Inspiring Story

At 91, Hong Kong's longest-serving insurance agent has no plans to retire | hk.on.cc (July 28, 2016)
Joe Sun, Hong Kong's longest-serving life insurance sales agent, is still invigorated by what some millennials might consider a long-lost zeal and passion for work.

Hailing from a well-educated Shanghai family, Sun was a university graduate in economics and worked as a teacher on the mainland before he decided to move to Hong Kong in 1951 to work for a trading company. He was left unemployed when the business collapsed in 1953.

Sun joined Manulife in 1954 after responding to an anonymous classified advertisement in a local city newspaper. Only later when he was given a job application form to complete, did he know it was an insurance sales agent position with Manulife.

With a hearing problem in his right ear since his early childhood, Sun made no secret of this in the application form. During the interview, when he was asked whether this would affect his ability to undertake the job, he gave a well-prepared answer saying, "Like many people with a hearing loss, I would listen more keenly and more attentively to my customers."

Sun was then one of seven candidates chosen from 400 applicants.

But it was not without challenges to start out with selling life coverage, since when Sun got here in Hong Kong he had very few friends and relatives, and basically no network of people to rely on. With a monthly allowance of only a few hundred dollars, he knew he had to commit himself to selling more policies so as to make more in commission.

With the help of an acquaintance, Sun finally landed his very first customer. His first sale of a life insurance policy was to a security guard at a Hong Kong dockyard. Sun was very excited when he received HK$800 in commission from Manulife and the feeling still remains with him today. And although the man was later found in default of payment of some of his insurance premiums, which Sun occasionally had to pay for out of his own pocket, this early success gave him a huge boost to continue with enthusiasm and conviction.

After the first sale, Sun began to feel confidence in his ability to approach and handle new customers. The government directory – or so-called "Blue Book", which contains the information of members of the Civil Service in Hong Kong – was a major source of new leads and customers. He would call civil servants one by one – or sometimes visit them in person. Since many of the city's civil servants at that time were expatriates and were much more open to the concept of insurance, a number of them have since become his life-long customers.

"Once you have connected to a customer, you will be recommended by word-of-mouth from an endless chain of satisfied customers," Sun said.

In the years since, Sun has worked for Manulife, without interruption, serving his customers from all walks of life. Over the past 62 years as an insurance agent, he has witnessed the transformation of the whole industry in Hong Kong. While awareness on the concept of insurance among the public is much better than before, insurance products have become more complex than ever. As he advised in the interview, all new joiners to this industry should be properly trained and should immerse themselves in all types of insurance products, and more resources from insurers are needed to bring new hires to full proficiency.

While over 90 years old, Sun said he has no plans to retire yet. He still shows up regularly at his Manulife office and remains active as a contact for his clients. His long-time colleague Paul Hung, another senior insurance agent who has spent an impressive 55 years with Manulife, also has an office right next to his.