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Rahul Hora

President & Chief Executive Officer

Rahul Hora is President and Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Philippines. 

For Rahul, "Every day better is collaborating with a winning team armed with a strong commitment to offer innovative financial products and solutions that address Filipinos' evolving protection needs."

As President and CEO, Rahul is responsible for the development and execution of Manulife's strategy in the Philippines, supercharging the business so we can continue making every day better for more Filipinos.

Hora is an insurance industry veteran, having taken on various sales and distribution leadership roles in operations, agency, and bancassurance across geographies. He joins Manulife from another multinational insurance company, where he held distribution roles at market and regional levels, and most recently led their life and non-life insurance operations in the Philippines.

Justin Helferich  

SVP & Chief Financial Officer

Justin Helferich is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Manulife Philippines. 

According to Justin, "Every day better is about making sure that the company achieves sustainable growth and boosting our capability to provide best-in-class service and solutions to our customers."

As Chief Financial Officer, Justin leads the optimization of Manulife Philippines’ financial strategy and performance, including revenue generation, capital management, and solvency. Helferich has been with Manulife since 2010 and has held progressively more senior roles in the United States and Asia. Before his most recent appointment, Helferich served as Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Cambodia, where his resilient and determined leadership helped maintain the company’s strong market position.

Maya Lee 

SVP & Chief Operations Officer

Maya Lee is Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of Manulife Philippines.

For Maya, “Every day better is remaining committed to providing superior service and support to our customers, distributors, and employees.”

As Chief Operations Officer, Maya Lee leads initiatives to help improve the company’s operational performance, cost efficiency, and overall customer satisfaction, while also overseeing the day-to-day operations support provided to the company’s customers and distribution partners.

A Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI) of the Life Office Management Association or LOMA, an international association engaged in research and educational activities for more than 1,200 insurance and financial services companies in over 80 countries, Maya also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems from Kookmin University and an MBA from Yonsei University.

Neil Bowyer

SVP & Chief Partnership Distribution Officer

Neil Bowyer (MBA)  is the President of Manulife China Bank Life and concurrently Senior Vice President and Chief Partnership Distribution Officer of Manulife Philippines.

For Neil, "Every day better means building strong, meaningful, relationships with our partners to make every day better for their customers".

As well as being the President of the joint venture between Manulife Philippines and China Bank Ltd, Neil is also responsible for all Manulife Philippines' distribution partnerships and corporate solutions. 

He has a wealth of experience in leading bancassurance partnerships, multi-channel distribution, and business transformation. Prior to joining another regional insurer in 2018, where he was Director for Group Partnership Distribution, Neil was Chief Bancassurance Officer for Manulife Singapore. There, he was responsible for the overall development of our bancassurance operations in the country, including Strategy, Distribution Operations, Business Development, Sales, and Learning & Development.

Sailesh Nalinakshan

SVP & Chief Agency Officer

Sailesh Nalinakshan is the Senior Vice President and Chief Agency Officer of Manulife Philippines.

For Sailesh, "Every day better is all about ensuring customers are given sound financial advice by the industry's most digitally enabled and professional insurance agents -- making them feel valued and cared for."

As Chief Agency Officer, Sailesh is responsible for empowering and further scaling Manulife’s trusted, empowered and growing agency force, anchored on strategies that bolster initiatives on digitalization, sales and productivity, talent recruitment and development, training and data analytics-based planning and decision-making.

Prior to joining Manulife Philippines, Sailesh was with Manulife Asia's Distribution Team and based in Hong Kong, responsible for Strategic Management and Planning for Regional Distribution. He also spent more than a decade of insurance industry experience having worked for for two other multinational companies in Asia. 

Fritzie Tangkia-Fabricante

SVP & Chief Legal and Compliance Officer

Atty. Fritzie P. Tangkia-Fabricante is the Senior Vice President and Head of Legal and Compliance of Manulife Philippines.

Atty. Fritizie says, “Every day better is fostering a culture of integrity by achieving our goals, while managing risks and assuring compliance.”

As Chief Legal Counsel and Compliance Officer, she advises the company on various legal matters and reasonably ensures its compliance with various regulatory issuances. She also identifies legal and compliance risks and issues relative to the company's intended actions.

Fritzie has been a member of the Philippine bar for nearly 20 years now. Her professional experience includes corporate counseling and commercial practice, including heading the legal services group of a universal bank.

Fritzie completed her law degree at the University of the Philippines and her Political Science degree at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Summa Cum Laude. She placed 9th in the 1999 bar examinations.

Ivan Buenaventura

SVP & Chief Information Officer

Ivan is the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Manulife Philippines.

For Ivan, "Every day better is leveraging technology to simplify complex IT solutions and turning them into opportunities to better support customers."

As Chief Information Officer, Ivan oversees the Company’s Enterprise Delivery and Information Systems functions. He is responsible for Manulife Philippines’ strategy to build robust systems and digital capabilities, which are foundational to our customer experience transformation. He is a seasoned information technology leader, having held various IT leadership roles managing IT solutions and transformation across a variety of industries. Ivan has worked in the United States, United Kingdom, and the Philippines. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from University of Santo Tomas. 

Candy Suarez 

SVP & Chief Risk Officer 

Candy Suarez is Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of Manulife Philippines.

Candy says, "Every day better is about building a strong and effective risk culture within the organization, and ensuring comprehensive governance to maintain our stakeholders’ confidence and safeguard our customers’ interests."

As Chief Risk Officer, Candy is responsible for overseeing action plans, acting as a strategic partner to the business, and ensuring proper identification and mitigation of company risks.

Candy first joined Manulife as Chief Financial Officer for its Philippine business in August 2017. In 2021, she moved to the Manulife Emerging Markets team, where she led In-force and Expense Management. Before joining Manulife, she was with another life insurer where she headed its Actuarial Division that included research, product development, and valuation. Candy has over 27 years’ life insurance industry experience.She is a Fellow of the Actuarial Society of the Philippines and a Fellow of the Life Office Management Association.

Grace Mallabo

SVP & Chief Health and Product Officer 

Grace Mallabo is Senior Vice President and Chief Health and Product Officer of Manulife Philippines.

Grace says, "Every day better is about delivering customer-driven solutions and experiences that enable more Filipinos to understand, plan and prepare for their financial security and life goals"

As Chief Health and Product Officer, Grace drives three key areas of the organization: Health strategy, product proposition development and management, and inforce management. She also leads initiatives towards creating the company's best-in-class product portfolio, as well as customer lifetime value through strategic inforce management initia

Grace has 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, with various leadership roles in Product Management and Marketing, Health Business and Strategy. More recently, she has led the e-Commerce Business and Digital Marketing of another local insurer. She holds a Business Economics degree from the University of the Philippines.