Here we are at the start of a brand new year; it's like getting the opportunity to start fresh. Perhaps you made some New Year’s resolutions and you're doing things differently, or like me, you don't make New Year’s resolutions. For me, New Year’s resolutions are a bit like babies: Fun to make but extremely difficult to maintain. Each January, roughly one in three Canadians resolve to better themselves in some way. A much smaller percentage of people actually follow through. About three quarters of us hang in there for a week. By six months, less than half are still on target. It's hard to keep up the enthusiasm months after you've swept up the confetti and put away the noisemakers! Regardless of whether you've put New Year’s resolutions in motion or not, try to make time to celebrate your accomplishments both personal and professional throughout 2016, regardless how small or significant.. It will keep you and those you work with engaged in achieving your goals! By the end of 2015, Manulife achieved several significant objectives that really were cause for celebration! Our Standard Life mutual fund integration is complete and in 2016 we'll focus on fine-tuning and tweaking our business processes. We began the transformation of the contact centre experience with our new IVR and will continue to enhance the user experience further throughout 2016. We also completed three significant milestones in New Business: Refining new business notifications, improving the customer experience in tele-interviews and for our advisors, we made improvements to our application and underwriting processes. The launch of Quick Issue Term was a success and we have a solid foundation to build our new E-application platform on which is well under way. Manulife was first in the industry to have a CITS-certified application feed and we put 800 ATM's in Mac's stores across Canada. Our Operations and Elite MA conferences were a resounding success with top marks on the overall value and experience. I can promise you we are back at the table brainstorming and building an agenda that will deliver another first-class experience. These are just a few of the many accomplishments! Now 2016 is in full swing and project teams are back at the table moving initiatives forward. I'm really looking forward to the year ahead and working with you to deliver the best value proposition on the street. Our team is here to support you and help you gain efficiencies in your business. We also appreciate your feedback and share it with our business partners so if you have something on your mind we'd love to hear from you. In my last newsletter I talked about holiday traditions and invited you to share yours with me. There is one I would like to share because we have the same tradition in our house and it's a family favourite: The Christmas pickle! The pickle which is a glass ornament and not a real pickle is the last ornament to be hung on the tree. The first person to find it Christmas morning receives an extra gift. No one knows where this tradition originated although some say it came from Germany. I picked it up from someone along the way and it has been an annual tradition ever since! In closing, I ask you this: How will you make this year better than last year? 
Featured News The business priority: Cybersecurity
Safeguarding intellectual property, financial and personal information, and your company's reputation is a crucial part of business strategy in today's global, digital world where data rules. Manulife's recent Repsource article helps increase your advisors' awareness of cybersecurity and best practices for conducting business online using public WiFi hotspots. Our handy new WiFi hotspots tip sheet also helps them protect your data and minimize risk to your business and reputation from cyberattacks. Ordering Marketing Materials
As part of the continuing integration of the former Standard Life business, we are introducing a streamlined process for ordering all marketing materials.
Insurance and Living Benefits Commission improvements to select living benefits products
As part of our commitment to you and our living benefits insurance business, we’re pleased to announce commission improvements for select living benefits products, effective January 23, 2016.
Manulife Investments Segregated Fund changes effective March 11 & April 15, 2016
Manulife will be making changes to the fund line-up in a number of our Segregated Fund contracts. These changes align with those being made on the Manulife Mutual Fund platform and are part of Manulife’s ongoing commitment to providing you and your clients with a strong selection of investment options within our segregated fund line-up.
Manulife Bank Help clients score 3.00% interest from Manulife Bank
Your advisors’ clients can score a high 3.00% interest rate through May 31, 2016 on every new dollar added to their Manulife Bank Tax-Free Advantage Account or Registered Advantage Account by March 15, 2016.
Learning & Development Updated Manulife Bank training for 2016 RRSP season
Available now in the Bank Training Corner: Administration > Bank > Training Corner > Training Resources. With the 2016 RRSP season right around the corner, we’ve recently updated some of our Manulife Bank modules to help support you with the best practices for placing your RRSP bank business. For a quick and easy refresh don't forget to watch Introduction to BankLink for tips on how to submit your RRSP Loan, TFSA and Registered Advantage Account applications. In-good-order tips & tricks with Manulife Investments
Webinar: Tuesday, January 26, 2016, 1 to 2 p.m. ET - Register for this session Join us for an informative session on the best practices for submitting paperwork for guaranteed investment products and how to get the most out of your administrative experience dealing with Manulife Investments. This session will review common challenges with paperwork, show you how to submit in-good-order applications and provide tips for avoiding processing delays. New self-serve module: Architect Series - Requesting and reading illustrations
Available now in the Insurance Training Corner: Administration > Insurance > Training Corner Inforce Illustrations can help determine whether an insurance policy remains affordable and continues to meet the needs of the client. This intermediate-level training module will show you how to request and interpret inforce Illustrations for Architect Series policies. As a prerequisite, we recommend reviewing Working with Inforce Illustrations located under Quicklinks > CE Centre and Training > CE Centre > Products> Insurance. New job aid: How to complete a transfer of ownership
Available now in the Insurance Training Corner: Repsource > Quick links > CE Centre & Training > Insurance > Resources > Job Aids Significant events in your client’s life like a death, divorce, or the sale of a business may create the need to transfer ownership of an insurance policy. Check out our How to complete a transfer of ownership job aid to learn the basic steps for processing a transfer of ownership. New job aid: Identify life insurance policies with cash value
Available now in the Insurance Training Corner: Administration > Insurance > Training Corner > Resources > Job Aids Clients whose life insurance policies have a cash value may be eligible for further investment opportunities through a policy loan, withdrawal, or Insured Retirement Program (IRP). Manulife’s Life Cash Value Report allows you to easily identify clients who have available cash value.
Compensation, Contracting and Business Transfers Update: Change to process for valuation of partial business transfers
Effective January immediately we will no longer be valuing blocks of business for transfer requests that contain less than 10 policies. However, we will continue to facilitate the transfer of less than 10 policies through the transfer of business process. To ensure your partial transfer requests are processed in-good-order, please ensure the advisor selects “Partial assignment” in section C of the Transfer of Business Request Form. In addition to completing the transfer of business request form, the advisor must complete the Partial Block Transfer Policy Listing form found on Repsource. In doing so, it’s essential that the advisor lists the affected policies under the column corresponding to their respective line of business to avoid policies being missed in the transfer. Please send both completed forms to assignments@manulife.com. | 
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