of toronto . type public traded as tsx mfc nyse mfc sehk 945 pse mfc industry financial services insurance founded 1887 ; 129 years ago 1887 headquarters toronto ontario canada key people donald guloien president and chief executive officer richard dewolfe chairman of the board of directors revenue 34 430 million cad 2015 1 net income 2 191 million cad 2015 1 aum 935 176 million cad 2015 1 total assets 704 643 million cad 2015 1 total equity 41 938 million cad 2015 1 number of employees 34 000 employees and 63 000 agents 2015 2 website http www.manulife.com manulife or manulife financial is a canadian insurance company and financial services provider with its corporate headquarters in toronto ontario canada . the company operates in canada and asia as manulife and in the united states primarily through its john hancock division . 3 as of december 2015 the company employed approximately 34 000 people and had 63 000 agents under contract and has 935 billion cad in assets under management and administration . 2 manulife bank of canada is a wholly owned subsidiary of manulife . contents 1 history 1.1 private stock company 1.2 mutual company 1.3 demutualization and public company 1.4 awards 2 sponsorship 3 references 4 external links history edit private stock company edit the firm was founded as the manufacturers life insurance company in 1887 . its first president was sir john a. macdonald the first prime minister of canada . the company sold its first policy outside of canada in bermuda in 1893 . in 1894 policies were sold in grenada jamaica and barbados ; trinidad and tobago and haiti in 1895 ; and british honduras british guiana china and hong kong in 1897 . 4 5 in 1901 manulife amalgamated with the temperance and general life assurance company 6 a toronto based canadian life insurer that provided preferred rates to abstainers of alcohol . manulife continued to offer abstainers rates into the 1920s . 7 in 1931 it opened its first southern china branch in british hong kong . shortly thereafter it established itself as a leading life insurer in the region with branches in macau swatow and amoy . 8 mutual company edit in 1958 shareholders voted to change its legal form from a joint stock company to a mutual organization making the company privately owned by its policyholders . 9 10 in 1984 manulife announced that it had acquired waterloo ontario based dominion life assurance company a deal that included the purchase of all of the outstanding stock of the company from lincoln national . 11 12 dominion life was founded in waterloo in 1889 and manulife made a commitment to the community to retain a significant presence in waterloo . in 1988 manulife opened a new five storey office building at 500 king st. north in waterloo to house its canadian division . 13 in 1996 the company entered an agreement with sinochem to form shanghai based zhong hong life insurance co. ltd. china s first joint venture life insurance company and was granted a license that made it the second foreign insurer 14 to be allowed re entry into china . 15 demutualization and public company edit in 1999 its voting eligible policyholders approved demutualization and the shares of manulife the holding company of the manufacturers life insurance company and its subsidiaries began trading on the toronto stock exchange tsx the new york stock exchange nyse and the philippine stock exchange pse under the ticker mfc and on the stock exchange of hong kong sehk under the ticker 945 . 16 in 2002 manulife sinochem life insurance co. ltd. was granted approval by the china insurance regulatory commission circ to open a branch office in guangzhou china the first branch license granted to a foreign invested joint venture life insurance company . in 2003 manulife sinochem received approval for a branch office in beijing the first multiple branch license granted to a foreign invested joint venture life insurance company . the firm is now licensed to operate in more than 50 chinese cities . 16 in 2003 manulife and john hancock financial services inc. including its canadian subsidiary maritime life announced a tax free stock for stock merger of the companies creating a global insurance franchise . completed in april 2004 the merger created the largest life insurer in canada second largest in north america and fifth largest in the world at the time . 16 in 2013 richard dewolfe became the chair of the company s board 17 succeeding gail cook bennett who retired after serving 34 years on the board . 18 in 2009 donald guloien the chief investment officer succeeded dominic d alessandro as president and ceo of the company . shortly before his departure d alessandro modified his retirement package ; the restricted units would only vest for a total of 10 million if the shares reached 36 by the end of 2011 and he would receive 5 million if the shares hit 30 . this was in response to shareholders reaction to the first quarterly loss ever posted by the firm in its public history . under guloien s leadership the first initiatives were a dividend cut and an equity offering to bolster manulife s capital levels making it difficult for the share price to reach the target levels needed to vest . 19 in september 2009 the company purchased aic s canadian retail investment fund business . 20 in october 2009 it purchased pottruff & smith travel insurance brokers inc. a canadian broker and third party administrator of travel insurance . 21 in 2010 the company announced that it had purchased fortis bank sa nv s1 49 per cent ownership in abn amro teda fund management co. ltd. the new joint venture manulife teda fund management company ltd. manulife teda provides traditional retail and institutional asset management for clients in china . the other 51 per cent is owned by northern international trust part of tianjin teda investment holding co. ltd. teda . 