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John D. DesPrez III is Senior Executive Vice President and General Manager, North American Operations, responsible for all of the Toronto-based company’s North American businesses. He also is a member of Manulife Financial Corporation’s Executive and Management Committees.
Mr. DesPrez directs all phases of Manulife’s U.S. and Canadian operations, which encompass a broad range of insurance and investment products and services. In the U.S. -- where Mr. DesPrez serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc., Manulife’s U.S. Division -- the Company’s core businesses include life insurance, variable and fixed annuities, long-term care insurance, retirement plan services (401k), guaranteed and structured financial products, mutual funds and college savings. The Canadian Division’s businesses include individual life and health insurance, wealth management, banking, group benefits, group savings plans and retirement solutions, plus services to alumni and professional associations across Canada.
Mr. DesPrez also is responsible for the common investment platforms that underlie many of the Company’s products in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, he oversees the Company’s multiple distribution channels. In the U.S., these include non-proprietary broker-dealers, banks, and the John Hancock Financial Network (the career agency system). The Canadian Division distribution network includes the independent advisor, corporate accounts, and national accounts channels.
Mr. DesPrez assumed responsibility for all of John Hancock operations in September 2005 and all Manulife Canada operations in June 2007. Previously, he led John Hancock’s U.S. Wealth Management businesses, a role he took on after the merger of Manulife and John Hancock in 2004.
From 1998 to June 2004, Mr. DesPrez served as Chairman and President of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) (Manulife USA), overseeing all Manulife’s U.S. operations.
Mr. DesPrez was President of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company of North America (Manulife North America), a leading provider of variable annuity products in the United States, from 1996 to 1998. Between 1994 and 1996, he served as President of North American Funds, Manulife’s U.S. mutual fund operation.
Between 1991 and 1994, Mr. DesPrez also held the position of Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel of Manulife North America and was responsible for the creation and start-up of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company of New York (now John Hancock New York), Manulife’s New York operating company.
Before joining Manulife, Mr. DesPrez practiced law in private practice between 1988 and 1990. He was with the firm of Jones & Blouch Attorneys-at-Law between 1983 and 1988 where he was an associate and a partner during 1988. Jones & Blouch (now Dykema Gossett PLLC) has long represented Manulife and its affiliated companies.
Mr. DesPrez is active in a variety of industry organizations, including serving as a member of the Board of Governors of the Investment Company Institute, Washington D.C. He also serves as a Trustee of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA.
Mr. DesPrez graduated from Harvard College in 1978 with an A.B. in Economics and earned a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1983. | 