About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation operates as a financial services company with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. The company’s international network of employees, agents and distribution partners offers financial protection and wealth management products and services to personal and business clients as well as asset management services to institutional customers. The company operates as the holding company of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (MLI), a Canadian life insurance company. The company operate as Manulife across its offices in Asia, Canada, and Europe; and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. The company provides financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. As of December 31, 2021, the company had over 119,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 33 million customers. The company’s principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United State. Segments The company operates through Asia, Canada, U.S., Global Wealth and Asset Management (Global WAM), and Corporate and Other segments. Asia This segment provides insurance products and insurance-based wealth accumulation products in Asia. The company’s Asia segment is a leading provider of insurance products and insurance-based wealth accumulation products, driven by a customer-centric strategy, leveraging the asset management expertise and products managed by its Global Wealth and Asset Management segment. The company has insurance operations in 11 markets1: Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, mainland China, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Myanmar. The company has a diversified multi-channel distribution network, including over 117,000 contracted agents and over 100 bank partnerships. The company also works with many independent agents, financial advisors, and brokers. Among the company’s bancassurance partnerships it has exclusive partnerships, including a long-term partnership with DBS Bank across Singapore, Hong Kong, mainland China and Indonesia, and VietinBank in Vietnam that give it access to over 30 million bank customers. In 2021, the company completed the acquisition of Aviva Vietnam Life Insurance Company Limited (Aviva Vietnam) and commenced a 16-year bancassurance partnership with VietinBank, which together provides a full suite of insurance, wealth and retirement solutions to VietinBank customers. Canada This segment provides insurance products, insurance-based wealth accumulation products, and banking services in Canada and has an in-force variable annuity business. The company leverages the asset management expertise and products managed by its Global Wealth and Asset Management segment. The comprehensive solutions the company offers target a broad range of customer needs and foster holistic long-lasting relationships. The company offers financial protection solutions to individuals, families and business owners through a combination of competitive products, professional advice and quality customer service. The company provides group life, health and disability insurance solutions to Canadian employers, with approximately 25,000 Canadian businesses and organizations entrusting their employee benefit programs to Manulife’s Group Insurance. The company also provides life, health, disability and specialty products, such as mortgage creditor and travel insurance, through advisors, sponsor groups and associations, as well as direct-to-customer. The company continues to increase the proportion of products with behavioural insurance features. Manulife Bank offers flexible debt and cash flow management solutions as part of a customer’s overall financial plan. Products include savings and chequing accounts, guaranteed interest certificates, lines of credit, investment loans, mortgages and other specialized lending programs, offered through financial advisors supported by a broad distribution network. U.S. This segment provides life insurance products, insurance-based wealth accumulation products and has an in-force long-term care insurance business and an in-force annuity business. The insurance products the company offers are designed to provide estate, business and income-protection solutions for high net worth, emerging affluent markets and the middle market, and to leverage the asset management expertise and products managed by its Global Wealth and Asset Management business. Behavioural insurance features are standard on all the company’s new insurance product offerings. The primary distribution channel is licensed financial advisors. The company aims to establish lifelong customer relationships that benefit from the company’s holistic protection and wealth product offerings in the future. The company’s in-force long-term care insurance policies provide coverage for the cost of long-term services and support. The company’s in-force annuity business includes fixed deferred, variable deferred, and payout products. In 2021, the company completed the iPipeline integration with the JH brokerage eApp. This integration provides 66% of the company’s regular distribution partners with access to next-generation sales tools and decreases the overall cycle time for applications submitted via this preferred channel by 49% compared with 2020. It also enabled access to over 250 firms, including a new partnership with Allstate and its more than 11,000 agents. Global Wealth and Asset Management (Global WAM) This segment provides investment advice and innovative solutions to its retail, retirement and institutional clients around the world under the Manulife Investment Management (MIM) brand. The company’s leading capabilities in public and private markets are strengthened by an investment footprint that spans 18 geographies1, including 10 in Asia with 120 years of on-the-ground experience. In retirement, the company provides financial guidance, advice, investment solutions and recordkeeping services to over 8 million plan participants and rollover individuals in North America and Asia while they are in the accumulation phase with their employer, and increasingly as they prepare for their retirement outside their employer’s plan. In North America, the company’s Canadian retirement business focuses on providing retirement solutions