Financial Planner Career Information & Insurance Agent Job

Kieran, congratulations on becoming Manulife's Top Financial Planner for 2007. You've only been with the company since April 2007, what is the secret to achieving your success in such a short time?

Just to give you a bit of my background, I was previously working on a fixed salary as a regional marketing director at an Australian company. I decided to join Manulife as a financial planner as I felt that I could develop my earnings potential further and also grow as a person, in terms of career satisfaction and achievement.

The thing is, when you first start out in insurance, you have to start from scratch by building up your clientele and contacts. And this is where you have to be innovative, be able to think out of the box, be a self starter and be self-motivated to ensure that you can succeed. After all, as a financial planner, you are your own boss, essentially. Therefore you set your own targets, goals and objectives that you want to achieve.

In the beginning of my career as a financial planner, I faced a lot of rejections, especially from people whom I thought would be most willing to support me, like close friends, for example. However, my determination to succeed is what enabled me to eventually gain their trust and respect, and from there, I worked hard to grow the business. I’m also very passionate about how Manulife’s products can really make a positive difference to people’s lives.

What are some of Manulife’s strengths?

Well, to begin with, Manulife is ‘AA+’ rated by Standards & Poor’s. We also have a strong regional presence in Asia, and operate in ten countries and territories. Our 25,000-strong agency force and expanded distribution network of 50 distribution agreements with banks and securities dealers – serves nearly 5 million Manulife customers in the region.

We have also been named Life Insurance Company of the Year at the Asia Insurance Industry Awards 2007. Manulife won because of our “continued commitment to professionalism, excellent customer service and innovation with first-to-market products”, according to the judges.

Manulife is a company that cares. We are very active in community development and bringing dreams to life. This can be seen from our sponsorship of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund to help the less fortunate, the Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) as well as awarding scholarships to students of the Singapore Sports School to help develop young sporting talents.

What is the business philosophy of Manulife?

Our core focus is on the quality of our people and our processes. And we achieve this by closely aligning ourselves to our set of corporate values during our daily operations. This is represented by the acronym PRIDE -

Pride
These values guide everything we do - from strategic planning to day-to-day decision making, to the manner in which we treat our customers and other stakeholders.

Professionalism
We strive to achieve the highest professional standards. Our employees and advisers possess superior knowledge and skills for the benefit of our customers.

Real value to our Customers
We are here to satisfy our customers' needs. By providing the highest quality products, services, advice and sustainable value, we ensure our customers receive excellent solutions to meet their individual needs.

Integrity
All our dealings are characterised by the highest levels of honesty and fairness. We develop trust by maintaining the highest ethical practices.

Demonstrated Financial Strength
Our customers depend on us to be here in the future to meet our financial promises. We earn this faith by maintaining uncompromised claims paying ability and a prudent investment management philosophy.

Employer of Choice
Our employees will determine our future success. In order to attract and retain the best and brightest employees, we invest in the development of our human resources and reward superior performance.

What are your thoughts on the future of the insurance industry?

I think there is enormous potential for someone to be successful in this industry. This is because there are many different types of clients out there with many specialized insurance and investment needs.

Furthermore, people are more aware and interested in maximizing their wealth and protecting their loved ones; therefore there will be a growing demand for financial planners who are professional and savvy in helping people to obtain the best insurance and investment products for themselves.

This is why Manulife has a very comprehensive training and development program to ensure that all our financial planners are well versed in our products and will know how best to cater for all our clients’ insurance and financial planning needs.

As for myself, I’m very happy and proud to be a financial planner with Manulife and definitely look forward to achieving greater success with the company for many years to come.

About Manulife Financial
Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners.

The financial strength of Manulife Financial’s insurance subsidiaries, including Manulife (International) Limited, is rated “AA+” by Standard & Poor’s Rating Services. Manulife is among the highest rated life insurers in the world and we are one of the strongest and best capitalised life insurance companies.

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under ‘945’ on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.

宏利金融概览
宏利金融为加拿大主要的财经服务机构，业务遍布全球19个国家及地区。透过旗下庞大的雇员，保险代理及销售伙伴网络，宏利金融于加拿大，亚洲及美国(主要透过鸿国)为超过百万名客户提供全面的财务保障及理财服务。

宏利金融旗下附属保险公司包括宏利人寿保险(国际)有限公司，享有标准普尔 (Standard & Poor's) "AA+"的评级。宏利金融是全球获最高信贷评级、最稳健和资金最充裕的人寿保险公司之一。

宏利金融有限公司在多伦多，纽约及菲律宾股票交易所的股份代号为MFC，在香港联交所的股份代号则为945。其网址为www.manulife.com

www.manulife.com.sg

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