Who We Are

Phil Witherington was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Manulife, one of the largest insurance and asset management companies in the world, on May 8, 2025.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Witherington was President and Chief Executive Officer, Manulife Asia, and before that he served five years as Chief Financial Officer at Manulife. As Chief Financial Officer he was responsible for managing Manulife’s global financial affairs and successfully led the implementation of IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 at Manulife. Mr. Witherington joined Manulife in 2014 as Chief Financial Officer of Manulife Asia and served as its Interim President and Chief Executive Officer in 2017. He has been a member of Manulife’s Executive Leadership Team since 2018.

Mr. Witherington has more than 25 years of experience in insurance and financial services, globally, and in developed and emerging markets within Asia. Prior to joining Manulife, Mr. Witherington 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, Mr. Witherington was Vice President Finance at AIA, based in Hong Kong. He also spent a decade with KPMG in London and Hong Kong, specializing in financial services audit and advisory services, with a particular focus on financial services clients.

Mr. Witherington is deeply committed to fostering positive change in the communities where Manulife operates. Under his leadership, Manulife continues to advance initiatives and thought leadership that promote lifelong health, financial resilience, sustainability, and inclusive growth.

Mr. Witherington 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).

Michael Coyne is General Counsel of Manulife overseeing the global legal, compliance, government relations and corporate secretary functions. He joined Manulife in September 2025 and is a member of Manulife’s Executive Leadership Team and Global Leadership Team.

Before joining Manulife, Mike served as Senior Fellow and Litigation Strategy Advisor at The Bank Policy Institute (BPI), a leading non-partisan advocacy and policy think tank for the world’s largest banking organizations. Prior to BPI, Mike served as General Counsel and Senior Legal Officer for the Americas for Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), and was also an Executive Officer of Tokyo-headquartered MUFG and its commercial bank subsidiary, MUFG Bank Ltd.

Mike’s legal career spans more than two decades at JPMorgan Chase, where he rose to become Global Co-Head of Litigation, Governmental Investigations, and Employment Law.‌

Mike holds a Bachelor of Arts from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Doctor of Law (JD) from the Boston College Law School.  He serves on the Advisory Board of Honors Carolina at UNC and on the Board of Directors of the Urban Justice Center in New York City. 

Stephanie Fadous is Manulife’s Chief Actuary, overseeing the Actuarial function globally. She is also a member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team and Global Leadership Team.

Stephanie is an accomplished finance and actuarial professional who previously held the position of Global Treasurer and Head of Capital Management. In this role, she oversaw the capital position of the company’s global operations, ensuring prudent capital management across all of Manulife’s international operations. She led global funding initiatives and managed key relationships with rating agencies, banks, and fixed-income investors.

Stephanie joined Manulife in 2005 and has since led significant initiatives, including the global implementation of IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 standards. Her diverse experience spans Group Actuarial, Corporate Development, and Asset Liability Management.

An active member of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, Stephanie has served on multiple committees and chaired the Committee on Life Insurance Financial Reporting. She is a Fellow of both the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries and holds a BSc in Actuarial Science.

Steve Finch is the President & Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Asia, overseeing operations throughout Manulife’s Asia franchise, which includes Hong Kong and Macau, Chinese Mainland, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar and the International High Net Worth business. Steve has been with Manulife for over 30 years and has been a member of Manulife’s Executive Leadership team since 2016.

Steve served as Manulife’s Chief Actuary, overseeing Actuarial, Risk and Life Reinsurance functions globally, before taking on his current role. A proven leader across functional and commercial areas of Manulife’s business, he contributed significantly to the company’s transformation and financial performance through numerous historic transactions and played a key role in Manulife’s transition to IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 accounting standards.

Steve had previously held the role of Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer at John Hancock, where he oversaw the overall financial management of Manulife’s U.S. operations. Prior to this, he was also the Executive Vice President and General Manager for John Hancock’s life insurance business, wherein he managed all aspects of the individual life insurance business in the U.S., including Sales, Distribution, Marketing, Product, Information Technology, New Business and Customer Service Operations and Finance.

Steve is a graduate of Queen’s University and holds a B.ScH in Statistics. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.