We are working hard to not only change ourselves, but to reshape our industry.
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2020, we had more than 37,000 employees, over 118,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving almost 30 million customers. As of December 31, 2020, we had $1.3 trillion (US$943 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made $31.6 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 155 years. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.
We are working hard to not only change ourselves, but to reshape our industry. Our Mission is to make decisions easier and our customers' lives better. Our five Strategic Priorities define our focus, and our strong track record as a trusted financial services provider has set us up for a successful future.
To achieve our Mission, we set out our five key areas of focus, narrowing our priorities to those that will strongly position us to transform Manulife into a digital, customer-centric market leader, creating significant value for our customers, employees, and shareholders:
We are working hard to not only change ourselves, but to reshape our industry.
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2020, we had more than 37,000 employees, over 118,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving almost 30 million customers. As of December 31, 2020, we had $1.3 trillion (US$943 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made $31.6 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 155 years. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.
We are working hard to not only change ourselves, but to reshape our industry. Our Mission is to make decisions easier and our customers' lives better. Our five Strategic Priorities define our focus, and our strong track record as a trusted financial services provider has set us up for a successful future.
To achieve our Mission, we set out our five key areas of focus, narrowing our priorities to those that will strongly position us to transform Manulife into a digital, customer-centric market leader, creating significant value for our customers, employees, and shareholders:
Our Values are the guideposts that will help us achieve our bold Mission. They define who we are and how we work together: we are a digital, customer-centric market leader that's leading the change customers demand.
We feel empowered to make decisions and take action to deliver our mission.
Anything is possible. We can always find a better way.
We build a supportive, diverse and thriving workplace.
We’re surrounded by an amazing team. Do it better by working together.
We predict their needs and do everything in our power to satisfy them.
We act with integrity and do what we say.
We are proud of the accomplishments and recognitions received by our business segments, our employees and our company overall. Read on to see some of our recent achievements and honours.
Manulife was recognized as one of Canada’s Best Employers 2021 by Forbes in its annual online survey of Canadian employees. Over 8,000 employees at companies with at least 500 employees in Canada were surveyed for the list.
January 26, 2021
For the second year in a row, Manulife Singapore won 2020’s coveted Overall Marketer of the Year Award with 4 Golds, 6 Silvers and 5 Bronzes. Manulife additionally won the 2020 Event Marketer of the Year Award with 6 Golds in various categories, including one additional Silver in Best Virtual Event.
December 31, 2020
Manulife Malaysia won the HR Asia Best Company to Work for in Asia Award, which celebrates companies who create workplace excellence and promote greater employee engagement.
December 23, 2020
CEO of Manulife-Sinochem, Kai Zhang, was honoured as the “Outstanding Woman Leader” at the 30th anniversary awards of China Capital Markets, announced by the Investment Times in recognition of Kai as an influential woman business leader in China’s insurance industry.
December 22, 2020
Manulife Vietnam’s eCommerce product “Manulife-Khởi Đầu Bảo Vệ” emerged as the Bronze winner for Best Brand in eCommerce in Banking or Financial Services at the 2020 Asia eCommerce Awards ceremony. Organised by Marketing magazine and judged by an independent panel of experienced marketers and industry experts, the Asia eCommerce Awards are designed to recognize excellence in eCommerce across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and ANZ regions.
December 15, 2020
For the fourth consecutive year, Manulife Japan was recognized for continuously promoting walking to improve health using its original free smartphone application "Manulife WALK". Additionally, Manulife was recognized for sponsoring professional runner Suguru Osako and holding an online running event for children.
December 13, 2020
John Hancock took home Silver at the 10th annual Best in Biz Awards for "Company of the Year - Large." The Best in Biz Awards are the only independent business awards program judged by prominent members of top-tier press, including AP, NYT, Forbes, WSJ and more.
December 9, 2020
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce awarded Marianne Harrison with a 2021 Pinnacle Award for "Achievement in the Professions." This global competition provides a platform for companies to demonstrate the value they’re delivering to their organizations and clients.
