Manulife announced leadership changes across its executive leadership team to accelerate Asia growth and financial performance globally. Phil Witherington, Manulife's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), is now appointed President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Manulife Asia, effective July 1, 2023. Mr. Witherington will continue reporting to Roy Gori, President and CEO of Manulife, and remain on Manulife's Executive Leadership Team.

Mr. Witherington replaces Damien Green, who will now chair Manulife Financial Asia Ltd. (MFAL), working with Mr. Witherington to ensure a smooth transition. As Manulife's CFO, Mr. Witherington helped the organization transition to the new IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 accounting standards and contributed significantly to financial performance. Prior to his appointment as Manulife's CFO in 2017, Mr. Witherington served as Manulife Asia's CFO.

Before joining Manulife in 2014, Mr. Witherington was the Asia-Pacific head of finance for retail banking and wealth management at HSBC. He also held finance roles at AIA and was a financial services specialist at KPMG.