through defined contribution plans, and also to group plan members when they retire or leave their plan; and in the United States, the company provides employer sponsored retirement plans, as well as personal retirement accounts when individuals leave their plan. In Asia, the company provides retirement offerings to employers and individuals, including Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) schemes and administration in Hong Kong. Additionally, the company provides retirement solutions in several emerging retirement markets in Asia, including Indonesia and Malaysia. The company distributes investment funds to retail clients through its own proprietary advice channels in Canada and Asia, as well as through intermediaries and banks in North America, Europe and Asia, and offers investment strategies across the world, through affiliated and select unaffiliated asset managers. In Canada, the company also provides holistic personal advice to individual clients and investment management, private banking and wealth and estate solutions to high-net-worth clients. The company’s institutional asset management business provides comprehensive asset management solutions for pension plans, foundations, endowments, financial institutions and other institutional investors worldwide. The company’s solutions span all major asset classes, including equities, fixed income, alternative assets (including real estate, timberland, farmland, private equity/debt, infrastructure, and liquid alternatives). In addition, the company offers multi-asset investment solutions covering a broad range of clients’ investment needs. The company is committed to investing responsibly across its businesses. The company continues to enhance and develop innovative global frameworks for sustainable investing, and maintains a high standard of stewardship where it owns and operates assets. Corporate and Other This segment includes Property and Casualty (P&C) Reinsurance business; and run-off reinsurance business lines, including variable annuities and accident and health. The company’s real estate portfolio is diversified by geographic region. Strategy The key elements of the company’s strategy are to execute on organic and inorganic growth opportunities in Asia; execute on organic and inorganic growth opportunities in Global WAM; expand its behavioural insurance offering to provide innovative solutions and support positive health for customers; and drive new business growth and persistency in group insurance. Distribution Methods The company has a multi-channel distribution network in all the segments in which it operates, with different emphasis depending on the product line and geography. The company’s four operating segments are: Asia, Canada, U.S., and Global Wealth and Asset Management. Asia: The company has insurance operations in 11 markets across Asia. The company is a leading provider of insurance products and insurance-based wealth accumulation products, driven by a customer-centric strategy, leveraging the asset management expertise and products managed by its Global Wealth and Asset Management segment. The company’s portfolio includes a broad array of health, protection, savings, medical, term and whole life products. The company’s diversified multi-channel distribution network in Asia includes contracted agents, bank partnerships and independent agents, financial advisors, and brokers. The company has exclusive bancassurance partnerships, including a long-term, regional partnership with DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore, Hong Kong, mainland China and Indonesia; and VietinBank in Vietnam that give it access to over 30 million bank customers. In Hong Kong and Macau, the company’s insurance products are marketed and sold through its agency, bancassurance partnerships, and independent broker channels. In Japan, product offerings are marketed through proprietary sales agents, independent agencies or managing general agents (MGA) and bancassurance partners. Corporate products are mainly sold through MGAs. In Singapore, mainland China, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia and Myanmar, products are primarily marketed and sold through exclusive agents, bank channels, including exclusive partnerships, brokerage, and independent financial advisors. In 2021, the company completed the acquisition of Aviva Vietnam Life Insurance Company Limited and commenced a 16-year bancassurance partnership with VietinBank, which together provides a full suite of insurance, wealth and retirement solutions to VietinBank customers. Canada: The company is a leading financial services provider, offering insurance products, insurance-based wealth accumulation products and banking services, have an in-force variable annuity business, and it leverages the asset management expertise and products managed by its Global Wealth and Asset Management segment. The company offers financial protection solutions to individuals, families, and business owners through a combination of competitive products, professional advice and quality customer service. The company provides life, health, disability and specialty products, such as mortgage creditor and travel insurance, through advisors, sponsor groups and associations, as well as direct-to-customer. The company provides group life, health and disability insurance solutions to Canadian sponsors (these include traditional employers, as well as other forms of groups, such as government programs, unions, and associations) and these products are distributed through various distribution channels, including a national network of regional offices that provide support to plan sponsors. Manulife Bank offers flexible debt and cash flow management solutions as part of a customer’s overall financial plan. Products include savings and chequing accounts, guaranteed interest certificates, lines of credit, investment loans, mortgages and other specialized lending programs, offered through financial advisors supported by a broad distribution network. U.S. The company’s U.S. segment provides a range of life insurance products, insurance-based wealth accumulation products, and has an in-force long-term care insurance business and an in-force annuity business. The insurance products the company offers are designed to provide estate, business