Appointed to the Board on 12 December 2013
Dato’ Dr. Zaha Rina holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Accounting and Finance from Leeds Metropolitan University, United Kingdom (“UK”) and a Master in Business Administration from University of Hull, UK. She also holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from University of Hull, UK, focusing on capital markets research and specialising in derivatives.
Dato’ Dr. Zaha Rina was a Consultant to Financial Technologies Middle East based in Bahrain for the set-up of Bahrain Financial Exchange launched in January 2009. Prior to this, she was with Royal Bank of Scotland Group in Singapore from August 2007 to May 2008. She has more than thirty (30) years of experience in the financial, commodities and securities industry and the development of the Malaysian Capital Market, which includes managing a futures broking company. She was the Chief Executive Officer of RHB Securities Sdn. Bhd. from year 2004 to year 2006. She has previous Board appointments at the Commodity and Monetary Exchange of Malaysia from year 1993 to year 1996, and then as the Chief Operating Officer of Kuala Lumpur Options and Financial Futures Exchange in year 2001, which merged to become Malaysian Derivatives Exchange (“MDEX”) in June 2001.
Dato’ Dr. Zaha Rina was then appointed Head of Exchanges, managing the operations of Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (“KLSE”) [now known as Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia Securities”)], Malaysia Exchange of Securities Dealings & Automated Quotation (MESDAQ), MDEX and Labuan International Financial Exchanges in September 2003 prior to KLSE’s [now known as Bursa Malaysia Securities] demutualisation. She is also a regular speaker at many international conferences and forums.
Dato’ Dr. Zaha Rina was a Director of Zurich Insurance Malaysia Bhd. from year 2007 to year 2013 and Hong Leong Industries Bhd. from year 2012 to year 2021. She sits on the Boards of Mizuho Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd., IGB Berhad, Pacific & Orient Berhad, Pacific & Orient Insurance Co. Berhad, Keck Seng (Malaysia) Berhad and several private limited companies. She was a member of Market Participants Committee of Bursa Malaysia Securities. She is currently a member of the Appeals Committee of Bursa Malaysia Securities.
Dato’ Dr. Zaha Rina is a Divemaster with National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI). She was a member of Global Board of Advisers for XBRL until year 2009 and was also on the Board of Trustees for Malaysia AIDS Foundation until May 2010.
Dato’ Dr. Zaha Rina is also a Director and the Chairman of Manulife Investment Management (M) Berhad, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.
Appointed to the Board on 1 October 2020
Ms. Vibha Hamsi Coburn (“Ms. Vibha Coburn”) holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Western Australia, post graduate diploma from the Securities Institute of Australia [Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) equivalent] and a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) from Delhi University. She is also a Graduate member of Australia Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).
Ms. Vibha Coburn was formerly the Chief Distribution Officer at Manulife Asia, responsible for developing and executing strategy for Manulife distribution across Asia, including championing the adoption of digital channels. Under her leadership, Manulife’s agency force grew significantly and became the world’s third best amongst international insurers in terms of Million Dollar Round Table membership. At the same time, she has helped to vastly strengthen Manulife’s bancassurance capabilities, delivering strong growth to its regional partnerships and, renewing and establishing new partnerships in Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar. She has also championed the development and adoption of digital tools throughout all channels in distribution.
Prior to joining Manulife, Ms. Vibha Coburn had a wide range of senior roles over thirty (30) years in banking, insurance and management consulting across Asia, Europe and Australia. These included roles in e-business, sales, customer acquisition, finance, wealth management, liabilities, mortgages and credit cards.
Ms. Vibha Coburn also sits on the Boards of Manulife Insurance Berhad (“MIB”) and Manulife Investment Management (M) Berhad (“MIMMB”), L.I.A.M. Holding Sdn. Bhd. and L.I.A.M. Property Sdn. Bhd. Both MIB and MIMMB are the wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Company.
Appointed to the Board on 1 January 2020
Mr. Matthew Edward Lawrence (“Mr. Matthew Lawrence”) graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. He is a member and Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Mr. Matthew Lawrence has over twenty (20) years of experience in the insurance industry, holding leadership positions in both the corporate and professional services fields that span across North America, Europe and Asia. He joined Manulife as Regional Controller, Asia in year 2019. In this role, he is responsible for the Asia regional finance team, overseeing financial planning and analysis, management reporting, expense management and accounting policy.
Prior to joining Manulife, Mr. Matthew Lawrence worked at Prudential where he held a series of progressive roles; his last held position was Finance Director of Prudential Assurance Company Singapore, where he was responsible for strategic planning and analysis, financial reporting, finance operations, and finance innovation. Prior to his time with Prudential, he spent many years at KPMG and has experience that covers accounting advisory, audit, and transaction services. He speaks frequently at industry events on the subject of accounting change for insurance.
