Manulife Indonesia celebrates 20th anniversary with Manulife Financial President and CEO

Community activities in 20 cities across the country mark Company milestone

JAKARTA, Indonesia, July 18, 2005 – President and Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Financial Corporation, Dominic D’Alessandro, arrived from the Company’s global headquarters in Toronto, Canada to celebrate Manulife Indonesia’s 20th anniversary in a ceremony today marking its success as Indonesia’s leading life insurer. The celebration that included Company executives, staff and agents for a total audience of 1,000, culminated in a number of employees being honoured with 20-year service awards, having been with Manulife Indonesia since its inception in 1985.

Outside of Jakarta, in 20 cities across the country, Manulife Indonesia Branch offices conducted the “Manulife CARE Fiesta” that included community activities throughout the month of July, such as blood donor, immunization and dental hygiene clinics; visits to schools and orphanages; distribution of student scholarships; and the official opening of the “SDN 25 Manulife” school in Banda Aceh.

“Proudly, today we are marking an important milestone for our company in Indonesia,” said Mr. D’Alessandro. “Manulife Indonesia has enjoyed significant growth and an excellent reputation over the last two decades and we continue to look forward to a bright future in this country.”

Manulife Indonesia exemplifies the proud tradition of Manulife Financial, which has one of the most extensive Asian operations of any life insurer in the world, built over more than 100 years of continuous operation in the Region.

“Manulife Indonesia has so many reasons to be celebrating today, most important of which is our 20th birthday,” said John Harrison, President Director, Manulife Indonesia. “Today, our business is stronger than ever, with each of our core business lines – life insurance, pensions, mutual funds – ranking third, second and first in the market, respectively. We are extremely pleased with our solid market positioning and the foundation we have built that will serve to drive our business to even greater heights in the years to come.”

Celebrating two decades of success

Since opening its doors in Jakarta on July 18, 1985, Manulife Indonesia has successfully established itself as a company of choice in Indonesia’s thriving insurance market. Operating today through a network of 139 branch offices in 36 cities throughout the country, Manulife Indonesia is supported by 5,000 employees and full-time professional agents who serve more than 950,000 customers.

A number of significant accomplishments since the start of operations have resulted in Manulife Indonesia becoming an award-winning industry leader in financial strength, product innovation, customer service, agency and management development, and corporate social responsibility.

  • Financial Strength – For the year 2004, new regular premium sales grew 67 per cent and single premium sales (including mutual fund sales) grew 97 per cent over 2003; assets under management grew 50 per cent for the year for a total of IDR 13.7 trillion (USD 1.5 billion) at year end.
  • Product Innovation – First life insurer to launch a range of mutual funds – P.T. Manulife Aset Manajemen Indonesia (MAMI) established in 1997; First insurer to introduce unit-linked products to Indonesia (1997); First-ever product in Indonesia tailored exclusively for females (1999); Extensive individual product development and leader in Group Life Health, Saving and Pension products.
  • Acquisitions – AMP Panin and Ongko Life (1998); Principal Financial Group (2001), Zurich Financial Group and PT ING-Aetna Life Indonesia (2003), John Hancock Indonesia (through Manulife Financial Corporation’s merger with John Hancock Financial Services in 2004)
  • Awards – “The Best Government Obligation of Mutual Fund” for PDTP based on last three years performance by Investor magazine (2005); “The Best Investment Manager in Indonesia” by Investor magazine (2004); “Indonesia’s Most Admired Company 2003 for Insurance category” by Frontier Marketing Research & BusinessWeek magazine; “Best Life Insurance Company in Indonesia” by business magazine – Infobank (2002); “Life Insurance Company of the Year in Asia” by Asia Insurance Review & The Worldwide Reinsurance (2002)
  • Community Involvement – Manulife Care Foundation (MCF), founded in 1998, is active throughout the country. Financial and volunteer assistance focuses on children’s health and education, natural disaster relief, and provides venture capital through Credit Circles to create jobs for men and women living in poverty.

“We owe a tremendous thank you to our dedicated staff and agency force, as well as our loyal customers, who have all contributed to making Manulife Indonesia the success it is today,” concluded Mr. Harrison.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients 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$348 billion (US$289 billion) as at December 31, 2004.

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under ‘0945’ on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.