The insurer is also listed in Toronto, New York and Manila.

Second, it is also the oldest life insurer in Hong Kong with 110 years of operation in the city; only 10 years shy of its history in Canada, its home country.

In the mainland, it formed the first Sino-foreign joint venture - Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance - in 1996 and holds a 51 per cent stake.

Despite its long history, the company is facing new challenges.

In Hong Kong, HSBC overtook Manulife's No2 spot last year in terms of new life insurance premiums. In China, although it is the foreign insurer with the largest network, deploying more than 5,700 agents in 19 cities, it remains way below that of domestic insurers such as China Life Insurance, which has 600,000 agents nationwide.

Manulife's newly appointed Asia head, Robert Cook, however, is confident in his company's prospects in Asia, including China. The Calgary-born Mr Cook joined Manulife 29 years ago. He came to Hong Kong at the beginning of the year, replacing retired Victor Apps to manage the insurer's operations in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Macau.

Prior to Asia, he was executive vice-president of Manulife's US insurance operations after the firm acquired John Hancock in 2004.

You have just been appointed to head Manulife's Asia business; can you tell us about your overall strategy in this region?

Our core strategy is to ensure our business and earnings in Asia are faster than other parts of the world. Asia needs to be our growth engine. Manulife is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year. In the first 70 years, Canada was the crown jewel of the company and for the following 50 years, the US was the crown jewel. We need to make Asia as our crown jewel in the 21st century.

How big is your Asia business at present and what is your future growth target?

Asia represents about 20 per cent of Manulife's operations in terms of earnings around the world and we hope to have 30 per cent earnings growth yearly, which is our annual growth rate in the region over the past decade.

Manulife acquired John Hancock in 2004 to expand its business by almost double overnight. Do you plan to expand through acquisitions in Asia?

Most of our growth in Asia will come from organic growth. We have operations in 10 countries in Asia. Some of them are mature while some of them, such as Indonesia and China, are new markets which are experiencing fast organic growth. We are very disciplined in acquisitions in that we only do it when appropriate opportunities arise.

In the mainland, Manulife set up the first Sino-foreign insurance joint venture in 1996. Can you tell us the company's goals and plans?

We are operating in 19 cities, which is more than any foreign insurance company in China. Our goal is to become the largest Sino-foreign insurance joint venture operating on a national level. The mainland will be our major growth engine.

In terms of competition, China Life and other domestic insurers have substantial market share. China Life, for example, has 65 per cent of market share and 600,000 agents. How can foreign players like Manulife, compete with the domestic insurers?

I don't think we will be bigger than the two major life insurers in the mainland but we have our niche role. We bring special expertise and products as well as a unique system in hiring and training agents. We are one of the two publicly traded insurance companies in the world with a triple-A credit rating.

In the mainland, the law requires you to operate in a joint venture. Does it mean you always need to negotiate with your partner? Are there conflicts or disputes?

Sinochem has been a terrific joint venture partner. It helped us establish the joint venture and helped us understand the market and regulation in China. Do we argue about things? Certainly, but I don't think we ever argue about the important things in running the joint venture company.

After the acquisition of John Hancock, you had an extra licence in China inherited from that venture. Do you think that would lead to conflict in your relationship with Sinochem?

We are in two joint ventures in the mainland now. Our long-term objective is to focus on the Sinochem venture. We are talking to another joint venture partner to see how we can resolve the licence issue. We may sell the stake to the right persons or organisations and we will need to meet with the requirement of the mainland regulator.

What kind of products are you offering in the mainland, and are they the same as those sold in Hong Kong or the United States?

In China, we are mainly selling life insurance products, while in Hong Kong, we offer life, Mandatory Provident Fund products, group health products and wealth management products. The Hong Kong product lines are similar to those in the US or Canada.

Is it hard to be profitable in the mainland insurance industry? Are there any difficulties running an insurance business in China?

We began to make profits in China four to five years ago. The current difficulty is that Chinese consumers are more interested in the stock market instead of putting their money with insurance companies or banks. Once they have experienced a real market crash, they will learn the value of diversifying their savings.

Apart from competition from the insurers, banks are also very aggressively expanding their insurance business. For example, HSBC last year became the second largest insurance player. Are you worried about losing to the banks?

We have a good working relationship with a number of banks in other parts of Asia and they are distributing our products. HSBC, which is also a manufacturer of insurance policies, is definitely a competitor. But most other banks are our distribution partners instead of rivals.

In Asia, many insurance companies including Manulife are still selling through agents. There is criticism of the agency model because of mis-selling of products to clients in order to earn commission.

I do not understand why people are upset about commission income. When you buy a TV set, the salesperson receives a commission. When you buy a shirt, the salesperson also has a commission. It is no different for the insurance agent to get a commission from selling policies. What we should look at is the quality of the sales agents. In Manulife, we are very keen on training and ensuring our agents are doing the right things.

Why did you join the insurance industry? What do you like about this profession?

I was going to school in Montreal in Canada in 1978, when Manulife conducted a campus recruitment for jobs in Toronto. I had never been to Toronto at that time, so the offer was attractive to me. And the company was offering C$14,000 a year for the job!

Given that you don't have much Asia experience, why did Manulife send you here to head the region?

I've wanted to come to Asia for a long time. I had frequent short business trips to the region before and I like the business environment, culture and food here.

How do you compare the attitude of Asians and Americans in their views towards buying insurance products?

Japanese and South Koreans buy more insurance products than anywhere else in the world, while other Asian markets do not buy as many policies as the Americans or Europeans are buying policies to protect their families.

Do you have many insurance policies yourself?

I have a few and I am considering whether to buy a new annuity retirement policy in Hong Kong.

Any tips to buying a policy?

Get a good adviser because insurance products are complicated.