2010 News Releases

• Presentation and white paper from John Hancock’s Special Markets department
• Designed to aid advisors and clients in preparing for likelihood of increasing taxes

Boston – John Hancock recently launched a new Continuing Education (CE) course intended to help financial advisors and their clients plan and implement investment and tax strategies amid an uncertain tax environment. Advisors interested in taking the course should contact their local John Hancock wholesaler about dates and times in their geographical area.

“Given the likelihood of increased income tax rates, it's important to review financial, retirement and estate-planning objectives with your clients,” says John Hancock Special Markets attorney Brandon Buckingham. “The uncertainty of the future tax environment could create some planning obstacles, and so we strongly urge individuals to meet with their financial and tax advisors to determine what they could do now to help mitigate the costs of future tax hikes.”

Buckingham believes that the future tax environment is uncertain at best but will likely result in rising taxes. “There will be changes in how ordinary income, capital gains, dividends, gifts and estates are taxed,” he notes.  “In order to avoid unintended consequences, proper planning should be made to ensure that client's financial, investment, retirement and estate planning goals and intentions are satisfied and not adversely affected by changes to the tax code.”

John Hancock makes its Special Markets team available for consultation with financial professionals.   The team is comprised of attorneys and licensed specialists with extensive experience, available to provide assistance in the application of advanced planning concepts.   Areas of expertise include qualified plans, IRAs, and estate, trust, charitable and tax planning. 

About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial Corporation

John Hancock Financial is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 22 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and in most of Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, Manulife Financial Corporation offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. For more than 120 years, clients have looked to Manulife for strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking solutions for their most significant financial decisions. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$446 billion (US$440 billion) as at March 31, 2010.

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under ‘945’ on the SEHK. Manulife Financial may be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.

The John Hancock unit, through its insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States. John Hancock offers a broad range of financial products and services, including life insurance, fixed and variable annuities, fixed products, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, long-term care insurance, college savings, and other forms of business insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at www.johnhancock.com.

Media Contact:     
Beth McGoldrick
(617) 663-4751
bmcgoldrick@jhancock.com

Circular 230 Notice:  This document does not constitute legal or tax advice with respect to any taxpayer.  It was neither written nor intended for use by any such taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties, and it cannot be so used.  Any taxpayer receiving it should seek advice based on the taxpayer's particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor.