Philip Hampden-Smith
Executive Vice President and General Manager
South East Asia Operations

Philip Hampden-Smith is responsible for Manulife’s six operations in the ASEAN area (Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam). He was previously Senior Vice President, Regional Operations, in charge of Manulife’s operational development in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Singapore-based, Mr. Hampden-Smith oversaw the local merger between Manulife and John Hancock during his tenure as President and Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Singapore from 2003 to 2005.

He also had a pivotal role in building Manulife’s business in Indonesia from 2000 to 2002, when he was the President Director of Manulife Indonesia. He successfully established Manulife’s leadership position in the pension, insurance and mutual funds markets in Indonesia. When based in Hong Kong in 2003, he had key responsibilities for developing Manulife’s operational activities in Singapore and the Philippines, as well as the company’s regional asset management initiatives in Asia.

Mr. Hampden-Smith has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. He joined Manulife Financial in 1996. Before moving to Indonesia in 2000, he held several senior management positions in Hong Kong, including those of President and Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Funds Direct (Hong Kong) Limited and Vice President, Marketing and Communications of Manulife Hong Kong.

Darren Thomson
President & Chief Executive Officer

Darren Thomson became the President & CEO of Manulife (Singapore) Pte Ltd in April 2006. Under Darren’s direction, the Total Assets Under Management have increased 44 per cent and have crossed S$3.9 billion, new business weighted premiums have increased by more than 104 per cent , agency headcount by 50 per cent, earnings growth of 67 per cent and market share by 12 per cent. Manulife Singapore products are currently sold and distributed through our exclusive agency force, Citibank and United Overseas Bank (UOB) and the majority of Financial Advisory Firms.

Darren is also the CEO of Manulife Asset Management Singapore, which was established in June 2007, managing the life fund assets and developing in-house unit trusts. Under Darren’s leadership, Private Financial Services has been set up catering for the high net worth market. Another new business unit is Wealth Management that aims to provide customers a comprehensive financial solution for wealth building and protection.

Darren has 23 years of extensive experience in the financial services industry, working in the United Kingdom and Asia. After having worked 16 years in tied agency distribution in UK, Darren came to Asia with another international insurer in October 2000.

Darren first joined Manulife Financial in Hong Kong in 2004 as Vice President, Head of Alternative Distribution, Asia, responsible for managing and creating a new Regional Bancassurance function for the Asia Division, as well as other non-agency distribution channels for the company. Darren has opened up many bancassurance opportunities with both local and international banks across the Asia Region and has helped Manulife Financial to be recognized as a multi-distribution life insurer.

Darren sits on the LIMRA Regional Executive Committee and is Deputy President of the Life Insurance Association of Singapore, as well as Director of the Singapore Colleague of Insurance Limited.  

Born and educated in England and now a Singaporean Permanent Resident, Darren has found success in his career, both in the United Kingdom and Asia. His favourite hobby is motor sport and is a loyal and long serving Tottenham Hotspur fan.

Darren’s motto in life is “Treat and respect others in life as you would like to be treated and respected yourself”.

Premraj Thuraisingam
Senior Vice President & Chief Distribution Officer

Premraj was appointed the Senior Vice President & Chief Distribution Officer in March 2008. His portfolio of responsibility includes overseeing Agency Distribution, Partnership Distribution, Learning Centre as well as to spearhead Manulife Private Financial Services, the new Mass Affluent Distribution channel for the Company.

Premraj joined John Hancock in early 2001 as Assistant Vice President, Agency and progressively moved on to the position of Vice President and Chief Agency Officer in 2004.

During the local merger of Manulife and John Hancock, Premraj played a key role in overseeing the smooth transition of the John Hancock Agency channel into Manulife. Ever since then, Premraj has successfully led the combined Manulife Agency Distribution channel from strength to strength.

Under his strong leadership, sales have reached new highs and more than doubled over the last 3 years. He has also grown the agency force by 50%, which is now a rising force to be reckoned with in the local insurance industry.

