By Enda Curran 

HONG KONG--One of the world's longest-serving life-insurance sales agents is still plying his trade in this Asian financial capital.

Every morning, Joe Sun, 88 years old, shows up at the offices of Manulife Financial Corp., a Canadian insurer where he has worked for 60 years.

Described by the insurer as legendary for his sales prowess, Mr. Sun joined the company in 1954 after responding to an advertisement in the South China Morning Post, one of two English-language daily newspapers in the city. An economics graduate of Soochow University in Shanghai, Mr. Sun moved to Hong Kong in 1951 and was one of seven candidates chosen from 400 applicants three years later.

His first sale of a life-insurance policy was to a worker at a Hong Kong dockyard. "The moment I got his signature I was walking on air," Mr. Sun said. "I immediately counted my commission."

Wearing a cravat and smart suit, Mr. Sun shows few signs of slowing down. Reeling off names of former colleagues and policies sold, he remains quick on his feet. As he guided a reporter through Manulife's offices in a key shopping district, he at one point jogged to catch a waiting elevator.

Mr. Sun has become one of the company's most successful agents, winning multiple internal awards in a career that highlights the importance of distribution channels as the industry has developed in Asia. When Mr. Sun began selling life coverage, the market was a backwater, where the concept wasn't widely understood, but it has become one of the world's fastest growing.

The region is now a battleground for big insurers, including AIA Group Ltd, Prudential PLC, MetLife Inc., Sun Life Financial Inc. and others.

The companies have been attracted by Asia's emerging middle class and growing population, as well as by the fact that a smaller share of the region's people have life insurance than in the developed world. In the U.S., for example, sales to the middle class are declining.

Big insurers are rushing to snap up smaller rivals, particularly in Southeast Asia. Unlike in China, that market isn't dominated by domestic insurers.

For insurers, agents such as Mr. Sun are important in the battle to drum up business, taking advantage of the rising demand. Tens of thousands of agents are deployed across the region, providing a distribution channel in addition to sales via banks and the Internet. Manulife alone has more than 51,000 agents in Asia.

Banks and insurers are jockeying to ensure they are positioned to benefit from growing demand.

Singapore's DBS Group Holdings, a bank, is working toward putting the right to sell insurance through its branches for a fixed period up for sale. The U.K. insurer Aviva PLC now sells its products via DBS, and is expected to be among the bidders.

Late last year, AIA agreed to a multibillion-dollar deal to sell its insurance products through Citigroup Inc.'s Asian-Pacific retail branch network.

Prudential PLC said this month that a distribution partnership with Standard Chartered PLC, renewed earlier this year, helped boost profit from new insurance business in Asia by 15% to GBP775 million in the first nine months of the year, on a constant-currency basis.

"The key is an exclusive relationship with the bank to allow better product mix, selling practices and training in their network," said Credit Suisse analyst Arjan van Veen. "This is why the insurers are willing to pay such high upfront amounts to secure these agreements,"

Manulife, based in Toronto, is among the global insurance giants gaining in Asia as life-insurance sales in more mature markets, such as the U.S., stagnate or decline. Overall Asian insurance sales at the company, Canada's largest insurer by assets, rose by 46% to a record in the July-to-September quarter.

In the early days, Mr. Sun's pitches were often met with skepticism by a market unfamiliar with the concept of life insurance.

"At that time they didn't want to hear" about insurance, he said. "'You want me to die'?" he said people asked him.

Mr. Sun no longer spends his days pounding the streets to pitch his company's products. But he remains active as a contact for clients and a mentor for younger staff.

On the morning of a recent interview, Mr. Sun said he had received a call from a local dredging company, looking to discuss some of Manulife's products,

"They phoned me and said 'Can you come over?'," said Mr. Sun.

It is an agent's ability to offer personal interaction that explains why they remain a potent sales outlet, said Les Forrest, regional head of agency in Asia for MetLife.

"There is still a very strong preference for some kind of face-to-face interaction at some stage of the process," he said.

Another Canadian insurer, Sun Life, also boasts long-serving agents in Asia.

Regina T. Leechiu, 73, based in Makati City in the Philippines, has worked for Sun Life for 28 years since joining in 1986. Three of her children also joined Sun Life to work as agents.

"They are enjoying every moment, like me. I don't know when I will retire, perhaps at 90," she said.

Rita Trichur contributed to this article.

Access Investor Kit for Manulife Financial Corp.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=CA56501R1064

Access Investor Kit for Sun Life Financial, Inc.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=CA8667961053

Access Investor Kit for Standard Chartered Plc

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=GB0004082847

Access Investor Kit for Prudential Plc

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=GB0007099541

Access Investor Kit for AIA Group Ltd.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=HK0000069689

Access Investor Kit for DBS Group Holdings Ltd.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=SG1L01001701

Access Investor Kit for AIA Group Ltd.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US0013172053

Access Investor Kit for Citigroup, Inc.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US1729674242

Access Investor Kit for DBS Group Holdings Ltd.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US23304Y1001

Access Investor Kit for MetLife, Inc.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US59156R1086

Access Investor Kit for Prudential Plc

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US74435K2042

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

Citigroup (NYSE:C)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Citigroup Charts.
Citigroup (NYSE:C)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Citigroup Charts.