Philip J. Witherington

Biography

Phil Witherington is Executive Vice President at Manulife. Prior to this appointment, he was the Interim President & Chief Executive Officer Manulife Asia, where he was responsible for Manulife Asia operations in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Phil is a member of Manulife’s Executive Committee. Previously, Phil was Chief Financial Officer, Manulife Asia, leading transformational change within the finance function in Asia and providing strong financial leadership to business decisions by influencing divisional strategy and business unit profitability, as well as leading financial due diligence of all merger and acquisition opportunities. Phil joined Manulife in 2014 and has 20 years of experience in insurance and financial services, in both developed and emerging markets within Asia. Prior to joining Manulife, Phil led finance in Asia Pacific for the Retail Banking and Wealth Management business at HSBC and earlier served as the Deputy Regional Chief Financial Officer for its Asian insurance businesses. Previously, Phil was Vice President Finance at AIA, based in Hong Kong. He also spent a decade with KPMG, based in London and Hong Kong, specializing in financial services audit and advisory services, with a particular focus on life insurance clients. Phil holds an Executive MBA jointly awarded by the University of Edinburgh Management School (United Kingdom) and the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (Paris, France). He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (FCA) and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FCPA). Outside of work, his contributions to the community include being a member of the Board and Treasurer of the Royal Geographical Society in Hong Kong, a position he has held since 2008.

Research Interest

financial services audit and advisory services