Friends Life, the parent company of Friends Provident International, has announced the appointment of James Lai-Hing Tan as General Manager, Asia & Middle East, reporting directly to John van der Wielen, CEO International at Friends Life. Mr Tan will be based in the Hong Kong branch of Friends Provident International and will be responsible for its activities throughout Asia and Middle East.
John van der Wielen, CEO International at Friends Life commented: “This appointment reflects the desire of Friends Life to more closely align the structure of the International Division with our core markets, which is central to our future strategy. Mr Tan speaks three languages, and has worked in several different countries around the world reflecting the diverse geographic make-up of our business.”
James Tan, General Manager, Asia & Middle East at Friends Life commented: “I am excited about joining such a strong team. I am looking forward to using my experience in the insurance and banking industry across the region, to further the business’s development in pursuit of its strategic goals across its core markets.”
Mr Tan, originally from Singapore, has a Master’s Degree in Actuarial Science from Georgia State University and an MBA from the University of California and the National University of Singapore. He has 18 years’ experience in the insurance and banking industry and has worked in the US, Singapore and Hong Kong including seven years as Global Head of Bancassurance at Standard Chartered. His most recent role was as Group Head for AIA’s partner distribution business based in Hong Kong. He speaks English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
The International business of Friends Life Group operates from eight offices across the globe and has over 1,100 employees. It comprises all the non-UK business operations of the Friends Life Group. These include the Luxembourg-based Lombard International Assurance and Friends Provident International that have operations in Luxembourg, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Hong Kong.
