Manulife

[Shion]

Thats bad, I better avoid Manulife then

 

[HWZ1973]

HWZ1973 - I am in the same predicament as you. got 'conned' into buying this policy some 18 years ago and the cumulative premiums paid so far way exceeded the surrender value... whereas both my NTUC and GE policies have long 'broken even' (SV > premiums paid) . And this has not even taken into account the effects of inflation.
I seriously have no faith in Manulife and am considering terminating my policy so as not to throw more good money after bad
Is there any where we can lodge a complaint against them?

Hi YammyT, if you had already paid for 18 years I think it's a waste to terminate it. I will just hold till I need it (terminal illness or death)
You can launch a compliant against them with Fidrec. You can also call their hotline and demand details of their fund investment that warrant this reduction in bonus. Also spread the word on social media. This will put their reputation on the line

 

[soneat]

Hi YammyT, if you had already paid for 18 years I think it's a waste to terminate it. I will just hold till I need it (terminal illness or death)
You can launch a compliant against them with Fidrec. You can also call their hotline and demand details of their fund investment that warrant this reduction in bonus. Also spread the word on social media. This will put their reputation on the line

Is this a whole life plan? What's the annual bonus and terminal bonus structure at point of sales and what's the current structure. I suspect the terminal bonus will only start at year 20.

 

[HWZ1973]

Is this a whole life plan? What's the annual bonus and terminal bonus structure at point of sales and what's the current structure. I suspect the terminal bonus will only start at year 20.

Is a whole life plan with CI coverage.
Terminal bonus start at policy commencement.

 

[soneat]

Is a whole life plan with CI coverage.
Terminal bonus start at policy commencement.

I see. I don't have manulife policy but I do have AIA policies. The CI rider for AIA is very expensive. Terminal bonus is 0% from year 0 to 19 and will only start from 20 years onwards. Throughout the 20 odd years I held the policies, the bonus have been reduced 3 times.

 

[Shion]

Not surprised. AIA is overpriced and under-deliver.

 

[soneat]

Not surprised. AIA is overpriced and under-deliver.

Unfortunately, there's still a lot of people who trust them blindly.

 

[OngHuatHuat]

How you know which one can deliver which one cannot?

Unfortunately, there's still a lot of people who trust them blindly.

 

[soneat]

How you know which one can deliver which one cannot?

Like I have shared previously, this is based on my personal experience with the dozen of policies I have had. I am not here to try to convince anyone which company is good or bad. For my AIA policies, they didn't deliver - it's a fact. When I asked AIA (around 2004?) if they will restore the bonus when times are better, they just say non-guaranteed bonus is non-guaranteed and they cannot comment anything beyond that.

LIA website does show the number of new policies each insurer sells (and which type) every year. AIA is one of the market leaders.

Anyway, threadstarter started this thread to inform the public Manulife has cut bonus - that's the purpose of this thread. I am just saying apart from Manulife, AIA is also known to cut bonus.

 

[akwl88]

Like I have shared previously, this is based on my personal experience with the dozen of policies I have had. I am not here to try to convince anyone which company is good or bad. For my AIA policies, they didn't deliver - it's a fact. When I asked AIA (around 2004?) if they will restore the bonus when times are better, they just say non-guaranteed bonus is non-guaranteed and they cannot comment anything beyond that.

LIA website does show the number of new policies each insurer sells (and which type) every year. AIA is one of the market leaders.

Anyway, threadstarter started this thread to inform the public Manulife has cut bonus - that's the purpose of this thread. I am just saying apart from Manulife, AIA is also known to cut bonus.

Smoothing of bonuses. Returns must be really that bad to cut. Hope they will increase more when economy picks up

 

[soneat]

Smoothing of bonuses. Returns must be really that bad to cut. Hope they will increase more when economy picks up

Actually, their par fund (they have 3 tranches/groups) performance is above average (compared to other life insurer in SGP mkt) yet they still cut. If they don't cut more in future...can laugh liao...don't think they will ever restore back.

 

[akwl88]

Actually, their par fund (they have 3 tranches/groups) performance is above average (compared to other life insurer in SGP mkt) yet they still cut. If they don't cut more in future...can laugh liao...don't think they will ever restore back.

Maybe forecasting low returns in future? Conserving some cash to prepare for mkt downturn?

 

[Shion]

Unfortunately, there's still a lot of people who trust them blindly.

Could it be because of the way AIA agents get clients ? They are pretty aggressive in their tactics.

 

[soneat]

Could it be because of the way AIA agents get clients ? They are pretty aggressive in their tactics.

Probably so. There's many who trust the brand and agent.

 

[buffett_07]

Smoothing of bonuses. Returns must be really that bad to cut. Hope they will increase more when economy picks up

Don't think so..Any bros here can share story of how their bonuses were cut during 2009 and after that increased more when the economy picks up?

 

[HWZ1973]

Bump for awareness.

 

[blurpandasg2014]

Jus an update. The last check is that the latest manuprotect life bonus declaration not affected. Perhaps only the older series are affected

 

[HWZ1973]

I heard they are very busy lately explaining to affected customers over the hotline.
Keep it up!
Make them provide detailed explanation on the poor par fund performance and what they are doing about it.
Drill them to the max!

 

[Mecisteus]

I don't think Manulife can do anything like giving extra bonuses to all policyholders.

What Manulife can do is to fire all their lousy fund managers and hire others who may or may not perform in the future too.

Their objective is to maximize their bottomline and to please their shareholders.

 

[Shion]

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/money-mind-210/par-fund-fy2015-thread-5385258.html

It seems that Manulife is the worst performer and comparing 2014 performance, they are also at the bottom too.