Canadian insurers eye Middle East for growth

Canada’s biggest life insurers, Manulife and Sun Life, are looking at the Middle East for new avenues of growth, chasing wealthy clients from Asia and other parts of the world moving to Dubai.

Both companies now have sales offices in Dubai. Dubai is emerging as a preferred wealth centre for many entrepreneurs and rich families in Asia as they look to take advantage of favourable tax policies and expand their businesses.

Both Manulife and Sun Life have been active in Asia for years, expanding through bancassurance deals, or partnerships between a bank and an insurance company, to diversify beyond North America. The US is still a key growth market.

Meanwhile, Canadian financial institutions have also eyed the Middle East for diversification after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Qatar in January opened doors for Canadian companies.

“We’ve been selling that through Hong Kong and Singapore, working with brokers. Those brokers are now opening offices in Dubai and we’re aligning with that distribution and client interest in being in Dubai,” Sun Life CEO Kevin Strain said in an interview.

“The clients that we serve in the high-net-worth business in Asia… come from all over Asia. They come from India, they come from China, they come from Taiwan… those clients have typically gone to Hong Kong and Singapore, and sometimes now they’re going to Dubai, and we’re just aligning with that distribution opportunity,” he said.

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Sun Life’s office in the Dubai International Financial Centre opened in December, while Manulife opened its office earlier in 2025. Both companies said they have small teams in the region.

“We’re looking to expand. We’ve got job openings up… we’re hiring as we speak,” Manulife’s CFO, Colin Simpson, said.

“Given the accumulation and the growth of wealth in the Middle East and how attractive Dubai is as a place to do business, we thought it was natural for us to set up an office there.”

Sun Life’s shares closed 6 percent higher on Thursday after the company beat analysts’ profit estimates for the fourth quarter. Manulife’s shares closed 5.3 percent lower due to weakness in its North American business.