2005 News Releases

Tokyo– Manulife Life Insurance Company (Head Office: Chofu-shi, Tokyo; Geoff Crickmay, President & CEO; hereinafter “Manulife Japan”) hereby announces its results for the first half of FY2005 (April to September 2005).

During the period in review, Manulife Japan achieved strong results through its continuing efforts to capitalize on the strengths of its sales and products. The results included strong sales which continued from the previous period of its flagship universal life insurance product ManuFlex, its medical insurance product ManuMed, and its individual variable annuity products, led by Premiere. As a result, total New Annualized Premium*1 of individual insurance products and individual annuity insurance products showed brisk growth to 16.8 billion yen, up 1.3 billion yen over the same period from the previous year, representing 8.5% year-on-year growth.

During this period, sales of universal life insurance products and individual variable annuity insurance products were strong, driven by sales of the Universal Switch Plan, which enables a current insurance policy to be switched to the latest universal life insurance policy, and sales of the individual variable annuity products Premiere and ManuPrime. New business from individual insurance and individual annuity insurance was 359.4 billion yen on a face amount basis, representing significant double-digit year-on-year growth of 11.7%. The face amount of inforce individual insurance and individual annuity insurance at the end of the period in review increased to 5,496.5 billion yen, due in part to an improvement in the conditions of policy lapse and surrender.

In response to this solid sales performance, all revenue-related indices for the period also showed significant growth.

Basic earnings, an indicator of earnings in Manulife Japan’s core insurance business, grew considerably in the period to 3.2 billion yen up from 16 million yen for the same period in the previous year. Operating income for the period improved to 7.6 billion yen, up from 5 billion yen for the same period in the previous year. Net income for the period increased to 7.1 billion yen, up from 5 billion yen for the same period in the previous year.

In addition, the solvency margin as of September 30, 2005 was 1,231.6%, a significant increase from the 973.4% recorded on March 31, 2005, indicating the strength of Manulife Japan’s financial base.

Geoff Crickmay, President and CEO, provided the following statement regarding this period:

“Through the marketing of leading-edge products and services that meet the real needs of our customers and through the active expansion and fulfillment of the sales channel equipped with a high level of expertise, Manulife Japan attained substantial growth both in sales and earnings. As an important part of the Manulife Financial Group, the fourth largest life insurance company in the world in terms of market capitalization*2, Manulife Japan will secure a position of leadership in the Japanese market going forward.”

FY2005 First Half Business Performance Highlights
Manulife Japan has implemented a range of initiatives to strengthen the performance of its primary sales channel, Plan Right Advisor (Manulife Japan’s sales representatives, hereinafter “PA”) national sales organization. These initiatives include the holding recruitment seminars nationwide to enhance the quality of recruits, creating a new training program to facilitate the professional development of PAs, and establishing special incentives and exclusive training to motivate and enhance the abilities of the highest performing PAs. As part of these initiatives, Manulife Japan has been actively cultivating its middle management-level Unit Managers, who directly supervise PAs and serve as the linchpin of the sales organization.

Targeting Manulife policyholders, Manulife Japan initiated the Universal Switch Plan in mid-June. Under this plan, insurance policies that policyholders presently hold*3 may be switched to Manulife Japan’s latest universal insurance products, either ManuFlex or ManuMed, through the application of a Survivors’ Benefit Rider that reassesses the amount of coverage. This plan enables Manulife Japan to provide policyholders with the following unique benefits of universal insurance products: 1) greater design flexibility, in that coverage can be matched to premiums that policyholders are actually able to pay, 2) the ability to upgrade coverage, using Manulife Japan’s most up-to-date medical treatment riders, and 3) the ability of one policy to provide coverage for an entire family.

In the sector of individual variable annuity insurance products, in May Manulife Japan improved both of its products - Premiere, which is currently offered through a number of partner banks, including the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, and ManuPrime, which is sold primarily through the PA channel. Through this improvement, the annuity capital guarantee, a popular feature based on the type of annuity payment, is now able to be applied to a lump sum annuity payment, allowing Manulife Japan to better meet the various needs of its customers.

In September 2005, the asset balance of individual variable annuity insurance products handled by Manulife Japan surpassed the 500 billion yen mark. Since Manulife Japan launched its first individual variable annuity insurance product in January 2002, the company’s performance has accelerated, finally surpassing the level of 500 billion yen as a result of the advantage provided by the start of over-the-counter bank sales of insurance products in October 2002 and the start of sales through a partnership with the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi in 2004. Through the expansion of strategic partnerships with financial institutions, Manulife Japan’s sales in just the six-month period under review totaled approximately 140 billion yen. At the end of the period under review, the number of financial institutions with which Manulife Japan has partnerships was 21.

With the aim of expanding sales after the autumn season, during this period Manulife Japan developed new products in the sectors of universal insurance as well as individual variable annuity insurance. Therefore, Manulife Japan has released following new products since the end of the period in review:

• On October 11, Manulife Japan released nationwide its new product ManuStep. ManuStep is a universal product combined with balanced funds. This product makes full use of the unique characteristics of universal life insurance to help customers live the life they desire in their retirement years.
• In the variable annuity insurance sector, Manulife Japan developed Two Surprises, a new individual variable annuity insurance product for the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. The product was released nationwide at 607 branch offices and sales offices of the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and UFJ Bank on November 1.

MFC Global Investment Management (Japan) Limited (MFC Global Japan), a subsidiary that specializes in asset management, obtained a discretionary investment advisory license as of August 31, 2005, and it has started marketing asset management services for third party institutional investors since the fist half of fiscal 2005.

Manulife Japan supported the Canada Pavilion at the 2005 World Expo, held from March 25 to September 25, 2005 in Aichi, Japan. Taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the Expo, Manulife Japan supported the following four charity events: Event for Seriously Ill Children (April), Event for Physically Challenged Children (July), a “Dream Big” Event for high school students (August), and a Model United Nations Forum for university students (September). Through these events, Manulife Japan demonstrated its commitment to good corporate citizenship in Japan, contributing to society by promoting the development of youth and by promoting exchanges between Japan, Canada and the rest of the world.

About Manulife
Manulife Life Insurance Company (“Manulife Japan”), a member company of the Manulife Financial group, holds a top-class “AA+” credit rating (as of October 2005) from Standard & Poor’s, one of the world’s most prestigious credit rating agencies.

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, Japan 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$360 billion (US$310 billion) as of September 30, 2005.

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 or www.manulife.co.jp for Manulife Japan.

1. New Annualized Premium is derived by multiplying the initial premium on a policy by the number of premium payments during the first 12 months of that policy. (In the case of single-premium policies, the amount is calculated by dividing the premium by the insurance period.)

2. As of September 30, 2005

3. All policies issued between April 2, 1999 and October 1, 2003,with the exception of annuities (fixed and variable), and Dai-Hyaku Mutual’s Insurance for Children and “Eight” products

For further information, please contact:

Manulife Japan:
Minoru Shimizu or Saeko Yoshioka, Corporate Communications,
Telephone: 0424-42-7180