Manulife Financial Corporation's Asia segment led the company's second-quarter 2026 performance, with core earnings up 21% to US$616 million, driven by continued business growth in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan and the positive impact of 2025 updates to actuarial methods and assumptions.
Asia's momentum extended across new business metrics: annualized premium equivalent sales rose 21%, new business contractual service margin rose 17%, and new business value rose 13% to US$506 million, with an NBV margin of 36.3%.
Manulife activated a strategic partnership with Bupa International in Hong Kong during the quarter, quadrupling its medical specialist network in the market to more than 900 providers.
For brokers and independent financial advisers placing private medical insurance in Hong Kong, that expansion is worth raising directly with clients at the next renewal, particularly those who have previously cited limited specialist access or long wait times as a reason for dissatisfaction with existing cover. A network expansion of this scale, from roughly a quarter of the current size, is a genuine service upgrade rather than a marketing claim, and it gives brokers a concrete talking point when comparing Manulife's medical products against competitors in a market where provider access, not just price, is often the deciding factor for higher-net-worth clients.
Manulife also highlighted the strength of its agency force in the region, with Manulife Asia recording a 9% year-over-year increase in Million Dollar Round Table members, the highest increase among the top 10 multinational insurers in 2026. The company attributed the gain to continued investment in advisor training programs and AI-enabled capability building.
That statistic matters to brokers and IFAs working alongside, or in competition with, Manulife's tied agency channel across Hong Kong, Singapore and other regional markets. An insurer investing specifically in advisor training and production quality, rather than simply agent headcount, tends to produce a more experienced, better-resourced tied sales force, which can raise the bar for service and product knowledge that independent brokers are competing against in the same client conversations. Brokers placing business with Manulife, or advising clients who are weighing a tied-agency relationship against independent advice, may find it useful to ask what specific AI-enabled tools or training resources are now available to advisors under this investment, since that detail wasn't disclosed but would materially affect how the comparison plays out in practice.
The 13% rise in new business value, alongside a 36.3% NBV margin, indicates Manulife is growing profitably in the region rather than simply writing more volume at thinner margins. For brokers placing higher-value protection or participating life products, particularly in Hong Kong and Singapore where these product categories carry real relevance for legacy and wealth-transfer planning among high-net-worth clients, that combination of growth and margin discipline is a reasonable signal that Manulife's regional pricing and underwriting approach remains selective rather than growth-at-any-cost.
At the consolidated level, Manulife reported core earnings of C$1.9 billion for the quarter, up 12% on a constant exchange rate basis from the same period last year. Core earnings per share rose 16% to C$1.09, and core return on equity climbed to 16.3%. Net income attributed to shareholders rose to C$2.1 billion.
U.S. core earnings rose 55% to US$218 million on improved claims experience in life and long-term care lines. Canada core earnings fell 10% to C$379 million, citing unfavorable claims experience and higher expenses in Group Insurance, though APE sales in Canada still rose 23% on stronger large-case Group Insurance and participating life insurance sales.
"Manulife delivered a strong second quarter, with disciplined execution driving momentum against our strategic priorities," said Phil Witherington, Manulife president and chief executive officer.
Manulife also announced a US$3.2 billion long-term care reinsurance transaction with Munich American Reassurance Company, ceding 80% of the biometric risk on a standalone LTC block. Combined with a prior C$2.4 billion deal with Reinsurance Group of America, the company has now cumulatively reduced its long-term care morbidity sensitivity by 24%.
Manulife's Asia results this quarter point to three things worth acting on directly: a materially expanded medical provider network in Hong Kong worth raising with clients now, a tied agency channel that's being actively strengthened through training and AI investment rather than simple headcount growth, and pricing discipline that suggests Manulife's regional products remain competitively underwritten rather than growing through margin erosion. Brokers and IFAs working Hong Kong, Singapore or Japan client bases should treat this quarter's results as a prompt to revisit how Manulife's current proposition compares with what clients were offered even a year ago, rather than assuming the products and service levels have stayed static.
