2004 News Releases

Jakarta– Manulife Indonesia’s employee benefit programs, consisting of Pension (DPLK), Group Savings (severance management and other employee benefit program), and Group Life & Health (GLH), experienced an outstanding year of significant growth, over the year 2002. Manulife’s employee benefit programs serve more than 2,800 companies across Indonesia, with total employee participation in excess of 250,000 employees.

“While we had a good year in 2003, we are poised this year to substantially increase the number of Benefit participants. We have an aggressive marketing strategy in place to capture the very large untapped market of employees in Indonesia, whose companies do not yet provide them with employee benefits,” said John Harrison, President Director of Manulife Indonesia, at a press conference today. Mr. Harrison was accompanied by Jeffrey P. Newnam, Vice President, Group Operations, and Cynthia Bondad, Assistant Vice President, Corporate Distribution.

“Year on year, the Manulife Indonesia employee benefit programs have continued to grow significantly. This indicates an increased awareness of benefit programs by employers in this country and also confirms that our competitive programs offer what companies and their employees need,” added Mr. Harrison.

Manulife Indonesia – Business Performance of Employee Benefit Programs

Pension Program (DPLK)

* Unaudited Data by December 2003

Group Savings (Severance Management and other employee benefit plans)

* Unaudited Data by December 2003

Group Life & Health (GLH)

* Unaudited Data by December 2003

At the start of 2003, Manulife Indonesia was ranked the second largest pension provider in the country, with more than Rp. 849 billion in assets under management. Manulife currently has 21 per cent market share in the pension marketplace.*(*Assets Report of DPLK Association 2002)“

Results across all three business lines reflect substantial growth for 2003,” said Jeffrey P. Newnam, VP Group Operations. “This, coupled with the recent addition of the ING block of business, puts us in very good standing for exceptional growth of the business for 2004. We look forward to offering clients our portfolio of industry-leading products, available at competitive market prices.

The acquisition of ING Life positively impacted Manulife’s GLH business, boosting premium income, case count, and life count for the year. “The acquisition of ING Life delivers on our growth strategy and further demonstrates Manulife’s commitment to becoming a leader in all of its business lines,” added Mr. Newnam.

Committed to raising awareness of Employee Benefit Programs
In 2004, Manulife Indonesia has committed to increasing the general awareness among Indonesian companies of the long-term benefits in offering a quality employee benefits program, such as enhancement of employee loyalty and retention of employees. Employee benefit programs include Pension (DPLK), Group Life & Health (GLH), Group Savings, and the Pension Fund Administration (DPPK).

To communicate the importance of employee benefits, Manulife Indonesia will provide the public with information in a range of formats, including radio talk shows and roadshows. “It is our priority to increase the understanding of employee benefit programs through easily accessible educational forums. Manulife Indonesia is dedicated in helping companies provide employee benefits for their employees,” said Cynthia Bondad, AVP Corporate Distribution, Manulife Indonesia.

Manulife Indonesia will spread the message of the importance of employee benefit programs across Indonesia, beginning with the 33 cities where Manulife has branches. “Manulife is a company that is growing rapidly. By the year 2005, we expect to have Rp. 2 trillion in pension assets under management,” said Mr. Newnam, VP Group Operations.

About Manulife Indonesia
Established in 1985, Manulife Indonesia was chosen as 'Indonesia's Most Admired Company (IMAC) 2003’ in the Insurance category by Frontier Marketing Research & Business Week and in 2002 was awarded the ‘Life Insurance Company of the Year’ award in Asia by Asia Insurance Review, a respected insurance publication in Asia.

The company offers the most comprehensive products and services in Indonesia for life insurance, employee benefit programs & mutual funds. Headquartered in Jakarta, Manulife Indonesia operates through a network of 70 branches in 33 cities throughout Indonesia with the support of almost 3,600 staff and full-time agents, who serve more than 700,000 customers.

About Manulife Financial
Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group operating in 15 countries and territories worldwide. Through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners, Manulife Financial offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services. Funds under management by Manulife Financial were Cdn$150.8 billion as at September 30, 2003.

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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