Manulife's New Protection Plans to Beef-up Coverage for Singapore

SINGAPORE, January 29, 2011 (Press-News.org) To help Singaporeans improve their insurance coverage to better protect their loved ones against unfortunate events, Manulife Singapore is enhancing the popular ManuTerm product and launching a new one called Ultimate Protector.

"Despite the average Singaporean having three life insurance policies, they are still 75 percent underprotected according to a survey conduced by the Life Insurance Association," said Ms Annette King, President and CEO of Manulife Singapore. "Manulife is committed to helping Singaporeans enhance their protection and giving them peace of mind. With this in mind, we have dedicated two new plans for protection that provide good value and offer unique benefits to customers."

ManuTerm is a level (fixed premium) or renewable (policy term extendable) term plan with conversion privilege that provides high coverage for Loss of Life and Terminal Illness at affordable rates.

• Quit Smoking Incentive (for Level ManuTerm) - a first in the Singapore market for a term assurance plan, this benefit encourages customers to lead healthy lifestyles without cigarettes. Smokers who take up ManuTerm with an insured sum of S$500,000 or higher will pay nonsmoker premium rates for the first three policy years. After this period, premiums will be charged at non-smoker rates if customers can provide satisfactory evidence that they have not been smoking for at least 12 consecutive months. Otherwise, smoker premium rates will be charged from the fourth policy year onwards.
• Preferred Premium rates - non-smoking customers in excellent health can enjoy Preferred Premium rates for the insured sum of S$1 million and above.
• Conversion privilege - a ManuTerm/ManuTerm rider policy can be converted without evidence of health to any Manulife whole life, endowment or investment-linked plan before age 65 (for the same coverage benefits only).

Ultimate Protector is for customers who value protection with accumulation of cash value. A whole life plan, it helps in building a solid protection foundation without having to commit to a lifetime of premium payments.

• Features a protection multiplier - Minimum Protection Benefit (MPB) - that guarantees coverage for customers of up to 200% of the chosen Face Amount (protection value) until age 65, giving additional boost to protect against Loss of Life, Terminal Illness, as well as Total and Permanent Disability.
• Provides additional Accidental Death Benefit equivalent to 50% of the MPB for customers aged between 12 and 65.
• Singles and married couples can benefit from the Guaranteed Insurability Option, which allows customers to take up a new policy at two life-stage events (marriage and/or birth of child/children) without having to provide evidence of health.
• Offers a choice of premium payment terms of 10, 15 or 20 years to suit the individual needs of our customers.

About Manulife (Singapore) Pte Ltd

Manulife (Singapore) Pte Ltd is a subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation.

Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group operating in 22 countries and territories worldwide. For more than 120 years, clients worldwide have looked to Manulife for strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking solutions for their most significant financial decisions. Our international network of employees, agents and distribution partners offers financial protection and wealth management products and services to millions of clients around the world. We provide asset management services to institutional customers worldwide as well as reinsurance solutions, specializing in life and property and casualty retrocession. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were $474 billion (US$460 billion) as at September 30, 2010. The Company operates as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at http://www.manulife.com.

Media Contact:
Cindy Cheng
Manulife Singapore Pte Ltd
68338162
cindy_cheng_ac@manulife.com