2005 News Releases

Boston– The Hancock Timber Resource Group (HTRG) said today that it has completed its acquisition of the ownership interests of entities owning or controlling approximately 930,000 acres of timberland or timber rights from Harvard Management Company, the investment manager for Harvard University.

Under the terms of the transaction, which were not disclosed, HTRG acquired timberlands located in Texas (463,000 acres), Pennsylvania (116,000 acres), New York (12,000 acres) and Washington (324,000 acres). HTRG also acquired timber management rights for 14,500 acres of timberland on the Central North Island of New Zealand.

The closing of this transaction, which originally was announced on July 28, brings HTRG's total assets under management to approximately $4.8 billion consisting of approximately 3.3 million acres of timberland and timber rights.

HTRG, a division of Hancock Natural Resource Group, Inc, an operating company of MFC Global Investment Management, manages timberland in the Pacific Northwest and the Southeast United States as well as Brazil, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Additional information about HTRG may be found at www.hancocktimber.com.

MFC Global Investment Management is the asset management arm of Manulife Financial Corporation. Based in North America with investment offices in Toronto, Boston, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, the firm has more than 100 years of experience. Additional information about MFC Global Investment Management may be found at www.mfcglobal.com.

John Hancock is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation, 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$364 billion (US$297 billion) as at June 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.

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Brian Carmichael
Phone: (617) 572-6409