Manulife has approximately 285,000 odd-lot shareholders worldwide, representing 2% of issued and outstanding common shares.

Manulife says participating shareholders will receive the average weighted price of shares sold through the Program on the New York Stock Exchange open market, less applicable program fees. There will be no program fees for holders of 10 or less shares.

The program commences February 25, 2005 in North America and will expire at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on April 15, 2005, unless extended by the company. The program will also be offered to Manulife’s odd-lot shareholders in Asia shortly.

“This voluntary program is designed to provide odd-lot shareholders an economical and convenient means of selling their shares,” said Terri Neville, assistant vp, shareholder services.

“The odd-lot shareholder sales program is also expected to reduce Manulife’s annual shareholder servicing costs,” added Neville.

The company’s U.S. transfer agent, Mellon Investor Services, is managing the program with all sales being run through the NYSE.

Canadian account holders will receive their proceeds in Canadian dollars while all other account holders will receive proceeds in U.S. dollars.