(January 31 – 12:25 ET) – Manulife Financial is expanding its sales and marketing capacity across Canada by arranging distribution agreements with a number of new sales organizations and agencies.

Manulife says in mid-1999 it launched a regional distribution system to reflect the changing marketplace and to provide greater flexibility and choice for Manulife’s distribution partners.

Manulife has conducted business with Managing General Agents in Quebec since the mid-1980s. The company’s initiative announced today will allow agreements with similar firms across Canada to provide service within those
regions.

“We are now prepared to form business partnerships, on a selective basis, with high-quality Managing General Agents, Mutual Fund Dealers, and Financial Planning firms,” says Jon Schmehl, Vice President, Distribution Operations. “While we will continue to specialize in meeting needs of independent
advisors, we believe our new distribution model will have great appeal to many
of these firms.”

Since June 1999, Manulife’s Resource Centre network has been consolidated
under eight regions:

> British Columbia
> Alberta
> Central Canada (Saskatchewan, Manitoba to Thunder Bay)
> Southwestern Ontario (Kitchener-Waterloo, Windsor, London)
> Golden Horseshoe (Mississauga to Niagara Falls)
> Toronto
> Québec
> Eastern Canada (North, Central and Eastern Ontario and Atlantic provinces)

Manulife says it has also developed a growing National Account Distribution business, primarily to support significant Investment Dealer Association of Canada organizations interested in doing `corporate-to-corporate’ business.
-IE Staff