John Hancock Insurance

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John Hancock Financial Services

Type	wholly owned subsidiary
Genre	insurance and financial services
Founded	1862
Headquarters	USA
Products	Life Insurance, Annuities, Mutual Funds, [401k's], [IRA's}, [Financial Planning]
Parent	Manulife Financial
Slogan	Investments for the future, Insurance for the unexpected
Website	www.johnhancock.com

John Hancock Insurance is a loose term for a major United States insurance company which existed, in various forms, from its founding on April 21, 1862 until its acquisition in 2004 by the Canadian Manulife Financial. It was named in honor of John Hancock. The company continues to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Manulife.

[edit] Timeline of corporate name and structure changes

April 21, 1862, the charter of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company was approved by John A. Andrew, governor of Massachusetts.
John Hancock advertisements and newspaper articles from the 1930s refer to it as the "John Hancock Life Insurance Company."
1940s source refer to it as the "John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company"
A July 2, 1998 Boston Herald story, John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co chairman, is quoted: "We have always said quite clearly that we are not for sale," [Stephen L.] Brown said, moving to kill speculation about possible deals with BankBoston or Fleet Financial Group. "There are simply no merger talks going on."
In 2000, the company "demutualized," meaning that "John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company" formally ceased to exist, and a new company named "John Hancock Financial Services Inc." came into existence. Policyholders received shares in the new company in exchange for giving up ownership in the old. Life insurance continued to be sold by an entity known as the "John Hancock Variable Life Insurance Company," a subsidiary of John Hancock Financial Services Inc. On January 27, 2000, shares of Hancock stock started to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol JHF.
On September 29, 2003, it was announced that Manulife Financial Corp. was acquiring John Hancock Financial Services Inc. for $10.4 billion.
On April 29, 2004, the existence of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. as an independent company formally ended.
During 2004, Manulife merged its original U.S. domiciled business units with the newly acquired company under the John Hancock name.
As of 2006 Manulife continues to use the John Hancock brand name for the majority of its U.S. business. The 2005 Manulife Annual Report (pp.154-155) lists as subsidiaries the following companies and others (where the indentation indicates a hierarchy of ownership):
- "John Hancock Holdings (Delaware) LLC" (100% owned)
  - "John Hancock Financial Services, Inc." (100% owned)
    - "John Hancock Life Insurance Company" (100% owned)
      - "John Hancock Variable Life Insurance Company" (100% owned)
- In addition the following companies are former Manulife subsidiaries renamed to John Hancock:
  - "John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.)" (100% owned)
    - "John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York" (100% owned)
    - "John Hancock Investment Management Services, LLC" (95% owned)