SINGAPORE - Manulife Singapore chief executive Naveed Irshad has been appointed head of the North America legacy business, with effect from Jan 1, 2018.

Mr Irshad has been Manulife Singapore's chief executive since May 2014, and the Canadian has more than 20 years of industry experience.

This is part of a major reshuffle in the Canadian insurer.

An RTTNews article on Nasdaq.com said on Tuesday (Sept 12) that Manulife "announced several structural and leadership changes to drive better alignment with its strategic priorities, accelerate the company's growth, optimise legacy blocks of business in North America and leverage its talent across geographies".

Manulife reportedly said it is creating stronger global alignment and direct accountability for all of its wealth and asset management businesses.

This will be done by bringing those into a primary reporting segment called global wealth and asset management.

Reuters noted Mr Paul Lorentz was appointed head of Manulife's global wealth and asset management business, and will take the role in October.

Manulife, Canada's biggest insurer, also reportedly planned to promote the head of its Asian business, Mr Philip Witherington, as chief financial officer in 2018.

Reuters added the move is among senior management changes, part of a restructuring by incoming chief executive Roy Gori, who takes up his new role on Oct 1.

Mr Gori reportedly said the appointments "showcase the bench strength of Manulife's senior leadership team, and position us strongly as we accelerate our transformation".