Manulife's multi-year sponsorship agreement with Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), has inspired more Manulife agents to achieve the internationally recognised standard of excellence in the insurance industry.
MDRT is the global trade association for leading insurance and financial services professionals. The 2019 agreement gave Manulife’s 100,000 agents in Asia Pacific more opportunities to gain the knowledge and tools they need to succeed in providing people with sound financial advice, while developing their own expertise and advancing within the industry.
Vibha Coburn, Chief Distribution Officer, Manulife Asia
"Agents continue to play a key role in our industry, serving the needs of our customers, making our customers' lives every day better," says Vibha Coburn, Manulife Asia's Chief Distribution Officer.
"The agreement highlights Manulife’s and MDRT's shared objectives, namely putting the customer at the centre of everything, through continuous education and development, professionalism and integrity," says Coburn. "Manulife is dedicated to developing an even stronger and more professional agency force in the region, as we progress our bold ambition to be the most digital, customer-centric global company in our industry."
Manulife's commitment to equipping its agency force with knowledge and skills to boost their productivity and professionalism is reflected by the number of agents achieving MDRT in 2020.
Manulife Asia MDRT Leaders Conference 2019 in Bangkok
Manulife was placed 3rd in the global MDRT ranking among the Top 10 multinational companies with 3,745 MDRT members in Manulife Financial Corporation worldwide for the second consecutive year. The company also achieved the highest positive growth among the Top 3 multinational companies in this year's awards.
"Manulife Asia aims to recruit the best talent in the market. We encourage and support our agents to achieve MDRT membership and build a successful career in the insurance industry. Agents can attend exclusive MDRT events and are eligible to learn and interact with some of the top financial services professionals across the world," says Coburn.
Chris Au, Chief Agency Officer, Manulife Asia
“To further strengthen our MDRT performance, Manulife set up a dedicated MDRT team in end 2018, and appointed MDRT Champions in each business unit across Asia,” says Chris Au, Manulife Asia’s Chief Agency Officer. “We arrange various initiatives and events to motivate agents to become MDRT members. These include: an MDRT Leaders Conference to support agency leaders to groom more MDRT agents; an MDRT Gala Dinner to recognise MDRT agents; a mentoring program to support MDRT mentors’ and mentees’ growth; and training for new agents to be on the roadmap to achieving MDRT status.”
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, agents' commitment to serving customers has helped to show both the value and importance of the life insurance industry, and the role agents play assisting customers in need of support, service and financial advice during these challenging times.
Manulife was one of the first insurers to introduce COVID-19 coverage for customers across Asia and has contributed C$25 million as relief for customers, support for employees and aid for communities. In Hong Kong, Manulife was among the first insurers to launch its ‘Virtual Face-to-Face’ agency sales platform, allowing agents and customers to meet virtually and close sales digitally.
"To stay connected with our customers, we moved quickly to digital ways of engaging our customers. As we in the industry draw on recent experiences I'd anticipate our digital ways of working to become a long-term trend – and that we'll see more customers shift to digital, while still expecting a personal connection with their agents," says Coburn.
Part of Manulife's digital strategy is to integrate agents within an increasingly digital and omnichannel distribution framework, where they will play a key role in deepening customer relationships and providing critical financial advice and insights that help make customers' decisions easier and lives better.
The MDRT Virtual Event is happening on 3-7 August 2020. Asia Advisers Network will be bringing you event highlights in collaboration with Manulife.
Read more:
How many MDRT members are there in my country?
MDRT Virtual Event: Get access to the full MDRT experience from the comfort of your home
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