John Hancock Retirement Plan Services' Ann Slotwinski Appointed to Board of Directors for National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA)

BOSTON, Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ann Slotwinski, Assistant Vice President, Third Party Administrator (TPA) Services, John Hancock Retirement Plan Services (RPS), has been appointed as a member of the board of directors for the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA), an organization dedicated to enhancing professionalism in the retirement plan industry by providing opportunities for professional growth through relevant, comprehensive, quality programs and designations.

Slotwinski will serve a three-year term in which she will work with the other members of the NIPA Board of Directors to provide strong leadership for the association, strategic guidance and to set a sound and accurate course for its future. 

"We are very pleased to have Ann join our board," said Laura J. Rudzinski, Executive Director, NIPA. "She has been very active in the organization for many years and we look forward to working directly with her as we develop our plans and programs."

Slotwinski joined John Hancock's parent Manulife in 1982 and worked in RPS in various capacities since 1996. In her current role, which she has held since 2006, Slotwinski is responsible for developing education and program initiatives that directly focus on TPAs, who are an important sales channel for John Hancock RPS.

"We are very proud of Ann's appointment and know that her skills and enthusiasm for facilitating professional growth will be assets as she serves NIPA," said George Revoir, Senior Vice President, John Hancock Retirement Plan Services. "With Ann's wealth of experience in the profession and ability to develop effective programs, we're sure she will make great contributions to NIPA, and to the industry," said Revoir.

About NIPA

The National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA) is a national educational association representing the retirement and employee benefit plan administration profession. It was founded with the idea of bringing together professional benefit administrators and other interested parties to encourage greater dialogue, cooperation, and educational opportunities. NIPA's goal is to improve the quality and efficiency of plan administration.  NIPA designs, implements and administers educational programs for the benefit of its members, the industry and the general public.  These programs include two conference each year:  the TPA business-owner focused Business Management Conference and the all-level NIPA Annual Forum & Expo.  The association also sponsors two professional designation programs: the Accredited Pension Administrator (APA) and the Accredited Pension Representative (APR).  It also offers a variety of topic-based certificate programs and webcasts.  To supplement its educational programming, NIPA promotes local chapters and publishes a quarterly newsletter.

About John Hancock Retirement Plan Services

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services is the largest provider of 401(k) plans across all plan sizes among banks, mutual funds and insurers, according to CFO Magazine. (CFO Magazine 2009 401(k) Providers Survey, for year-end 2009. Published in May 2010).

About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial

John Hancock Financial is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 22 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and in most of Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, Manulife Financial Corporation offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. For more than 120 years, clients have looked to Manulife for strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking solutions for their most significant financial decisions. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$454 billion (US$428 billion) as at June 30, 2010.

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 www.manulife.com.

The John Hancock unit, through its insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States. John Hancock offers a broad range of financial products and services, including life insurance, fixed and variable annuities, fixed products, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, long-term care insurance, college savings, and other forms of business insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at www.johnhancock.com.

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SOURCE John Hancock Retirement Plan Services