusses the significance of building a financial future for all Cambodians and highlights the importance of giving back to the community.

Manulife’s global disaster relief partner, World Central Kitchen, makes critical and timely efforts to supply food and water to families and individuals in crisis zones helps to make lives better during times of immense need.