2006 News Releases

Lifestyle Portfolios provide solution for common investor concerns

Boston – In a study commissioned by John Hancock Retirement Plan Services (JHRPS), a majority of 401(k) plan participants, 69 percent, said they feel they lack investment knowledge and 67 percent said their concern about market volatility is a barrier. Other major barriers cited included lack of time and lack of planning. The survey of 600 randomly-selected 401(k) plan participants was conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates¹.

“We’ve known, and this research confirms it, not all participants are comfortable actively managing their 401(k) investments,” said Ed Eng, Senior Vice President, Product Development. “Plan Sponsors are concerned about their employees’ retirement, and are looking for ways to make it easier for them to grow their 401(k) plans.” JHRPS has seen its John Hancock Lifestyle Portfolios become a popular investment option in response to these and other concerns.

Lifestyle Portfolios are professionally managed portfolios of funds that reflect a particular objective and risk strategy. John Hancock, one of the first companies to offer Lifestyle Portfolios, today is one of the largest providers of lifestyle portfolios in the country. More than 80% of JHRPS plan sponsors now offer John Hancock Lifestyle Portfolios.

John Hancock research also has found that participants who’ve selected Lifestyle Portfolios have fared well. In a separate study conducted by Burgess & Associates² for JHRPS, 88.7 percent of Participants who chose their own asset allocations would have accumulated a higher ending balance if they had invested in a single Lifestyle Portfolio that corresponded to their risk score. On average, their average annual investment returns would have been 2.96 percentage points higher.

“Since we began making Lifestyle Portfolios available through group annuity contracts to our 401(k) clients about 10 years ago, John Hancock has believed them to be something plan sponsors can feel good about offering,” said Eng. “We’ve found that they agree.”

“The simplicity of Lifestyle Portfolios is of critical importance,” said Larry May, Keller Schroeder & Associates, Inc., a technology consulting company in Evansville, Indiana. “Not only can participants pick the funds that match their risk tolerance and investment objectives, they can do so and FORGET IT. Rebalancing is done automatically. It's like comparing the old window-mounted air conditioner units that you had to continually change between high, medium, and low with a central air unit today -- you simply set the temperature you want and it does the rest of the work for you.”

Carie Whaley of Borsheims Jewelry Co., Inc. in Omaha, Nebraska said, “Many employees who choose the Lifestyle funds do so because they like the idea of having a great mix of funds, they get to choose the overall risk, and the funds have historically performed well. I also think they like the idea of not needing to constantly watch their investments.”

^{1.Mathew Greenwald & Associates study was commissioned by John Hancock Retirement Plan Services in 2005.
2.Outcomes of Participant Investment Strategies 2001-2005 - Assumptions: The study examined the performance of portfolios of 162,011 retirement plan participants contributing to their employer’s defined contribution plans through an ARA group annuity contract issued by John Hancock USA. The Lifestyle group represents those participants that invested only in a Lifestyle Portfolio throughout the period. The Non-Lifestyle group represents those participants who selected investment options other than John Hancock Lifestyle Funds throughout the period. These two groups were segmented based on their age or the level of investment risk inherent in the allocation strategies they selected. All participants selected met all of the following criteria: had an ending balance that was greater than zero; did not have a negative cash flow; did not maintain a loan and had a birth date on record. The average rates of return referred to in the study are the internal rates of return earned on the group’s aggregated stream of cash flows, and does not necessarily represent the returns of any individual participant’s actual investment results.}

Past performance is no guarantee of future results and current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. Investment returns and the value of a participant’s account will fluctuate and may be worth more or less than the original cost. There is no guarantee that any investment strategy will achieve its objective.

Please call 1-877-346-8378 to obtain John Hancock USA group annuity investment option Fund Sheets for its sub-accounts and prospectuses for the sub-accounts’ underlying mutual funds, which are available upon request. The prospectuses for the sub-accounts’ underlying mutual funds contain complete details on investment objectives, risks, fees, charges and expenses as well as other information about the underlying mutual funds which should be carefully considered.

About John Hancock Retirement Plan Services
Amongst mutual fund, life insurance companies and banks, JHRPS is ranked as the #1 provider to 401(k)s based on number of 401(k) plans managed, according CFO Magazine. (2006 CFO Magazine 401(k) Buyers Guide Study, published June 2006.)

About John Hancock and Manulife Financial
John Hancock is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation (the Company), 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$370 billion (US$332 billion) as at June 30, 2006.

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.

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 whole life, term life, variable life, and universal life insurance, as well as college savings products, fixed and variable annuities, long-term care insurance, mutual funds and various forms of business insurance.

Insurance products are issued by the following John Hancock insurance companies: John Hancock Life Insurance Company, John Hancock Variable Life Insurance Company*, John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.)* and John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York.

*Not licensed in New York

SOURCE: John Hancock Retirement Plan Services

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Contact:
Laurie Lupton
416-852-7792
Melissa Berczuk
617-663-4750