Great Eastern regional bancassurance head leaves for Manulife

MANULIFE Singapore will be getting a new chief, two months after the Canadian insurer announced leadership changes.

Khoo Kah Siang, who headed Great Eastern Holdings' strategic business development and regional bancassurance, will replace Manulife Singapore's outgoing chief Naveed Irshad, pending regulator's approval.

He will join Manulife's Asia Executive Committee and will report to Anil Wadhwani whose appointment as president and CEO of Manulife Asia took effect on Monday. Mr Khoo's appointment starts February 9 next year.

An actuary by training, he has been with the insurance arm of lender OCBC for 12 years and was responsible for driving the life business in Singapore through the agency, bancassurance and financial advisory channels. Under his leadership, the insurer managed to push its market share in Singapore to the top, at the same time giving closest rival Manulife a run for its money.

Mr Khoo's departure marks yet another exit by a senior executive at Great Eastern, following the footsteps of the others who left in the past 18 months.