Mark O’Dell (pictured centre), group CEO of Manulife Holdings Bhd (MHB) and CEO of Manulife Insurance Bhd in Malaysia has been recognised as one of the ‘Outstanding Leaders in Asia’ by the Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards (ACES Awards).

O’Dell, who has been in Asia since 1994, joined Manulife in 2008 as president and CEO of Manulife Taiwan. He later became senior vice president, Southeast Asia in November 2012, overseeing strong growth in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

He has been group CEO and executive director of MHB since January 2013, overseeing the acquisition of MAAKL Mutual Bhd (MAAKL) and the activation of the first exclusive bank partnership with Alliance Bank as it happened. In 2017, MHB formed its subsidiary Manulife Insurance Labuan Limited (MILL) to cater to high net worth customers.

Since 2016, Manulife and its employees have been actively involved in various health and community-related initiatives. For this effort, Manulife Malaysia was awarded the CSR Malaysia Award 2018, as company of the year in the financial services category, for its community health and children’s welfare initiatives.

“I am proud to be recognised by ACES for my body of work in Asia, spanning the past 24 years in five different countries,” O’Dell said. “In particular because ACES promotes and recognises leaders who carry out significant CSR campaigns, demonstrate compassion for the community, recognise the importance of human resources as assets, in addition to generating financial gains.”