Sameh Youssef Email & Phone Number

Northborough, Ma, Us

Bangalore, Karnataka, In

Toronto, Ontario, Ca

Oversaw all aspects of insurance business IT for John Hancock, the U.S. arm of Canada-based Manulife Financial. Headed in-house and domestic/offshore contractor team of 700-plus.✦ Worked with strategic partner on a long-term, multi-million-dollar initiative to consolidate all of Hancock’s disparate administrative systems.✦ Overhauled the insurance operation’s entire technology “stack,” boosting digital capabilities to manage marketing, distribution, analytics, new business and underwriting.✦ Created three-year technology roadmap, completed in 2020 with successful migration of in-house applications to the cloud. Transitioned to true Agile application development methodology to accomplish.✦ Through technology-based efficiencies, reduced capital IT expenses by 36%.

Toronto, Ontario, Ca

Moved from Hancock wealth management to insurance business amid major low interest rate, passive investment trend and regulatory medical records technology challenges. Stood up the insurance division’s first true project management IT office, moving from siloed operation to a matrix organization based on embedded shared services. Also headed risk, cyber, in-force insurance and audit IT support.✦ Chosen for key role on multidisciplinary leadership team to create, launch and provide IT support for Vitality, one of the industry’s most innovative and successful behavioral insurance products with a dynamic premium structure that incentivizes good health-focused behavior.✦ Provided IT, operations and organizational support for launch of an early-industry, and John Hancock’s first, universal life insurance product based on indexed asset portfolios. ✦ Laid the IT, operations and process foundation for several cutting-edge advances putting Hancock squarely in the modern digital and insurance landscape, including a cost-efficient electronic medical records/analytics platform for underwriting decision-making, and the @LAST project consolidation of 15 previously siloed systems to transform insurance administration across the company.

Toronto, Ontario, Ca

As part of John Hancock wealth management leadership, led annuities business IT project management office, IT risk management and IT infrastructure.✦ Built functional infrastructure and systems, often from scratch, for Hancock’s immature annuities IT operation, including cloud precursor Microsoft platform, databases, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance systems, and a product development/management technology base.✦ In response to financial crisis asset value volatility, pioneered stochastic modeling system and tools to give Hancock a dynamic, probability-based view of rapidly changing information from third-party managers of 60 funds, enabling critical hedging capabilities.

Toronto, Ontario, Ca

Played leading product development/management role in broadening and maturing the annuities business ($1 billion in sales per month at peak) following the 2004 Manulife-Hancock merger. Supported Hancock wholesalers and third-party agents. Added consumer value with new annuity benefits and riders, while maximizing penetration through new bank and broker-dealer distribution deals.

Toronto, Ontario, Ca

For U.S. division of Canada-based financial services/insurance company, promoted from vendor to product management/business implementation leadership in wealth management. Led operations, product line and organizational initiatives to help drive success of massive Manulife-John Hancock merger. Played key operations/IS role in growing separately managed account business, including M&A and Citigroup partnership due diligence.

Toronto, Ontario, Ca

Promoted from phone customer service to cross-functional team in wealth management, processing annuity transactions across production, customer service, new business, licensing, in-force and policy adjustment.