and income-protection solutions for high net worth, emerging affluent markets, and the middle market, and to leverage the asset management expertise and products managed by its Global Wealth and Asset Management business. Behavioural insurance features are standard on all the company’s new insurance product offerings. The primary distribution channel is licensed financial advisors, with some direct-to-consumer insurance business within its U.S. Wealth and Asset Management business. The company seeks to establish lifelong customer relationships that benefit from its holistic protection and wealth product offerings in the future. The company’s in-force long-term care insurance provides coverage for the cost of long-term services and support. The company’s in-force annuity business includes fixed deferred, variable deferred, and payout products. In late 2021, the company entered into an agreement to reinsure over 75% of the legacy variable annuity block, consisting primarily of policies with guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits riders. The transaction closed on February 1, 2022. Global Wealth and Asset Management: The company’s Global Wealth and Asset Management segment, branded as Manulife Investment Management, provides investment advice and innovative solutions to retirement, retail and institutional clients. The company’s leading capabilities in public and private markets are strengthened by an investment footprint that spans 18 geographies, including 10 in Asia with 120 years of on-the-ground experience. In retirement, the company provides financial guidance, advice, and investment solutions and recordkeeping services to over 8 million plan participants and rollover individuals in North America and Asia while they are in the accumulation phase with their employer, and increasingly as they prepare for their retirement outside their employer’s plan. In North America, the company’s Canadian retirement business focuses on providing retirement solutions through defined contribution plans, and also to group plan members when they retire or leave their plan; and in the United States, it provides employer sponsored retirement plans, as well as personal retirement accounts when individuals leave their plan. In Asia, the company provides retirement offerings to employers and individuals, including Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) schemes and administration in Hong Kong. Additionally, the company provides retirement solutions in several emerging retirement markets in Asia, including Indonesia and Malaysia. The company distributes investment funds to retail clients through its own proprietary advice channels in Canada and Asia and as well through intermediaries and banks in North America, Europe, and Asia, and offers investment strategies across the world, through affiliated and select unaffiliated asset managers. In Canada, the company also provides holistic personal advice to individual clients and investment management, private banking and wealth and estate solutions to high-net-worth clients. The company’s institutional asset management business provides comprehensive asset management solutions for pension plans, foundations, endowments, financial institutions, and other institutional investors worldwide. The company’s solutions span all major asset classes including equities, fixed income, alternative assets (including real estate, timberland, farmland, private equity/debt, infrastructure, and liquid alternatives). In addition, the company offers multi-asset investment solutions covering a broad range of clients’ investment needs. The company is committed to investing responsibly across its businesses. The company continues to enhance and develop innovative global frameworks for sustainable investing, and maintain a high standard of stewardship where it owns and operates assets. Government Regulation The company is governed by the Insurance Companies Act (Canada) (ICA). The ICA is administered, and activities of the Company are supervised, by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (Canada) (OSFI), the primary regulator of federal financial institutions. The ICA permits insurance companies to offer, directly or through subsidiaries or through networking arrangements, a broad range of financial services, including banking, investment counseling and portfolio management, mutual funds, trust services, real property brokerage and appraisal, information processing and merchant banking services. The company’s Canadian investment fund, dealer and asset management businesses are subject to Canadian provincial and territorial securities laws. Manulife Investment Management Limited (MIML) is registered as a portfolio manager with the securities commissions in all Canadian provinces and territories, as an investment fund manager in the provinces of Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec, as a commodity trading manager in Ontario, and as a derivatives portfolio manager in Quebec. Manulife Investment Management Distributors Inc. (MIMDI) is registered as an exempt market dealer with the securities commissions in all Canadian provinces and territories. MIML and MIMDI are subject to regulation by the applicable provincial securities regulators. Manulife Securities Investment Services Inc. (MSISI) is registered under provincial and territorial securities laws to sell mutual funds across Canada and is subject to regulation by the applicable provincial and territorial securities regulators, as well as the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA), a self-regulatory organization. MSISI is also registered as an exempt market dealer in all Canadian provinces and territories. Manulife Securities Incorporated (MSI) is registered under provincial and territorial securities laws to sell investments across Canada and is subject to regulation by the provincial and territorial securities regulators, as well as the Investment Industry Regulatory Association of Canada (IIROC), a self-regulatory organization. MSI is also registered as a derivatives dealer in Quebec. The ICA requires the filing of annual and other reports on the financial condition of the company, provides for periodic examinations of the company’s affairs, imposes restrictions on transactions with related parties, and sets