Manulife Financial | Integration: Important Updates
It’s an exciting time at Manulife as we have been progressing well through our integration of Standard Life. We believe the strength of the new organization will help you build your business and meet your clients’ needs.
Today, I am pleased to provide an integration update on the following four areas:
- Product roadmap
- Rewards and Recognition
- Contracting
- Integration resource centre
1. Product roadmap
Segregated Funds
The review process of segregated funds is progressing well. Our plan remains unchanged from what we shared with you at the close of the acquisition. We expect to launch a blended product portfolio in the first quarter of 2016 that combines the key features from each company’s portfolio.
We will be partnering with our Sales teams and you over the next few months to confirm what you and your clients value most from both the Manulife and Standard Life segregated fund products. This will ensure that we build a go-forward solution that meets the needs of your clients.
Standard Life Mutual Funds
We are pleased to share that unit holders voted in favour of changing the Standard Life Mutual Funds fund manager to Manulife Asset Management Limited (MAML). This was the first step in combining the two companies’ platforms. We continue to evaluate all of the investment options from Standard Life Mutual Funds and Manulife Investments and once we decide on the future direction of the funds, we will communicate this to you. We are targeting to begin combining our platforms later this year and continue into 2016. Our objective is to offer the best investment platform for you and your clients, which will be a combination of Standard Life and Manulife Mutual Funds.
We are committed to ensuring that the best interests of our investors are a top priority. We will provide you and your clients with advance notice of any fund availability changes within either platform.
Annuities and Structured Settlements
We have closely aligned the incomes offered by Standard Life branded and Manulife branded annuities and structured settlements. The analysis of the structured settlement business is progressing well and we have determined that we will continue to offer the “Assignment” feature that Standard Life offered, going forward. We are on track to meet our goal to offer a single, combined annuity and structured settlement product shelf by the end of the year.
Guaranteed Interest Contracts (GICs) and Term Funds
We have aligned the rates being offered by Standard Life branded term funds and Manulife branded GICs. We are progressing well with our plans to discontinue offering new Standard Life Term Fund contracts and we expect to communicate the exact timing and additional details in the second quarter (Q2).
At this time, existing Standard Life Term Fund clients will not be impacted by this change as we will continue to permit pre-authorized (PAC) and subsequent deposits into existing contracts.
Insurance
Our plan for Insurance remains unchanged as we will maintain existing insurance products and processes for the time being. Should anything change, we will notify you.
Over the next several months you and your clients will begin to see marketing and administrative material begin to be rebranded as Manulife. The changes from this rebranding exercise will be phased in over the course of the year and we will continue to keep you informed.
- Rewards and Recognition
We are pleased to share that Standard Life business is now integrated into the Manulife Rewards and Recognition program. This is an exciting milestone in our integration process as it provides you with more opportunity to earn Recognition Credits.
For the purposes of recognition and conferences, we are crediting all advisor business written with Standard Life retroactive to January 1, 2014 for all future conferences with the exception of Advisory Services as the qualification period for that conference is January, 1 2015 to December 31, 2016. This does not impact the existing Standard Life President’s Club conference which will continue as planned in April.
Our go-forward plan is as follows:
National Education Conference 2016 – Berlin
Qualifiers: Advisors contracted with an MGA or National Account (check with your firm about participation details)
Process: We are awarding Recognition Credits for Standard Life sales retroactive to January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2015.
Top Qualifier Opportunity: To celebrate advisors with the highest amount of Recognition Credits, we are offering a prestigious Top Qualifier experience in the form of an extended stay at our luxurious resort, upgraded accommodations, private car service from the airport to the conference, invitation to an exclusive reception plus more.
Learn more about how to qualify for this conference.
Qualifiers: All advisors
Process: We are awarding Recognition Credits for Standard Life sales retroactive to January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2015.
Learn more about how to qualify for this conference.
To learn more about the integration of Standard Life business into Manulife’s Reward and Recognition program, review the FAQ, visit the Integration centre on Repsource, or the Advisor Portal.
- Contracting
We are still actively reviewing our dealings with Standard Life contracted firms and advisors in relation to their Standard Life business. Contracting of Standard Life advisors has started and we expect this to be completed by the end of Q3.
In referring to our product roadmap above, Standard Life advisors who are currently selling GICs, will need to be contracted with Manulife by the end of Q2. Visit the Advisor Portal to learn more about Manulife’s contracting process.
We will provide you with further contracting details in the coming weeks.
- Integration resource centre
We have created a new page on Repsource called the Integration centre . It will house Investments and Insurance integration-related updates in one, convenient location for advisors.
Integration centre is live and I encourage you to visit it regularly. For Standard Life advisors who do not yet have access to Repsource, please visit Advisor Portal where we will post similar information.
Our dedicated integration team is focused on executing our go-forward strategy that seeks to offer the best options from both organizations so that you and your clients have access to stronger solutions. You and your clients are at the centre of our planning and we remain committed to keeping you informed of all updates.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact your Sales Representative.
Thank you,
Paul Lorentz
Executive Vice President and General Manager, Retail Markets