Robert McLister
Manulife continues to do tremendous mortgage business thanks to its Manulife One television and print ads. It also employs a unique model where it pays financial advisors to promote the “One.”
Forget about mortgage brokers. It can’t be bothered and doesn’t want to pay them. Financial advisors are a nice enough little niche –and one that compliments Manulife’s all-out advertising assault.
As a result of the above, Manulife’s lending volume is “growing about C$1 billion a quarter,” says President Paul Rooney.
Essentially, the Manulife One is a mortgage, checking account, savings account, and line of credit all in one. In fact, it’s the most popular brand of “all-in-one” mortgage in Canada (albeit, not necessarily the best–check out National Bank’s and Canadian Tire’s versions).
For the foreseeable future, Manulife will keep selling the Manulife One without face-to-face borrower contact. According to Reuters, Rooney has no interest in the expense of branches and feels Canadians are becoming quite comfortable with Internet banking. We’d agree.
(Quotes via Reuters)