John Hancock Life Insurance Company, U.S.A. is a
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
-based
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
company. Established April 21, 1862, it was named in honor of
John Hancock
John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of ...
, a prominent American
Patriot.
In 2004, John Hancock was acquired by the Canadian multinational life insurance company
Manulife Financial
Manulife Financial Corporation (also known as Financière Manuvie in Quebec) is a Canadian multinational insurance company and financial services provider headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company operates in Canada and Asia as "Manulife" an ...
. It operates as an independent subsidiary. The company and the majority of Manulife's U.S. assets continue to operate under the John Hancock name.
History
On April 21, 1862, the charter of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company was approved by
John A. Andrew, governor of Massachusetts.
There was not always a standardization for how the company name has been referenced. For example, a John Hancock advertisement from 1912 refers to the company as "John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company," but some John Hancock advertisements and newspaper articles from the 1930s refer to it as the "John Hancock Life Insurance Company." However, 1940s sources again refer to the company as the "John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company."
In 1972, Dr. Mary Ella Robertson was named as the first black woman and first female to serve on the John Hancock Board.
In 2000, led by David F. D'Alessandro, the company "demutualized," meaning that "John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company" formally ceased to exist, and a new company named "John Hancock Financial Services, Inc." came into existence. Policyholders received shares in the new company in exchange for giving up ownership in the old. Life insurance continued to be sold by an entity known as the "John Hancock Variable Life Insurance Company", a subsidiary of John Hancock Financial Services Inc. On January 27, 2000, shares of Hancock stock started to trade on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
under the
symbol
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
JHF.
On September 29, 2003,
Manulife Financial
Manulife Financial Corporation (also known as Financière Manuvie in Quebec) is a Canadian multinational insurance company and financial services provider headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company operates in Canada and Asia as "Manulife" an ...
of Canada announced its intent to acquire John Hancock for $10.4 billion. The merged entity would be led by D'Alessandro, but he would step down in June 2004. The sale also included a Canadian subsidiary of John Hancock,
Maritime Life; it was integrated into Manulife's Canadian operations.
Headquarters
The headquarters and its 1,100 employees are based in 200 Berkeley Street, sometimes known as the "Old John Hancock Building" and 197 Clarendon Street. John Hancock no longer has a presence in the Back Bay tower at
200 Clarendon Street
200 Clarendon Street, previously John Hancock Tower and colloquially known as The Hancock, is a 60-story, skyscraper in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. It is the tallest building in New England. The tower was designed by Henry N. Cobb of ...
, still known by many Bostonians as the Hancock Tower.
The company was headquartered at 601 Congress Street in the
Seaport District
The Seaport District, or simply the Seaport, is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. It is part of the larger neighborhood of South Boston, and is also sometimes called the Innovation District. The Seaport is a formerly industrial area that ...
from 2005 to 2018, when it consolidated with offices it had retained in the
Back Bay
Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and ...
.
Investor Sentiment Index
John Hancock created an index called the "John Hancock Investor Sentiment Index" in 2011.
The company describes the index as a "quarterly measure of investors' views on a range of investment choices, life goals and economic outlook."
Leadership
In October 2017, Marianne Harrison became the first female president and chief executive officer of John Hancock. She earned a reported $4.4 million in compensation in 2017.
See also
*
John Hancock Bowl, a college football bowl game the company previously sponsored in El Paso, Texas
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock, John
Financial services companies established in 1862
Companies based in Boston
Former mutual insurance companies
American companies established in 1862
Life insurance companies of the United States
1862 establishments in Massachusetts
2000 initial public offerings
2004 mergers and acquisitions
American subsidiaries of foreign companies