manulife

Manulife Appoints Vibha Coburn As Malaysia Ceo

Business

Manulife announced the appointment of Vibha Coburn as Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Manulife Holdings Berhad (MHB) and CEO of Manulife Insurance Berhad (MIB). Her appointment is effective 1 October 2020.

Coburn will be responsible for MHB’s operations in Malaysia, including its life insurance, health insurance, wealth management and retirement solutions businesses. She also sits on the Board of Manulife Investment Management Services Berhad Malaysia. Coburn is a member of Manulife’s Asia and Global Leadership Teams and reports to Sachin N. Shah, General Manager, Emerging Markets, Manulife Asia.


Most recently, Coburn was Chief Distribution Officer at Manulife Asia. Under her leadership, Manulife’s agency force in Asia grew significantly and became the world’s third best in terms of Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) membership. Coburn strengthened Manulife’s bancassurance capabilities, delivering strong growth to its regional partnership with DBS Bank in Singapore, as well as to local partnerships with Bank Danamon in Indonesia and Techcom Bank in Vietnam. She also championed the adoption of digital channels and tools throughout Manulife’s distribution network across Asia.

“Vibha’s accomplishments demonstrate her strengths in terms of accelerating our digital transformation and driving growth,” said Anil Wadhwani, President & CEO, Manulife Asia. “This appointment reflects the significance of our Malaysia business and our commitment to the market.”

Coburn said: “I am thrilled to be leading this strong business and to have the opportunity to make the lives of Malaysians every day better. With a high-performing team already in place at Manulife Malaysia, I look forward to progressing our bold ambition to be the most digital, customer-centric global company in our industry.”

“Vibha’s leadership has had a highly positive impact on the distribution of our products in Asia,” added Shah. “With this appointment, I am confident that she will make significant contributions to Manulife Malaysia’s operations and further strengthen our Emerging Markets leadership team.”

With more than 30 years of experience in senior roles in banking, insurance and management consulting, spanning Asia, Europe and Australia, Coburn joined Manulife in 2016. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Western Australia.

Coburn succeeds Lee Sang Hui, who moves to a new role as CEO of Manulife Vietnam. 

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