2023 Insurance Asia Forum Manila

Charisse has almost 18 years of combined audit and consulting experience and has led several consulting engagements in the Performance Improvement space, focusing on Finance, with services ranging from efficient finance operations to finance strategy and transformation. She has deep insurance sector experience, and is recognized as one of SGV’s industry subject matter resources. She has worked on various engagements in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and Australia.

Prahlad Agarwal is a highly experienced strategy & finance executive who specializes in banking & insurance. He currently serves as Head of Strategy at Manulife Philippines. Prior to this, he led diverse roles in MetLife across Asia and US. Prahlad’s exemplary leadership in driving digital transformation & customer experience earned him the prestigious MetLife Purpose Award in 2020, selected by Board among global employees. For fun, he likes to play tennis and he is a PADI certified advance open water diver.

As President and CEO, Rahul is responsible for the development and execution of Manulife's strategy in the Philippines, supercharging the business so we can continue making every day better for more Filipinos.

Hora is an insurance industry veteran, having taken on various sales and distribution leadership roles in operations, agency, and bancassurance across geographies. He joins Manulife from another multinational insurance company, where he held distribution roles at market and regional levels, and most recently led their life and non-life insurance operations in the Philippines.

Gino has been the Chief Marketing Officer of the Company since November 1, 2020, and was Head of Regional Market Management of Allianz Asia Pacific from 2018 to 2020. His previous posts are: Vice President for Sales and Marketing, Allianz Global Assistance; Vice President for Sales and Marketing and Director, Marketing and Communications, Co-operators Group; Director, Affiliated Distribution Network Marketing, ING Canada.   

Gino has a Master’s in Business Administration degree from Richard Ivey School of Business and participated in various Management Learning and Development courses from the Allianz Group, the Co-operators, and ING. He also received a Direct Marketing Diploma from the Institute of Direct Marketing UK, a Bachelor of Science in Management Engineering degree from the Ateneo de Manila University, and Double Major, Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University. 

Tyler brings extensive industry experience to the table, not only in insurtech but also in digital banking. With over 10 years of experience as a Senior Project Manager for Digital Transformation at local banks in Vietnam, he has a solid track record in the field. Before joining ZA Tech, Tyler served as the Head of Digital Partnership at AIA, leading the first exclusive partnership between a life insurer and an eCommerce platform in the region. Presently based in Singapore, Tyler is responsible for spearheading the development of ZA Tech's operations in the Philippines and Vietnam. 

Ms. Rowley holds a Bachelor of Business and Finance from the University of Phoenix, USA and a Post Graduate Diploma in Computing for Commerce and Industry (PGDCCI) from Open University.

She is an Associate in Life Management Institute of the Life Office Management Association (LOMA). She also attended the Certified Professional Risk Manager course conducted by Asia Risk Management Institute.

Ms. Rowley has over 30 years of global experience in the financial services industry, spanning life insurance, banking, pensions, and investments. She leads our Risk team and plays a critical role in ensuring that sound policies and practices are in effect and a robust risk culture is embedded across our organization. Ms. Rowley has substantial experience in the three lines of defense along with the creation of strong and sustainable risk programs including audit and risk management.

Mr. Rico T. Bautista is currently the President and CEO of Etiqa Life and General Assurance Philippines, one of the few insurance companies in the country with a composite license. With its composite license, Etiqa Philippines is able to offer both life and non-life products in the market.  

Mr. Bautista has been in charge of the transformation of Etiqa Philippines since 2019, after the re-branding exercise it did from its former corporate name, AsianLife. Since his joining, he has been in charge of delivering positive growth rates both in the topline and bottom-line revenues of the company. He has led the company in fulfilling its promises to its clients, despite the challenging years of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

He has more than two and a half decades of experience in the insurance (and pre-need) industry focused on strategic direction setting, sales and marketing, distribution management, business building, corporate governance and employee empowerment. His career is marked by his affiliations with PhilamPlans (now PhilPlans), Insular Life, Pru Like UK, Philam Life (now AIA Philippines) and BPI-Philam (now BPI-AIA Philippines). 

In 2022, Mr. Bautista is elected the President of the Philippine Life Insurance Association (PLIA), the umbrella organization of all life insurance companies operating in the Philippines. He was re-elected as the PLIA President for a second term in 2023. He is also a member of the Philippine Insurance and Reinsurance Association (PIRA), the industry organization of the non-life companies in the Philippines and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), the premier management organization in the Philippines. He finished his AB Philosophy degree at the University of Santo Tomas. 

With 30 years of experience working as an HR Leader and Influencer, Michelle continues to pursue her passion around People Leadership, HR and Culture Transformation, and Talent Revolution.  

Today, she is the Chief HR Officer of Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. the country’s first and longest-standing life insurer serving the Filipino people for 128 years. 

In her present role, Michelle is on a journey to continuously build a thriving and future-ready organization through people who are genuinely inspired by a purpose to help the Filipino people be financially secure and lead healthier lives.  

Outside of her corporate responsibility, Michelle is also active in pushing for various HR advocacies. In 2018, she was unanimously elected as the National President of the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP), the biggest professional association of HR Leaders in the Philippines with more than 1,000 Corporate Members. Today, she sits as a member of its Council of Presidential Advisers. In 2021, she was also elected as officer of the HR Council of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP).  

In pursuit of all these advocacies, various recognitions were accorded to Michelle: 

* (2023) Asia's and Philippines' Top Most HR Leader by the World HRD Congress  

* (2023) Philippines' World Woman Leader by the World Women Leadership Congress & Awards  

* (2022) Top 100 HR Icon in Southeast Asia by ETHRWorld Southeast Asia, the exclusive media platform for the HR community by The Economic Times 

* (2020) Top 100 Filipinos to follow on LinkedIn 

* (2018) Accorded as Fellow in People Management (FPM) by the Philippine Society of Fellows 

* (2015) Top 100 Influential HR Leaders by CHRO Asia 

* (2014) Global 100 Most Talented HR Leaders by CHRO Asia 

A Psychology graduate and recipient of Jose Rizal Academic Excellence Award from De La Salle University, an alumna of the Asian Institute of Management and DLSU-College of St. Benilde for her post-graduate certificates in Management and Organization Development, and a certified International HR Manager (CIHRM) by the American Certification Institute, Michelle never stopped to develop herself leading her to graduate from other various post-graduate programs. 

Pradeep is a Senior International Business Leader with a demonstrated history of achievement in the Banking and Insurance sector with over three decades of experience across global markets. Skilled in Global IT Delivery, Strategic transformation, Vendor/outsourcing management, Risk and Finance. He started his career as a qualified Chartered Accountant by profession but has evolved as a strong IT Professional during his tenure in Citibank, Barclays Bank, AIG and AXA.