December 7, 2020
Manulife was named as one of Toronto’s top employers on the Greater Toronto (GTA) Top Employers List. In its 15th edition, Greater Toronto’s Top Employers has become the benchmark in the GTA for workplace best-practices. The minimum scores to secure a place on the GTA list routinely rank among the highest in the nation.
December 7, 2020
The John Hancock Aspire launch campaign took home the 2020 Creative Connections Award at the LIMRA Creative Connections Awards 2020. Established in 2017, the award recognizes and rewards marketing and creative excellence, innovation and achievement. This award highlights best practices in financial services marketing.
December 2, 2020
Manulife Singapore won two Silvers in Best Use of Mobile: Insurance Services and Best Use of Social media, for the 2020 Feast of Huat AR Gamification campaign. Back for its eighth year, the region’s top mobile marketing awards Mob-Ex reward mobile excellence – the most innovative and forward-thinking mobile marketers in the marketing industry today across South Asia, Southeast Asia and ANZ regions.
November 30, 2020
Manulife Singapore’s 2020 Feast of Huat AR gamification campaign won Gold in the Best Use of Advocates category, and Silver in the Best Engagement Strategy category. For the eighth year, the Loyalty & Engagement Awards reward excellence in consumer-centric marketing activities that have helped to grow and retain customers.
November 30, 2020
Manulife Singapore won “Overall #3 in Show” with “Winner of South-East Asia”, “Winner of Public Education” and “Winner of Consumer Marketing (Existing Product)” at the Asia Pacific SABRE Awards. The prestigious SABRE Awards attract more entries from around the world than any other PR awards program.
November 30, 2020
Life Annuity Specialist ranked Marianne Harrison #2 on their list of "Most Loved CEOs of Large Life Insurers." Marianne Harrison received a 96% approval rating. Life Annuity Specialist is focused on providing actionable business intelligence to executives at life insurance carriers and annuity providers.
November 30, 2020
Manulife Malaysia was named Company of the Year at the annual Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Malaysia Awards for Orang Asli Children Education Support. Manulife Indonesia additionally received the Economics CSR Award from RRI (Radio of the Republic of Indonesia) and Economics Research and Consulting, in the “Covid-19 Emergency Response Initiative” category.
November 23, 2020
Manulife Philippines was named by the United Nations Women 2020 Asia-Pacific Women's Empowerment Principles Awards as one of the Philippines' most gender-inclusive workplaces. The Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards is the first regional awards initiative that aims to encourage, value, and recognize the efforts of individuals and businesses that promote gender-inclusivity and the achievement of gender equality.
November 23, 2020
Manulife Japan received the highest University & College Designers Association (UCDA) Award in the "Foreign Currency-Denominated Insurance/Variable Insurance Product Pamphlet" category. Manulife Japan has won UCDA awards for six consecutive years, including the highest award given by the UCDA, the "UCDA Award", for two consecutive years. The UCDA Award is presented by the UCDA board of directors in recognition of those who have donated their valuable time, service and support to further UCDA’s goals.
November 20, 2020
China Business News Value Ranking awarded Manulife-Sinochem as the Best Insurance Brand in recognition of the effort put in to building a positive and impactful brand in the insurance industry through integrated communication strategy and excellent implementations.
November 20, 2020
Manulife was honoured with the inaugural Zhong Lun Award for Compliance and Risk Management In-House Team of the Year at Asia Legal Business’s Hong Kong Law Awards 2020. Running for the 19th year, this is ALB's pre-eminent and largest long-running awards in Asia, aiming to recognize the outstanding performance of private practitioners and in-house teams in the region.
November 27, 2020
John Hancock Retirement was placed in the top 100 with three platinum and one gold award in the League of Communication Professionals (LACP) 2020 Spotlight Awards. The 2020 Spotlight Awards Global Communications Competition, together with the 2020 Inspire Awards, brought more than 500 entries in, representing nearly a dozen countries.
November 18, 2020
Manulife Hong Kong took home two awards at The Asset Triple A Private Capital Awards 2020, namely Insurance Company of the Year – MPF Provider, Hong Kong and Employee Benefits, Hong Kong. Organised by The Asset, the awards honour financial organisations and wealth managers who have kept high quality service to their clients amid turbulent markets this year.
