HSBC may be the undisputed champ in Hong Kong’s pension fund arena, but perennial runner-up Manulife has been busy looking for ways to bridge the gap – and fast.
According to Asia Asset Management, Manulife has just entered a 15-year partnership with Standard Chartered Bank – Hong Kong’s 12th largest Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) provider – to exclusively distribute the latter’s MPF products in the territory.
The deal reportedly cost Manulife 400 million big ones, but in return, it gets to boost its 18.8% share of the region’s MPF business closer to HSBC’s 23%. Not to mention a large chunk of the nation’s Occupation Retirement Schemes Ordinance (ORSO) traffic and a big piece of StanChart’s investment management ops as well.
Regarding the partnership, Manulife Asia CEO Roy Gori had this to say:
“This partnership between two of Hong Kong’s top financial services companies will enable us to increase value to customers and deliver the benefits of economies of scale.
The MPF industry in Hong Kong is experiencing continued consolidation, and Manulife is seen as a partner of choice. Manulife is a major player in the pension business in Hong Kong, Canada, the United States, and Indonesia. This deal complements Manulife’s recent acquisitions in Canada and the United States and accelerates our strategy to grow our Asia and wealth management businesses.”
Photo: Kirill Ξ/Κ Voloshin