John Hancock selects new CFO

John Hancock – the US-based operations of Canadian life insurer Manulife – has appointed Colin Simpson (pictured) as its newest chief financial officer.

As CFO, Simpson will report to Manulife senior executive vice president and global CFO Philip Witherington.

Simpson has more than 20 years of experience in the industry. He joins John Hancock from Aviva, where he most recently served as the interim group CFO. Simpson served as Aviva’s CFO in Canada from 2016. Prior to assuming the role of CFO, Simpson was Aviva’s director of investor relations for two years in 2013.

In addition to his roles at Aviva, Simpson previously held executive roles at Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns Investment Bank. He also served in actuarial roles at the Reinsurance Group of America and Gen Re.

Insurance Business Canada ranked Manulife as Canada’s largest insurance company. At the end of 2021, the company had total assets of $917.6 billion, with gross written premiums of $44.3 billion. Apart from Canada and the US, Manulife also operates in Asia and Europe; in 2021, the company had more than 38,000 staff, 119,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, and served over 33 million customers.