Manulife announced that its U.S. Division, John Hancock Financial, has successfully completed its acquisition of New York Life’s Retirement Plan Services business. The business will be combined with John Hancock Retirement Plan Services, which the company says will significantly increase its retirement plan assets under administration and make it a “top 15 provider in the mid-plan market.”
With the closure of the transaction, JHRPS’s retirement plan assets under administration have increased by approximately 60 percent to $135 billion and the business now serves 55,000 retirement plans and 2.5 million plan participants.
“Manulife is a major player in the pensions business in Canada, the United States, Hong Kong and Indonesia. The completion of this transaction, in addition to our successful acquisition of Standard Life’s Canadian operations, significantly increases our retirement plan services business overall,” said Donald Guloien, president and chief executive officer of Manulife. “These transactions accelerate our strategy to grow our wealth and asset management business around the world.”
“Retirement Plan Services is a significant portion of John Hancock’s wealth business, and having greater scale, added capabilities and talent, positions us as a major plan provider in the U.S. retirement plan business,” Craig Bromley , president of John Hancock, added.
Highlights of the Transaction
- Accelerates Manulife’s growth strategy for wealth and asset management businesses around the world.
- Complements recent investments in similar businesses in Canada and Asia .
- Adds significant scale and new capabilities to JHRPS business in the United States .
- Provides strong presence in the United States mid-case and large-case retirement plan markets, and builds on leading position in the small-case market.
Peter Gordon, CEO of JHRPS, will oversee all of John Hancock’s retirement plan services business.
“We are pleased to welcome the entire group of 450 employees who will help ensure the management transition is seamless for customers, advisors and businesses,” Gordon said. “Our entire organization is focused on knowing and serving our customers for the ultimate benefit of our retirement plan participants. With this transaction, we are able to continue offering a top quality, high touch experience to our clients with no changes in systems, business locations, or service teams.”
See Also:
- John Hancock Expands ‘Personalized Retirement Advice’ Program to All 401k Plans
- John Hancock Launches New Fiduciary Product(Opens in a new browser tab)
- The Latest Company to Lower 401(k) Target-Date Fund Fees
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