22 in june 2012 the company opened manulife cambodia with headquarters in phnom penh . 23 24 in september 2014 manulife agreed to acquire the canadian operations of standard life for a fee of around 3.7 billion . 25 in 2014 manulife financial simplified its logo and brand to refer to itself only as manulife outside of the united states . 26 in april 2015 the company announced a partnership with dbs bank providing manulife exclusive access to dbs customers in singapore hong kong china and indonesia in exchange for an initial payment of 1.2 billion usd . 27 the company has recently revived discussions of listing a real estate investment trust reit backed by its us office property portfolio on the singapore exchange . there were discussions to have the ipo last summer however the economic climate was lacking for reits . 28 manulife was one of the founding members of the canadian cyber threat exchange cctx . awards edit 2013 and 2014 named to the dow jones sustainability north american index canada 2013 the manulife lpga classic received the tournament owners association gold driver award for charity promotion with st. mary s general hospital foundation s red day 2012 and 2013 named one of canada s top employers for young people canada 2010 through 2013 named one of canada s top 100 employers canada 29 2012 manulife investments received the order of excellence award from excellence canada canada 2012 president and ceo donald guloien named 2012 international business executive of the year canada 2010 manulife recognized on the 2010 investor 500 ranking by canadian business magazine canada 2010 manulife sinochem received an award of excellence from the state council national economic census commission china sponsorship edit manulife plaza causeway bay hong kong manulife was worldwide sponsor for the 2008 summer olympics . the sponsorship was acquired along with john hancock financial services . manulife is the namesake tenant in the tallest building in edmonton alberta manulife place . in 2010 manulife partnered with volunteer canada and launched its get volunteering platform to provide canadians with tools to find volunteer experiences officially adopting volunteerism as the signature cause of its corporate social investment program . 30 title sponsor of the manulife financial lpga classic since 2012 . manulife is the parent company of john hancock financial which has been a principal sponsor of the boston marathon since 1986 . 31 32 33 sponsor of pathways to education canada a program focused on reducing high school dropout rates in low income communities . 34 manulife japan is a sponsor of hoshi general hospital s manulife waku waku room project providing psychological support for children receiving medical care . 35 title sponsor of the manulife walk for memories benefitting the alzheimer society of toronto . references edit a b c d e statistical information package q4 2015 . manulife . retrieved 15 february 2016 . a b increasing number of canadians hesitant to invest even in housing . manulife . 15 february 2016 . retrieved 15 february 2016 . rita trichur august 8 2007 . manulife makes 1.1 b profit . the star . retrieved january 22 2013 . mcqueen rod 1999 . manulife how domenic d alessandro built a global giant ... pdf . p. 35 par . 4 . mcqueen rod 1999 . manulife how domenic d alessandro built a global giant ... pdf . p. 36 par . 1 . manulife financial corporation . mcqueen rod 2009 . manulife how dominic d alessandro built a global giant and fought to save it . toronto penguin group . p. 36 . isbn 978 0 670 06920 0 . bangyan feng & kau n.m. 2010 . enriching lives a history of insurance in hong kong 1841 2010 pdf . p. 39 par . 2 3 . ratify mutualization of manufacturers life . the financial times montreal quebec . august 8 1958 . bliss michael 1990 . northern enterprise five centuries of canadian business . mcclelland & stewart . p. 495 . isbn 978 077101569 4 . welsh lawrence october 30 1984 . dominion life is acquired by manulife . globe and mail . mcqueen rod 2009 . manulife how dominic d alessandro built a global giant and fought to save it . toronto penguin group . p. 54 . isbn 978 0 670 06920 0 . strathdee mike july 16 1988 . moving experience manufacturers life relocates in stages . kitchener waterloo record . insurance hall of fame dominic d alessandro . mcqueen rod 2009 . manulife how dominic d alessandro built a global giant and fought to save it . toronto penguin group . p. 110 . isbn 978 0 670 06920 0 . a b c manulife financial history . manulife corporate website board of directors . manulife names richard dewolfe next chairman after gail cook bennett retires . financial post . nov 30 2012 . decloet derek april 18 2009 . bruised d alessandro offers olive branch . theglobeandmail.com . the globe and mail . retrieved september 9 2013 . manulife buys aic as lee chin retreats . manulife buys woodbridge brokerage pottruff & smith . manulife financial transactions . manulife expands asean reach with cambodia office . reuters . june 28 2012 . manulife enters cambodia market with phnom penh office . june 9 2015 . manulife to buy standard life s canadian assets for 3.7 billion . reuters 4 september 2014 history of the manulife logo . manulife deepens asia presence with 1.2 billion dbs deal . manulife revives talk of forming u.s. office reit listed on singapore stock exchange costar group . www.costar.com . retrieved 2016 01 10 . canada s top 100 employers national . langford cooper may 14 2013 . how numbers helped manulife spur volunteerism . financial post . john hancock and the boston marathon mark 29 years of partnership . barnstable patriot . 2015 boston marathon what do the winners win