John Hancock RPS Introduces 2nd Generation of PRIME Elements iPad App

BOSTON, June 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- John Hancock Retirement Plan Services (RPS) has introduced an update to the widely used iPad application of its PRIME Elements sales tool, making it even easier for advisors and plan consultants to frame a comprehensive solution for plan sponsors to ensure a healthy and successful qualified plan.

With the iPad app, more than 30 key brochures and over 25 interactive videos, demos and tools are available in a single application on the iPad. Users are able to navigate among the tools easily, without needing an Internet connection. Now advisors and plan consultants have the ability to run videos and display interactive tools directly to a projector using powerful controls built right into the application. In addition to being able to email any of the embedded literature right from inside the application, users can now send material to a local printer.

The John Hancock RPS PRIME application is easily downloaded for free from the Apple iTunes store. Using an iPad VGA adapter, the app content can be displayed on a large screen for a presentation while the navigation is controlled on the iPad.

"PRIME Elements made it easy for advisors and plan consultants to quickly identify and address critical elements in a 401(k) plan, from a plan sponsor perspective," said Andrew Ross, senior vice president of Marketing, John Hancock RPS. "When we put the entire program into an iPad application, we made it even easier for the advisor to use the wealth of materials to explain the John Hancock RPS value proposition at any point in the sales cycle – from the first discussion to the creation of a customized plan. We've been so pleased with the response from our sales force and their advisor and plan consultant partners to the iPad PRIME Interactive app that we are investing to ensure we keep them on the leading edge in leveraging this terrific technology."

"With this app, everything an advisor or plan consultant needs when working with a plan sponsor is available with a quick swipe," said Art Creel, executive vice president, Sales & Marketing, John Hancock RPS. "We are fully invested in making sure our partners have what they need to be successful – in a way that makes us easy to do business with."  

About John Hancock Retirement Plan Services

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services is one of the largest providers of 401(k) plans across all plan sizes among banks, mutual funds and insurers, according to CFO Magazine. (CFO Magazine 2010 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$478 billion (US$492 billion) as at March 31, 2011. 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.

Both John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) and John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York do business under certain instances using the John Hancock Retirement Plan Services name. Group annuity contracts and recordkeeping agreements are issued by: John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.), Boston, MA 02210 (not licensed in New York) and John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York, Valhalla, NY 10595.  Product features and availability may differ by state.

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SOURCE John Hancock Retirement Plan Services