2009 Communiqués de presse

Elementary school children gain management experience as CEOs of own cap businesses
Close championship contest won by team of fourth- and sixth-graders from Kyoto

Tokyo - On Sunday, December 6, the national championship tournament of the fourth annual “Manulife CAPS Management Contest” was held at the Head Office of Manulife Life Insurance Company (hereinafter “Manulife Japan”) in Chofu City, Tokyo. The event was organized by Junior Achievement of Japan, with the support of Central Community Chest of Japan and special sponsorship from Manulife Japan.

In this contest, which used a computer-simulated market environment, children managed virtual businesses that produced and sold caps. The children, all fourth through sixth graders, worked in teams to decide key points such as what prices to charge for caps, the number of caps to keep in inventory, and how much to spend on advertising. Team sales were recorded through several rounds, with teams ranked at the end of each round based on their cumulative profit. The contest, while helping students gain practical experience in learning how the economy functions in the real world and understanding the difficulty and joy of earning money, is designed to help children come to understand the importance of decision-making ability, learn courage in expressing opinions different from those of others, build tolerance in listening to opinions different from their own, and grow in leadership, teamwork, and other qualities they will need later in life.

Prior to the December 6 championship contest, 126 students participated in preliminary rounds in the Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nagoya regions, with eight teams (32 students in total, four students per team), qualifying for the championship contest.

The championship contest featured several students who were competing in the championship contest for the second year in a row, and as the championship contest proceeded through several rounds, the discussions of all the teams remained focused, reflecting detailed analysis within their groups. The excitement of the competition grew as team rankings changed at the end of each round, based on each team’s cumulative profit. The championship was won by a team from Kyoto named “JRISETAN”, composed of two sixth graders and two fourth graders, who secured their victory in a tight competition by scoring the highest profit in the competition’s final round. The JRISETAN team members analyzed their victory, saying, “We watched our ordering process carefully to make sure we wouldn’t carry any excess inventory. There were times when we couldn’t agree at first on what to do, but we were able to reach a team consensus that was satisfactory to everyone by discussing the reasons behind each of our opinions.”

An awards ceremony was held following the contest, at which Mr. Honda, Executive Director of Central Community Chest of Japan, and Mr. Morita, Corporate Officer of Manulife Japan, addressed the students, praising their teamwork and competitive spirit. Award certificates were also distributed to all the participants.

At the end of the two-hour contest, comments by students indicated their pleasure with the event, with many students saying, “Although it was hard, it was a lot of fun!” and “I want to do it again next year!”

“Manulife CAPS Management Contest” Championship Round - Summary

• Program host and organizer: Junior Achievement of Japan
  (Headquarters: Minato-ward, Tokyo; Director: Takeo Shiina)
• Special sponsor: Manulife Life Insurance Company
  (Head Office: Kokuryo, Chofu City, Tokyo; President & CEO: Craig Bromley)
• Supported by: Central Community Chest of Japan (Chairperson: Jyuro Saito)
• Event date: Sunday, December 6, 2009
• Event location: Head Office of Manulife Life Insurance Company
• Participating students:
  From Tokyo: 4 teams, 16 students (14 boys, 2 girls: 8 fourth graders, 6 fifth graders, 2 sixth graders)
  From Kyoto: 3 teams, 12 students (6 boys, 6 girls: 4 fourth graders, 4 fifth graders, 4 sixth graders)
  From Nagoya: 1 team, 4 students (2 boys, 2 girls: 4 sixth graders)

The “CAPS” Program
CAPS is a computer-simulated management learning program developed for upper elementary and middle school children by Junior Achievement, the world’s largest non-profit economic educational organization.

In CAPS, student teams compete with one another. The members of each team decide key points, such as what prices to charge for caps, the number of caps to keep in inventory, how much to spend on advertising, and what type of machine to rent to do embroidery work on the caps. Once teams make their decisions, their information is entered into a computer, which calculates and outputs business performance data for each team based on the marketplace formed by the teams’ combined decisions. Using this performance data, each team develops a strategy for the next round, after which performance data is outputted once more.

With Manulife Japan’s sponsorship, Junior Achievement Japan is offering the CAPS program to schools free of charge to make it part of their regular curriculum. The long-term goal is that through the program, not only will students gain practical experience learning how the economy functions in the real world while understanding the difficulty and joy of earning money, but they will also come to understand the importance of decision-making ability, learn courage in expressing opinions different from those of others, build tolerance in listening to opinions different from their own, and grow in leadership, teamwork, and other qualities they will need later in life.

By organizing the “Manulife CAPS Contest” as the flagship of the CAPS program, Junior Achievement Japan expects to further spread the program to schools across Japan.

About Manulife Financial
Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 22 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers customers a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners.  Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$437 billion (US$407 billion) as at September 30, 2009.

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

For information related to this press release, please contact:
Manulife Life Insurance Company
Joel Sievers
Communications Department
Tel: (81) 42-442-7879