Manulife Wealth & Asset Management Continues to Build Its AI Leadership and Impact with AI-Powered Tools Enabling Better Advisor and Customer Experiences

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• Applications support Manulife's strategic priority of becoming an AI-powered organization

• Builds on rollout of AI tools across the organization, including recent introduction of AI Research Assistant Platform for firm's public markets investment teams

TORONTO and BOSTON, May 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Manulife Wealth & Asset Management (Manulife WAM) today announced details of three AI-powered sales and advisor enablement tools that streamline routine work, giving advisors and sales teams faster support and clearer insights, so teams can spend more time focused on clients, relationships, and advice that matters.

"AI is becoming a powerful enabler and differentiator for how sales organizations show up for financial advisors, plan sponsors, and other intermediaries," said Paul Lorentz, President & CEO, Manulife WAM. "By reducing friction in day‑to‑day work and surfacing more relevant insights, these tools free our teams to focus on what matters most—listening closely, applying experience and judgment, and helping their clients make confident decisions. That balance between advanced technology and trusted advice will continue to define how we grow and serve clients in a rapidly evolving industry."

Canada Wealth: Quick, accurate compliance answers to free up advisors' time for clients

Manulife Wealth's AI tool was created to make it easier for advisors to quickly access trusted answers to compliance policy and procedure questions.

Since launch, the AI tool has seen strong engagement with nearly 980 users and more than 5,400 conversations to date.ⁱ The time savings are meaningful: 42 percent of advisors report saving up to 15 minutes per inquiry, and another 29 percent report saving 15–30 minutes per inquiry—time they can redirect toward client discussions, portfolio planning, strengthening relationships, and growing their practices.ⁱⁱ

"Our tool makes complex policies and procedures instantly usable for advisors—clear, cited, and available in moments. By removing friction from day-to-day questions, we're providing advisors time back to focus on client goals and financial planning conversations. It's a great example of how AI can elevate service while strengthening governance," said Brett Marchand, President and CEO, Manulife Wealth.

U.S. Retirement: Realtime advisor intelligence that turns insight into action

An AI-powered tool was created to help Manulife John Hancock Retirement's sales and service teams quickly identify and connect with financial advisors by providing fast insights for personalized outreach.

By distilling millions of advisor signals into actionable recommendations, the tool enables sales and service teams to identify the highest impact outreach in seconds. Teams can ask questions in everyday language and instantly get a tailored list of advisors or retirement plans that may need assistance, making personalized outreach fast and easy.

Since implementation in March 2025, the AI tool has generated nearly 2,000 opportunities, with approximately 390 closed deals contributing additional assets under management (AUM)ⁱⁱⁱ to Manulife John Hancock Retirement's platform.^iv Additionally, teams saw an 80 percent reduction in time spent on information searches for meeting and call preparation and a 5× increase in lead recommendations.^v

"With this tool in the hands of our U.S. retirement sales teams, we've turned fragmented data into real-time advisor intelligence. That means faster prep, sharper outreach, and more meaningful conversations with plan sponsors and advisors. Most importantly, it helps our teams show up with the right insight at the right moment—so we can earn trust and deliver better outcomes for participants," said Wayne Park, CEO, Manulife John Hancock Retirement.

U.S. Retail: Plain language intelligence that boosts productivity and strengthens advisor relationships

Manulife John Hancock Investments' sales teams needed a faster, more intuitive way to access advisor insights, pre-meeting intelligence, product opportunities, and engagement signals—data that previously lived across multiple systems and required hours of manual searching. The AI sales tool provides real-time insights through prompts, giving sales teams immediate access to advisor profiles, digital engagement, product usage, and growth opportunities. It connects to internal client relationship management (CRM) and business intelligence platforms, and other data sources, to deliver answers instantly and help teams prepare for meetings in minutes.

Since its rollout in early 2026, the AI-powered sales platform has driven an approximately 40 percent increase in the internal sales team's contact rate -a critical indicator of growth. In addition to more meaningful advisor interactions, the tool has helped to generate higher flows, directly attributable to faster prep, better prioritization, and more personalized outreach.

