Administration February 9, 2005

Report: John Hancock Could Soon be Seller or Buyer

September 26, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - An announcement could be forthcoming soon about a potential deal to buy John Hancock Financial Services - possibly by Manulife Financial Corp. - or for Hancock to acquire someone else, according to a news report.
Reported by

The Boston Globe reported that John Hancock was in the “advanced stages” of talks with a potential buyer with Manulilfe, Canada’s second-largest life insurer, listed as the prime candidate for the acquisition. Hancock has been in touch with its directors to find out when they can attend a special board meeting – presumably to ratify such a deal, unnamed sources told the newspaper.

The Globe laid out two potential scenarios:

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  • Hancock as seller . By talking so long and so openly about selling the company, Hancock chief executive David D’Alessandro has all but invited bids. The Hancock brand would be just the ticket for Manulife’s stated goal of a major US expansion. Plus Manulife is already building a new US headquarters in Boston. In recent months Hancock has also talked with MetLife Inc., the second largest US life insurer, the unnamed executives told the newspaper. In 1996 MetLife bought Boston’s other large life insurer, New England Financial. In June MetLife said it was buying Hancock’s group life business.
  • Hancock as a buyer . Again, Hancock has been exploring at least two opportunities, said the executives familiar with the strategy: Buying a piece of General Electric Co.’s huge insurance business (last year’s revenue: $23 billion) or Travelers Life & Annuity Co. (2002 net income: $776 million) from giant Citigroup Inc. In either case, Hancock would buy the insurance operations of the company involved by issuing new stock, giving GE or Citigroup a major stake in Hancock. Combined, GE and Hancock would be the biggest player in the country in long-term-care insurance.

Talks With Fleet and Pru

But the bottom line is that D’Alessandro has been looking hard for a deal that works. In May, Hancock and FleetBoston Financial explored combining the two firms to produce a big Boston-based financial services player and Hancock had also held discussions over an eight-month period with Prudential Financial Inc., the Globe said.

Almost from the day Hancock went public in 2000, D’Alessandro has talked about the need to get bigger or sell. While Hancock is the sixth largest publicly traded life insurer, it is tiny in the worldwide financial services industry.

Manulife’s chief executive has been looking for US acquisitions after dropping to number two in Canada following takeovers by his leading rivals. Sun Life Financial Inc., Canada’s largest insurer, bought Clarica Life Insurance Co. last year, while Great-West Lifeco Inc. completed its purchase of Canada Life Financial Corp. last summer.

Administration February 8, 2005

Survey: Woman-Owned Firms Do More With Less

August 26, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Working with a woman-owned family business may not just be fashionable, in may also be an ultimately profitable corporate policy, a new survey found.
Reported by

According to the survey sponsored by MassMutual Financial Group and Babson College, the woman-owned family firms are not only a growing segment of the US economy, compared to companies run by men they are:

  • on average more productive
  • a decade younger
  • more likely to follow good corporate governance policies
  • more likely to have their leadership succession plans finalized.

According to the study, woman-owned family businesses have become substantial enterprises in the US, with average annual revenues of $26.9 million in 2002 and with some reporting annual sales as high as $1 billion. Most woman-owned family firms are in the second generation of operation.

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Survey highlights about US woman-owned businesses include:

  • they have increased by 37% in the last five years to 15.6%
  • they place greater proportionate emphasis on social responsibility – directing their philanthropic focus toward educational and community organizations
  • While female-owned family businesses are smaller in size – over $26 million in annual revenues compared to approximately   $30 million for male-owned counterparts – they generate sales with fewer employees: 26 workers compared to 50 at male-owned firms.   This means that female-owned family businesses are 1.7 times more productive than male-owned family firms.
  • are more than six times as likely to have a woman chief executive officer (roughly half are led by females).   Woman-owned family businesses are typically 10 years younger than those owned by men and female owners assumed leadership at an age five years older than their male counterparts.
  • they focus more carefully on CEO succession planning and are more likely to have chosen a follow-on chief executive.
  • they experience greater family loyalty, agreement with goals, and pride in the business.   They have a 40% lower rate of family member attrition.
  • the are twice as likely to employ women family members full time and are three times as likely to employ more than one female family member full time.
  • tend to be more fiscally conservative.    More female-owned family businesses carry less or no debt – other than trade payables – than male-owned firms.  

The survey covered family businesses at least 10 years old with sales volume in excess of $1 million who have at least two officers or directors with the same last name. The latest study is available at www.babson.edu/cwl .

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