Mr. Matthew Lawrence is a member of the Group Audit Committee, Group Risk Management Committee and Group Nominating/Remuneration Committee of the Company.
Appointed to the Board on 19 April 2019
Mrs. Vijayam Nadarajah holds a Master degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor degree in Economics (with a major in accounting) from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. She has also acquired a law degree from University of London, United Kingdom. She is a Fellow Member of CPA Australia, a Chartered Accountant under the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and a Fellow Member of the Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia (“IIAM”).
Mrs. Vijayam Nadarajah was the president of the IIAM from year 1996 to year 1997 and was then re-appointed as a governor to the Board of Governors of IIAM in year 2018. She co-chaired the taskforce on Guidance for Effective Internal Audit Function. Mrs. Vijayam Nadarajah was the Independent Non-Executive Director of The Bank of Nova Scotia Berhad and MPI Generali Insurans Berhad. Prior to her appointment to the Board of The Bank of Nova Scotia Berhad, she was a consultant for China Construction Bank Malaysia Berhad on matters related to licensing of the bank and operational readiness audit. From year 2013 to year 2016, Mrs. Vijayam Nadarajah served as a Specialist for the Research and Development/Corporate Program of the Financial Accreditation Agency, which is an initiative supported by Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission Malaysia. She also served as Financial Controller at CIMB Aviva Assurance Berhad and CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad, Assistant General Manager of Finance at Oriental Capital Assurance Berhad, as well as senior roles in RHB Bank Berhad and Sime Bank Berhad/UMBC Bank Berhad.
Mrs. Vijayam Nadarajah presently sits on the Boards of BNP Paribas Malaysia Berhad and Monash University Malaysia Sdn Bhd. She is a consultant and trainer in topics such as risk management, compliance, internal audit and board governance.
Mrs. Vijayam Nadarajah is the Chairman of the Group Risk Management Committee and is a member of the Group Audit Committee and Group Nominating/Remuneration Committee of the Company. She is also a Director and Chairman of the Risk Management Committee, and a member of the Audit Committee and Nominating/Remuneration Committee of Manulife Insurance Berhad, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.
Appointed to the Board on 1 November 2020
Mr. Renzo Viegas holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Bombay, India. He is a Chartered Accountant and Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, and a Chartered Accountant under the Malaysian Institute of Accountants. He also completed the Advance Management Program in Strategic Marketing Planning from Michigan State University, United States of America.
Mr. Renzo Viegas started his career with Citibank in year 1985, where he progressively held senior positions in various Asia Pacific countries including regional responsibilities until year 2008. His last held position was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Citibank Malaysia. In year 2008, Mr. Renzo Viegas joined RHB Bank Berhad as Director of Retail Banking where he managed the consumer, insurance, hire purchase, and small and medium enterprises businesses. In year 2011, he was appointed as the Principal Officer overseeing overall operations of RHB Bank Berhad. His last held position was Deputy Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of the bank with direct responsibility in the Consumer and International businesses.
Mr. Renzo Viegas was the Deputy CEO and Executive Director of CIMB Bank from year 2012 to year 2015 with direct oversight over the Consumer and Commercial businesses and CEO of Group Consumer Banking from year 2015 to year 2016. He was responsible for the development of overall business strategies of consumer banking for the smooth implementation of the strategies and transformed the consumer bank of the Group to become its growth engine by leveraging on the regional platform to better reap synergies and accelerate business delivery. He also served as Adviser to the Group CEO of CIMB Bank–where he was responsible for the development of overall Group business strategies until March 2019–and was also the Chairman of the CIMB Group Information and Technology Steering Committee. He was also a Non-Independent Director for CIMB Bank (Vietnam) Ltd. from August 2018 to July 2019, and Non-Independent Director for CIMB Cambodia Bank PLC from November 2017 to July 2019. He served as Non-Executive Director of Sun Life Malaysia Assurance Berhad and Sun Life Malaysia Takaful Berhad from May 2013 to July 2017.
Mr. Renzo Viegas is presently an independent non-executive director on the Board of Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd. He is also the Chairman of Audit and Risk Committee, Chairman of Strategy and Business Transformation Committee and member of the Nomination, Remuneration and Corporate Governance Committee of Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd. He also sits on the Board of Ujjivan Financial Services Limited, a company listed on the National Stock Exchange of India and the holding company of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank.
Mr. Renzo Viegas is the Chairman of both the Group Audit Committee and Group Nominating/Remuneration Committee, and is a member of the Group Risk Management Committee of the Company. He is also a Director and the Chairman of the Audit Committee and is a member of the Risk Management Committee and Nominating/Remuneration Committee of Manulife Insurance Berhad, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.