John Hancock Retirement brings Signature Fiduciary Connect to plan sponsors seeking additional support in offering workplace 401(k)s

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New solution assists with plan administration and investment selection and monitoring

BOSTON, Nov. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - John Hancock Retirement, a company of Manulife Investment Management, today introduces Signature Fiduciary Connect. Signature Fiduciary Connect is a comprehensive new service model giving plan sponsors additional support for the administrative and fiduciary duties needed to offer workplace 401(k) plans. With Signature Fiduciary Connect, employers can efficiently outsource plan administration and fiduciary risk through John Hancock's partnership between select third-party administrators and 3(38) providers. Employers benefit from this optimized service model while their employees benefit from a powerful retirement plan that includes John Hancock's award-winning¹ personalized engagement and financial wellness tools.

Signature Fiduciary Connect is administered though John Hancock Retirement and is available to plan sponsors, third-party administrators, and retirement plan advisors to assist with designing and managing a workplace 401(k) plan. The fiduciary component is managed through third-party administrators acting as administrator fiduciary or named fiduciary. 3(38) providers act as 3(38) investment lineup fiduciaries. John Hancock currently has partnerships with TAG Resources, AMP (Powered by Nova 401(k) and AFS), Paylocity, Wilshire and Raymond James and is evaluating expanding fiduciary partners in the coming months.

"We are excited to have Signature Fiduciary Connect available and believe it helps to solve for some of the hurdles that exist for employers who want to offer a workplace retirement plan but may not have the in-house expertise or the resources to build and run it," said Jack Barry, vice president, product development, strategy, and transformation at John Hancock Retirement. "We work with our partners, including TPAs and retirement plan advisors, to continue to do what they do best - and then we manage the rest - so the plan sponsor doesn't have to."

Signature Fiduciary Connect brings a valuable and competitive benefit to employees while helping to reduce administrative burden and mitigate risk to the employer. It frees human resources and benefits staff to focus on other employee needs, by providing ERISA experts for plan design and compliance, utilizing outside investment expertise to select investment options, and maintaining a plan sponsor website and generating reporting.

"As the retirement plan provider servicing the most small and mid-sized plans, our position in the market has given us both the perspective and the insight to build Signature Fiduciary Connect to be very helpful to employers," added Gary Tankersley, head of sales and distribution, John Hancock Retirement. "We believe that retirement plans should work for both plan sponsors and plan participants and, through our external partnerships, we are confident that implementing and servicing a retirement plan can be an easy and seamless exercise."

1 "Gold: John Hancock Participant Engagement Program," League of American Communications Professionals LLC (LACP), LACP 2020 Spotlight Awards, Global Communications Competition, November 2020; "DALBAR's State of the Industry—Online Enrollment," DALBAR, Inc., October 2020; "Bronze Award in Consumer/Retail," Financial Communications Society (FCS) Portfolio Awards, September 2020.

About John Hancock Retirement
John Hancock Retirement is the U.S. retirement business of Manulife Investment Management. For nearly 50 years, we've helped people plan and invest for retirement; today, we're one of the largest full-service providers in the United States.¹ We take a hands-on consultative approach based on the idea that no two plans - and no two plan participants - are exactly alike. We partner with plan sponsors, financial professionals, and third-party administrators to ensure that every plan is personal to the participant and delivers results.

As of September 30, 2021, John Hancock serviced over 52,000 retirement plans with over 3.1 million participants* and over $220 billion in AUMA.²

*Participant Counts reflect all active participants with a balance.

1. "2020 Defined Contribution Recordkeeper Survey," PLANSPONSOR, 2020.

2. As of September 30, 2021, John Hancock Life Insurance Company (USA) supported 48,549 plans, 1,605,083 participants, and $ 108,074,132,509.40 in AUMA. John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York supported 2,568 plans, 77,020 participants, and $ 6,133,181,973.20 in AUMA. John Hancock Retirement Plan Services, LLC supported 1,562 plans, 1,503,715 participants, and $106,615,194,819.75 in AUMA. Participant Counts reflect all active participants with a balance. Approximate unaudited figures for John Hancock, provided on a U.S. statutory basis.

About Manulife Investment Management 
Manulife Investment Management is the global brand for the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. We draw on more than a century of financial stewardship and the full resources of our parent company to serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. Headquartered in Toronto, our leading capabilities in public and private markets are strengthened by an investment footprint that spans 18 geographies. We complement these capabilities by providing access to a network of unaffiliated asset managers from around the world. We're committed to investing responsibly across our businesses. We develop innovative global frameworks for sustainable investing, collaboratively engage with companies in our securities portfolios, and maintain a high standard of stewardship where we own and operate assets, and we believe in supporting financial well-being through our workplace retirement plans. Today, plan sponsors around the world rely on our retirement plan administration and investment expertise to help their employees plan for, save for, and live a better retirement.

As of September 30, 2021, Manulife Investment Management's assets under management and administration, including assets managed for Manulife's other segments, totaled CAD $1.1 trillion (US $835 billion). Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulifeim.com.

Group annuity contracts and recordkeeping agreements are issued by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.), Boston, MA (not licensed in New York), and John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York, Valhalla, NY. Product features and availability may differ by state. Each entity makes available a platform of investment alternatives to sponsors or administrators of retirement plans without regard to the individualized needs of any plan. Unless otherwise specifically stated in writing, neither entity is undertaking to provide impartial investment advice or give advice in a fiduciary capacity. Securities are offered through John Hancock Distributors LLC, member FINRA, SIPC.

NOT FDIC INSURED. MAY LOSE VALUE. NOT BANK GUARANTEED.

© 2021 John Hancock. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE John Hancock Retirement

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