AIA Group Ltd Chief Executive Officer Lee Yuan Siong said incoming non-executive chair Mark Tucker will focus on governance and strategy when he starts at the insurer later this year.

Lee, who said he will leave Tucker to elaborate further when he joins, said on a call with analysts on Thursday that his priorities will also include leadership and management. Tucker, who was most recently chair of HSBC Holdings Plc, is due to start Oct 1 when current chair Edmund Tse retires.

Earlier, AIA said new business value — a measure of future profitability of new policies sold — rose 16 percent to $2.84 billion in the first six months of this year, from $2.46 billion a year earlier. The board increased its interim dividend by 10 percent to HK$0.49 ($0.06) per share.

The growth rate would have been 14 percent on a constant exchange rate basis, taking out the impact of currency fluctuations.

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Insurers in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have seen strong demand from onshore clients hunting for investments with better returns overseas amid lower interest rates on the Chinese mainland. Competition for policy sales remains intense from rivals such as Prudential Plc as aging populations drive demand for life insurance.

“Our confidence in the outlook for the future is reflected in the 10 percent increase in the dividend,” Chief Financial Officer Garth Jones said in a Bloomberg TV interview.

Taking into account the impacts of currency fluctuations, AIA’s core market — the HKSAR — saw new business value grow 24 percent to $1.06 billion.

In Southeast Asia, Thailand reported a 45 percent growth of new business value to $522 million thanks to favorable shifts in new business product mix. In Singapore, the same metric grew 18 percent due to unit-linked long-term savings product sales.

“While near-term geopolitical and global macroeconomic uncertainties persist, they do not detract from the significant opportunities available to AIA in this dynamic and attractive region,” CEO Lee said in the statement.

READ MORE: AIA sees new business growth on HK, mainland demand

Lee added that he’s had multiple conversations with Tucker and in his new role with the insurer, Tucker will be based in Hong Kong, while traveling “extensively” to promote AIA.