forth requirements governing reserves for actuarial liabilities and the safekeeping of assets and other matters. OSFI supervises the company on a consolidated basis (including capital adequacy) to ensure that OSFI has an overview of the group’s activities. This includes the ability to review both insurance and non-insurance activities conducted by subsidiaries of Manulife with supervisory power to bring about corrective action. Manulife Investment Management Limited (MIML) is registered as a portfolio manager with the securities commissions in all Canadian provinces and territories, as an investment fund manager in the provinces of Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec, as a commodity trading manager in Ontario, and as a derivatives portfolio manager in Quebec. Manulife Investment Management Distributors Inc. (MIMDI) is registered as an exempt market dealer with the securities commissions in all Canadian provinces and territories. MIML and MIMDI are subject to regulation by the applicable provincial securities regulators. Manulife Securities Investment Services Inc. (MSISI) is registered under provincial and territorial securities laws to sell mutual funds across Canada and is subject to regulation by the applicable provincial and territorial securities regulators, as well as the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA), a self-regulatory organization. MSISI is also registered as an exempt market dealer in all Canadian provinces and territories. Manulife Securities Incorporated (MSI) is registered under provincial and territorial securities laws to sell investments across Canada and is subject to regulation by the provincial and territorial securities regulators, as well as the Investment Industry Regulatory Association of Canada (IIROC), a self-regulatory organization. MSI is also registered as a derivatives dealer in Quebec. Certain of the company’s subsidiaries and certain investment funds, policies and contracts offered by them are subject to regulation under federal securities laws administered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and under certain state securities laws. Certain segregated funds of the company’s insurance subsidiaries are registered as investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as are certain other funds managed by subsidiaries of the company. Interests in segregated funds under certain variable annuity contracts and variable insurance policies issued by the company’s insurance subsidiaries are also registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933. Each of John Hancock Distributors LLC and John Hancock Investment Management Distributors LLC is registered as a broker-dealer under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and each is a member of, and subject to regulation by, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Each of John Hancock Investment Management LLC, Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC, Manulife Investment Management Timberland and Agriculture Inc., Manulife Investment Management Private Markets (US) LLC, John Hancock Variable Trust Advisers LLC, Manulife Investment Management (North America) Limited and John Hancock Personal Financial Services, LLC is an investment adviser registered under the U.S. Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Certain investment companies advised or managed by these subsidiaries are registered with the SEC under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the shares of certain of these entities are qualified for sale in certain states in the United States and the District of Columbia. The Commodity Exchange Act may regulate certain of the company’s segregated funds and registered funds as a commodity pool, and certain of the company’s registered advisers as a commodity pool operator or a commodity trading advisor. The Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) has been created to provide clients with protection, within defined limits, in the event of the insolvency of their IIROC investment dealer. The CIPF is funded by its member investment dealers, including Manulife Securities Incorporated (MSI). The MFDA Investor Protection Corporation (IPC) has been created to provide clients with protection, within defined limits, in the event of the insolvency of their mutual fund dealer. The IPC is funded by its member mutual fund dealers, including MSISI. The Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) is a federal crown corporation created by parliament in 1967 to protect deposits made with member financial institutions in case of their failure. CDIC member institutions, including Manulife Bank and its subsidiary Manulife Trust Company, fund deposit insurance through premiums paid on the insured deposits that they hold. The company’s principal U.S. life insurance subsidiaries are John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) (JHUSA), John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York (JHNY) and John Hancock Life & Health Insurance Company (JHLH). Life insurance companies in Japan, including Manulife Life Insurance Company (Manulife Japan), are governed by the Insurance Business Law and the regulations issued thereunder (the IB Law). Employee benefit plans are governed by Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA) and are subject to regulation by the U.S. Department of Labor. As service providers to employee benefit plans, the company and its subsidiaries may be parties in interest, as such term is defined in ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), with respect to such plans. Certain transactions between parties in interest and those plans are prohibited by ERISA and the Code. If it is determined that the company or subsidiary is not in compliance with an applicable statutory or administrative exemption, severe penalties and excise taxes could be imposed under ERISA and the Code. In Hong Kong, the company’s life insurance business is conducted through a branch of a wholly owned Bermuda subsidiary, Manulife (International) Limited, which is licensed to carry on the business of long-term insurance by the IA and the Bermuda Monetary Authority. History Manulife Financial Corporation was founded in 1887. The company was incorporated under the Insurance Companies Act (Canada) (ICA) in 1887.