"This started as a productivity tool—bringing together fragmented data so sales teams could work faster. Today, our tool goes further. It doesn't just aggregate information; it interprets it. It helps sales professionals understand what an advisor is actually selling, where they have momentum with us, and why—across both product adoption and marketing engagement. It surfaces the right questions to ask, highlights true opportunity, and identifies where growth exists beyond what traditional data points alone can reveal. Our tool is no longer just pulling data—it's thinking with the salesperson," said Kristie Feinberg, President & CEO of Manulife John Hancock Investments and Head of Retail, Manulife WAM.

Building on AI leadership in Public Markets research—human judgment firmly in the loop

These AI-powered sales and advisor enablement tools build on the success of the AI Research Assistant in Manulife Public Markets investment teams, launched in mid-2025. The platform accelerates synthesis of research inputs—financials, transcripts, internal notes, news, and commentary—so analysts can spend more time on higher value work and investment decisions.

The work behind all these AI tools continues to generate extensive learning, deeper collaboration across teams, and a growing library of solutions that can be reused or customized, as business lines work together to build and refine capabilities that meet evolving business and customer needs.

A responsible, scalable approach to AI that augments people

Across research and distribution, Manulife WAM's AI strategy embeds governance, transparency, and human oversight. The goal is clear: augment professional expertise, accelerate service, and enhance outcomes—without replacing the relationships and judgment that define our client promise.

Manulife WAM's parent company, Manulife Financial Corporation, has invested in AI technology for more than a decade, with a focus on integrating these tools across its global operations to help deliver practical, value-driven solutions. Manulife was recognized as the #1 life insurance company in the inaugural Evident AI Index for Insurance in 2025. More than 70 percent of Manulife's global workforce is engaged with GenAI tools, including its proprietary ChatMFC.

"We are excited to be part of a global organization that has embraced AI and established itself as a leading AI-powered organization focused on integrating this powerful technology at scale to create value, drive growth and even greater efficiency," said Lorentz. "This technology is allowing us to reimagine and create better experiences for our clients."

To learn more about Manulife's AI progress, visit AI @ Manulife.

Caution regarding forward-looking statements

This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbour" provisions of Canadian provincial securities laws and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to Manulife's use of its digital capabilities and the expected benefits it expects to realize from AI. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include but are not limited to general business and economic conditions; changes in laws and regulations with respect to the use of AI-enabled tools; our ability to execute our digital plans and to deploy future digital use cases; our ability to adapt products and services to the changing market; our ability to attract and retain key employees and our ability to protect our intellectual property and exposure to claims of infringement from others. Additional information about material risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations may be found in our most recent annual and interim reports and elsewhere in our filings with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators.

The forward-looking statements in this document are, unless otherwise indicated, stated as of the date hereof. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

About Manulife Wealth & Asset Management (Manulife WAM)

As part of Manulife Financial Corporation, Manulife Wealth & Asset Management's mission is to make decisions easier and lives better by helping people invest confidently to pursue a more secure financial future. Our strength comes from the diversity of our global asset management expertise and distribution capabilities. Our global investment teams span equities, fixed income, alternative credit, private markets, and multi-asset solutions. We provide investment, financial advice, and retirement plan services to millions of individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. At the heart of our approach are three cultural pillars: Partner for Progress, Trust through Transparency, and Intellectual Curiosity. These values shape how we build long-term relationships, develop differentiated investment strategies, and empower advisors and clients to seek meaningful financial outcomes. Whether through cutting-edge technology, AI innovation, personalized advice, or sustainable stewardship, Manulife Wealth & Asset Management is a trusted partner helping clients navigate complexity and invest with confidence. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulifeim.com.

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Anchored in our ambition to be the number one choice for customers, we operate as Manulife across Canada and Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, providing financial advice, insurance and health solutions for individuals, groups and businesses. Through Manulife Wealth & Asset Management, we offer global investment solutions, financial advice, and retirement plan services to individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2025, we had more than 37,000 employees, over 106,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 37 million customers with operations across 25 markets globally. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and Philippine stock exchanges, and under '945' on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulife.com.

Media contact

Manulife:
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SOURCE Manulife Wealth & Asset Management