Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corp.’s investment division has tweaked its lineup of segregated funds, revamping the former Standard Life Ideal Segregated Funds Signature 2.0 to launch a new product called Manulife Ideal Signature Select.
Manulife Investments announced on Monday the new addition to its seg fund portfolio, which incorporates key features of the former Standard Life product, such as a guaranteed income payout during clients’ retirement years. (Manulife acquired the Canadian operations of Standard Life PLC in a deal that closed in early 2015.)
“Over the last year, we spoke with advisors and distribution partners to find out what they wanted in a segregated fund product,” said Bernard Letendre, president of Manulife Investments, in a statement. “The No. 1 request was to keep key features of the former Standard Life product, which provides the right amount of flexibility that customers are looking for.”
Manulife Ideal Signature Select offers three series with different levels of protection: the Ideal 100/100 Series, which provides full capital and estate protection with a 100% maturity guarantee and a 100% death benefit guarantee; the Ideal 75/100 Series, which has a 75% maturity guarantee and a 100% death benefit guarantee; and the Ideal 75/75 Series, which has a 75% maturity guarantee and a 75% death benefit guarantee.
Clients in the Ideal 75/100 and Ideal 100/100 Series have the option of resetting the value of the maturity guarantee up to twice per calendar year to lock in gains when markets perform well, subject to certain restrictions. In addition, the value death benefit guarantee automatically resets every three years when gains have occurred, with a final reset taking place on the series anniversary date following the client’s 70th birthday.
For clients with a registered retirement income plan, Manulife Ideal Signature Select also offers a “payout benefit guarantee,” which protects clients’ income stream against down markets. Specifically, it guarantees that customers will receive the money invested — or a portion of it, depending on the series selected — in the form of scheduled retirement income payments.
Clients can choose from a line-up of funds including equity, fixed-income and balanced investment options managed by Manulife Asset Management, as well as top third-party asset-management partners.
With the introduction of Manulife Ideal Signature Select, the following products were closed to new contract sales on May 13: Ideal Segregated Funds Signature 2.0, Ideal Segregated Funds and GIF Select EstatePlus. Existing contractholders are not affected by these closures and can continue to make deposits into these products.
Manulife Investments now offers six types of seg fund products.
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