The Toronto-based company, which operates in 11 Asian markets including Thailand and Shanghai, opened a representative office in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city. Manulife Financial Corp. (TSE:MFC), Canada's largest insurer, rose to the highest in more than a week after saying it is entering Myanmar for the first time since the outbreak of World War II as it targets the region's expanding middle class.
Manulife rose to C$20.31, the highest intraday price since April 2 and was up 1 percent at C$20.25 at 3:24 p.m. in Toronto.
The Toronto-based company, which operates in 11 Asian markets including Thailand and Shanghai, opened a representative office in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city.
The firm said it plans to sell life insurance products to the country of 65 million people. Manulife entered Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, in 1903 and left the country in 1942, a casualty of the war.
"We're convinced Myanmar is on the threshold of a great opportunity," Indren Naidoo, Manulife's executive for the region that includes Myanmar, said in an email received by Bloomberg. "Myanmar has a real opportunity here in terms of catching up with the kind of growth and development we've seen in other parts of this region."
Manulife joins international life insurers including MetLife Inc. in a country where the government's structural reform program has propelled growth. The country's middle-income earners are set to double by 2020, according to the Boston Consulting Group, leaving more disposable income for residents to buy insurance products.
Manulife, which manages C$635 billion ($584 billion), is awaiting an operational license from the local government to begin selling products. If granted, Manulife would be the first foreign life insurer with the designation.
Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2014/05/27/manulife-hits-one-week-high-as-company-returns-to-myanmar/
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