November 17, 2020
Manulife Malaysia was recognized on Makchic’s list of family-friendly companies to work for based on their What Working Parents Want 2020 survey, which detailed the struggles and needs of working parents. Makchic is a Malaysian-based online parenting site for urban mothers and fathers.
November 16, 2020
Manulife Cambodia received two awards from the International Customer Relationship Excellence (CRE) Awards 2020 in the Best Corporate Brand of the Year 2020 and Corporate Social Responsibility Leadership of the Year 2020 categories. The CRE Awards promote service quality and customer relationship excellence in international cities across regions and recognize governments, companies, business units, teams, and individuals that have contributed to the success of both their customers and the organizations that they serve.
November 13, 2020
Manulife Hong Kong received the Mystery Caller Gold Assessment Award on Insurance Line and MPF Line from Hong Kong Customer Contact Association. Manulife’s Customer Contact Centre Team has received the Gold award for three consecutive years, in the former and the fifth consecutive year in the latter. Launched in 1999, the Award is well-established in the market for recognizing excellent performance in customer call centres.
November 6, 2020
John Hancock was named to the Commonwealth Institute and Boston Globe Magazine's 2020 Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts list. The list factors in revenue, diversity, innovation, and customer benefits. Both non-profit and for-profit organizations are eligible.
November 6, 2020
Manulife Bank won two gold MarCom awards for the Manulife One (M1) Customer Referral Program, and the All-In Banking (AIB) Onboarding Journey. The MarCom Awards honour excellence in marketing and communication while recognizing the creativity, hard work and generosity of industry professionals.
November 2, 2020
At the APAC Effies 2020 that saw 122 finalists from 12 countries, Manulife won Silver in the category of “Financial Products & Services” for our campaign on #adulting. Introduced by the New York American Marketing Association in 1968, the Effie Awards have since been recognised by advertisers and agencies as the global gold standard of marketing effectiveness excellence.
October 31, 2020
Manulife collected six prizes at the Insurance Excellence Awards, namely Best MPF Scheme Provider, Best Critical Illness Protection, Best QDAP, Best Health Protection, Best Innovative Product and Best Investment-linked Life Insurance Product. These awards serve to recognize the commendable efforts of various dedicated teams across Manulife Hong Kong, and bear testimony to our quality products and innovative services.
October 31, 2020
Manulife Hong Kong won two accolades at the Hong Kong Insurance Awards 2020, taking the top honour in “Outstanding Integrated Marketing Strategies” with the tax-deductible retirement solutions campaign and ranking among the top three for “Outstanding MPF/Employees’ Benefit Product/Service”. Running for the seventh year, the Awards are a reputable event in the Hong Kong insurance industry, highlighting outstanding performances and innovations among industry players.
October 29, 2020
Manulife took home six awards at the annual Headline No. 1 Awards 2020, winning for two consecutive years No.1 Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme, No.1 Critical Illness Protection, No.1 Savings Insurance, No.1 MPF Service, and No. 1 QDAP, and the new No. 1 Investment-Linked Product. The awards are a strong testament to the innovation and excellence in our product and service delivery.
October 28, 2020
Marianne Harrison won CEO of the Year in PR News’ Platinum PR Awards. John Hancock was named a finalist in three additional categories including: Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives: Signature Series, Event Initiatives: Signature Series, and Media Relations, Corporation: John Hancock Aspire. The awards celebrate the best communications programs and teams of the year.
October 27, 2020
Manulife was presented with the “Very Good” title for the Sharia Unit Life Insurance Company with Gross Contribution of IDR 100 billion and above. The title is a form of appreciation to Sharia-based financial institutions for their outstanding financial performance throughout 2019 based on the research results of the Infobank Research Bureau in 2020.
October 27, 2020
Manulife Indonesia was honoured with both Indonesia’s Best Insurance Award 2020 and the Innovation Award. The Indonesia Insurance Innovation Award is a form of appreciation to insurance companies that have the best performance year, and have new innovations both in products and services for their customers and the business world.
October 13, 2020
For the third consecutive year, Manulife Vietnam was named the best place to work in the insurance industry, ranking 16th overall across all industries. The “Vietnam Best Places to Work” survey is a restricted process including in-depth, qualitative and quantitative interviews. The annual survey has attracted the participation of 71,500 experienced employees from 559 leading enterprises in 20 industries nationwide.
