Manulife Philippines welcomes new executives to its leadership team

Manila, Philippines ― The Philippine arm of global life insurer Manulife recently appointed three new executives to its senior leadership team, as the company progresses towards enhancing product offerings and customer experience, strengthening talent management and employee engagement, and driving its business processes and digital transformation strategy toward achieving sustainable business growth.

“We are thrilled to welcome our new colleagues to Manulife Philippines’ senior leadership team. We are confident that the depth and breadth of their experience and expertise will help us build on our momentum of growth and innovation, and fulfill our mission of making decisions easier and lives better for Filipinos,” said Richard Bates, Manulife Philippines’ President and Chief Executive Officer. 

As the new Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), Anna Villamor brings her wealth of experience as a finance industry HR leader, having served as CHRO for five years at another multinational insurance company. Previously, Villamor was also the head of HR for a large healthcare company and two global banks. Her addition to Manulife’s leadership team aims to support the company’s growing workforce by strengthening its training and development programs, fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, attracting and managing top talent, and ensuring overall employee satisfaction, productivity, and growth. 

Manulife Philippines, which has recently been cited as one of LinkedIn’s Top Companies in the Philippines for 2021, has also added new C-Suite roles to strengthen its innovation and product strategy to drive further growth and enhanced competitiveness in the evolving insurance landscape. 

As the company’s new Chief Product Officer, Jose Eduardo Ang oversees Manulife Philippines’ full suite of products and services, by building innovative, inclusive, and best-in-class product designs and portfolios, addressing ever-changing customer needs and expectations, and adapting to business and market changes. Prior to this appointment, Ang served as Manulife Philippines’ Chief Actuary for three years, after having held a number of roles in the company’s actuarial function. He is a Fellow of the Actuarial Society of the Philippines and has 17 years’ professional experience in the insurance industry. 

Meanwhile, experienced IT leader Ivan Buenaventura is Manulife’s new Chief Information Officer, who is tasked with enhancing the company’s digital capabilities and overseeing the organization’s technological systems, resources, and investments. Buenaventura has held technology leadership roles in the United States, United Kingdom, and the Philippines, managing complex IT solutions and IT transformation across a variety of industries. Prior to Manulife, he was CIO at another multinational insurance provider for more than 6 years, and previously held leadership roles for over 15 years with a global IT shared services company. 

About Manulife Philippines

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company opened its doors for business in the Philippines in 1907. Since then, Manulife's Philippine Branch and later The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Phils.), Inc. (Manulife Philippines) has grown to become one of the country's leading life insurance companies. Manulife Philippines is a wholly owned domestic subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation, among the world's largest life insurance companies by market capitalization. Learn more about Manulife Philippines by visiting their website manulife.com/ph and following them on Facebook (facebook.com/ManulifePH), Instagram (@manulifeph), and LinkedIn (Manulife Philippines).

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Anchored in our ambition to be the number one choice for customers, we operate as Manulife across Canada and Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, providing financial advice, insurance and health solutions for individuals, groups and businesses. Through Manulife Wealth & Asset Management, we offer global investment solutions, financial advice, and retirement plan services to individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2025, we had more than 37,000 employees, over 106,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 37 million customers with operations across 25 markets globally. We trade as ‘MFC’ on the Toronto, New York, and Philippine stock exchanges, and under ‘945’ on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulife.com.