His outstanding achievements and significant contributions to the Company won him the prestigious Stars of Excellence Award 2 years consecutively in 2006 and 2007.

Colin Startup
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Colin Startup has recently been appointed Senior Vice President and CFO for Manulife Singapore.

Previously he was working in Manulife's Asia Regional Office based in Hong Kong where he was responsible for product pricing, product management, reinsurance and actuarial support services for business development activities.

Colin has been in the insurance profession for 27 years and working in Asia for nearly 7 years now. Prior to joining Manulife in 2005 he was responsible for bancassurance distribution in Asia at another multinational insurer with regional office based in Hong Kong. Over his career he has held a number of senior positions in actuarial, finance, marketing, investment and product development areas.

He is originally from England and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in the UK.

Chong Teck Chung
Senior Vice President & Chief Information Technology Officer

Mr. Chong was promoted to Vice President in September 2004, oversees all aspects of the IT operations in Manulife (Singapore).

In the early years of his IT career, Mr. Chong started as an Analyst Programmer with a software company. In 1994, he joined the IT team in John Hancock as Senior Systems Analyst and steadily moved on to AVP rank in 2001. Mr. Chong has a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours from NTU, Post graduate diploma in Systems Analysis and Master in Technology from Institute of Systems Science (NUS).

Nick Czolak
Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer

Nick Czolak has recently been appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Manulife Singapore overseeing the Marketing, Brand & Communications, and Product Development.

Nick brings with him 19 years of relevant experience in sales and marketing within the insurance and banking sector in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore.

Nick started his career as a financial sales professional in a UK financial services company in 1989 and became its Regional Sales Director after several promotions. In 2001, he joined a foreign multinational insurance company in Hong Kong as Regional Development Manager for Asia Pacific Region and was subsequently transferred to work in Indonesia, where he spent three years as Sales Director, Bank and Retail, specifically focusing on the Bancassurance market before coming to Singapore as Head of Bancassurance for an American bank in 2006.

Nick is accredited with the Financial Planning Certificate awarded by the Chartered Institute of Insurance (UK) and is a graduate of the Northampton Business School UK.

Christopher Teo
Senior Vice President & Chief Operations Officer

Christopher Teo is presently Senior Vice President & Chief Operations Officer of Manulife Singapore. His responsibilities include New Business Underwriting, Customer Services & Policy Administration, Claims and Channel Operations. He is also a member of the local Company’s Senior Operational Committee.

Prior to joining Manulife, Mr. Teo was the Regional Head of Marketing (Asia ex. Japan) for a General Insurance Multinational company. He also held management positions in other companies within the insurance and banking sector. His experience spans a number of areas including: institutional sales, product life-cycle management, marketing, strategic development as well as turn-key operations set-up.

Mr. Teo graduated from the Australian National University in Canberra with triple majors in Accounting, Economics and Econometrics. In 2002, he obtained post-graduate certifications in both Advance Cost Accounting and Management Accounting and entitled to use the designatory letters CMA (Certified Management Accountant).

Daniel Ho
Senior Vice President & Chief Legal & Compliance Officer

Daniel Ho is presently Senior Vice President & Chief Legal & Compliance Officer of Manulife Singapore. He is also a member of the local Company’s Senior Executive Committee.

He assumed the responsibility of corporate secretary of both Manulife (Singapore) Pte Ltd and Manulife Asset Management (Singapore) Pte Ltd. on 1 July 2008.

Daniel has more than 18 years experience in private and corporate legal practice. Prior to his current position, Daniel served as an in-house counsel for various MNCs and listed companies based in the Asia Pacific and has led legal teams in the region. In his previous roles, he had the opportunity to work on a diverse range of legal functions covering agreements, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, trademarks, compliance and secretarial responsibilities. Daniel graduated with a Bachelor of Law degree from the National University of Singapore.