October 10, 2020
Manulife Philippines was recognized as one of the Philippines’ Best Employer Brands for 2020 by the Employer Branding Institute, World HRD Congress, and Stars of the Industry Group. The award highlighted Manulife Philippines' strategy and innovation for talent management and its organizational culture, allowing employees to thrive, celebrate, and care for each other.
October 10, 2020
John Hancock’s MLK Scholars program won MMI and Barron's 2020 "Doing Good" Award, which recognizes the most impactful efforts being made across the investment advisory industry by asset managers, sponsor firms, and solutions providers.
October 05, 2020
John Hancock Signature Series took home Gold and Silver at the 2020 Stevie Awards in several categories including: Corporate Communications, Community Engagement and Most Valuable Corporate Response. Additionally, Marianne Harrison won the Woman of the Year award. The Stevie Awards are the world's premier business awards and were created to honour and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and working professionals worldwide.
October 01, 2020
From being the first in North America to insure diabetics to launching AI in underwriting in Canada, our history is one of innovation, leadership and finding new ways to make decisions easier and lives better. See the timeline for a glimpse into some of our firsts.
Brand transformation
Manulife and John Hancock launch global rebrand.
Hitting $1T
Global Assets Under Management and Administration are over $1 trillion for the first time.
Setting a world record
Manulife insurance agent Joe Sun makes the record books for an astounding 63-year career!
Alexa skills
Manulife launches two new skills for Amazon Alexa.
Twine app
John Hancock launches an app that helps couples plan their finances.
Big steps in China
Manulife is the first financial institution to receive an Investment Company Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE) license in China.
Mobile claims
China accepts claims via WeChat.
Coverage for HIV
We are the first insurer in Canada to offer life insurance to people who are HIV positive.
Biometrics
Manulife is the first company in Canada to introduce voice biometrics and natural language understanding in an interactive voice response (IVR) system.
ManulifeMOVE
Manulife Asia launches an innovative insurance concept that rewards customers for being healthier and more active.
Supporting wellness with Vitality
We start a first-ever life insurance partnership between John Hancock Insurance and Vitality, the global leader in integrating wellness benefits with life insurance products.
Myanmar
After a 70-year absence, we open an office in Myanmar.
Cambodia
Our Cambodian head office opens.
We merge with John Hancock
It makes us the largest life insurer in Canada, second largest in North America and fifth largest in the world.
$1B net income
We’re the first Canadian life insurance company to reach that milestone.
We go public
We start trading on the TSX, NYSE, SEHK and PSE – at $2.5Bm it’s the largest IPO in Canada’s history.
Japan and Vietnam
Manulife is the first Canadian insurer to launch a joint venture in Japan, and the first foreign-owned insurance company to do business in Vietnam.
Joining forces in Shanghai
Manulife-Sinochem is China’s first joint venture life insurance company.
Manulife Bank launches
We’re the first Canadian insurance company to open a bank.
First in China
We are the first Canadian life insurance company to open an office in China (Beijing).
Indonesia
A joint venture with Dharmala Group and the International Finance Corporation forms P.T. Asuransi Jiwi Dharmala Manulife.
Lower premiums for non-smokers
We are one of the first insurers to offer lower rates to non-smokers.
First female Director and Chair
Dr. Gail C. A. Cook-Bennett is our first female Director, and in 2008, our first female Chair of the Board.
$1 billion
Our total assets reach $1 billion.
Early adopters
We’re the first insurance company in Canada to embrace mainframe computer technology with the installation of the IBM 650.
Insurance for diabetics
We are the first North American company to offer insurance to controlled diabetics.
New HQ
Our head office at 200 Bloor Street in Toronto officially opens.
Entry into the US market
A small office in Detroit opens its doors.
We expand into Asia
The first Manulife policy is sold in Shanghai.
International expansion begins
The sale of our first policy outside Canada, in Bermuda, kicks off our international operations.
The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company is founded
Manulife offered two innovative insurance products to Canadians right away and insured 915 lives in 1887.