John Hancock IUL Review (2026)

John Hancock at a glance: who stands behind the policy

John Hancock is one of the oldest brands in American life insurance. The company says it has partnered with millions of Americans for more than 160 years. Today it is the U.S. arm of Manulife Financial Corporation, a Canadian insurer based in Toronto. Manulife merged with John Hancock in 2004.

The company that issues John Hancock IUL policies is John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.). Its SEC filings describe it as a stock life insurance company organized in Maine on August 20, 1955 and later redomesticated to Michigan. Until 2004 it was called The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.). It is licensed in every state except New York, plus D.C. Its principal office is at 200 Berkeley Street in Boston. New York residents buy from a sister company, John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York, based in Valhalla, New York.

John Hancock says it serves more than ten million Americans. It sells term life, universal life, indexed universal life and variable universal life, plus LifeCare, a hybrid policy with long-term care benefits. If you own a John Hancock annuity, see our John Hancock annuity review.

How strong is John Hancock?

AM Best affirmed the A+ (Superior) financial strength rating of John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) on December 12, 2025, with a stable outlook. A+ is AM Best's second-highest rating. AM Best called Manulife's balance sheet very strong, its operating performance strong and its enterprise risk management very strong. It also named a weakness: Manulife's remaining long-term care and universal life with secondary guarantee blocks "still comprise a significant amount of the company's overall reserves," though AM Best credited the company for managing them prudently.

Manulife reports these financial strength ratings for John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.), current as of June 30, 2026:

Each sits in the upper range of that agency's scale.

A rating measures the company, not the policy. It tells you how likely John Hancock is to pay claims decades from now. It says nothing about whether a given IUL's caps, charges and wellness rewards suit you.

For how we weigh ratings against other factors, see how we rate life insurance companies.

John Hancock Vitality: the program built into every policy

Vitality sets John Hancock apart from other IUL carriers, so it is worth understanding before you look at the policies. John Hancock launched the program in the spring of 2015 and added it to its IULs that July. Since September 19, 2018, John Hancock has sold all of its life insurance policies with Vitality, though the free GO version is not available on policies issued in New York.

There are two versions:

• Vitality GO is included at no added cost. It offers discounts on fitness devices, grocery savings and wellness content. It is not available in New York.
• Vitality PLUS costs $2 a month on a single-life permanent policy, or $4 on a survivorship policy. It adds the potential for premium savings, a discounted Apple Watch earned through exercise, access to certain cancer and health screenings for eligible members, and retail and travel discounts. GO members can upgrade during the first 25 months of the policy.

You earn points by logging healthy activities through the app or a wearable and by completing the Vitality Health Review. Your points set a yearly status: Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum. Under Vitality PLUS, John Hancock says members can save up to 25% on premiums. Read the fine print. The savings are measured over the life of the policy, they vary with your health class, age, policy type and the status you reach each year, and they may not apply to every product.

Three cautions matter for an IUL buyer. First, rewards and discounts are subject to change and are not guaranteed to stay the same for the life of the policy. Second, an illustration that assumes you hit a high status every year for decades is assuming future behavior; ask to see one that assumes you do not. Third, John Hancock tells buyers to ask their agent how premium savings would affect the policy, because paying a premium that differs from the illustrated amount could shorten the no-lapse guarantee or affect other features.

John Hancock's IUL lineup

John Hancock's July 2026 consumer guide lists four indexed universal life (IUL) policies. It also sells a hybrid IUL with long-term care benefits.

Accumulation IUL is the flagship policy for building cash value. It insures one person and is designed to build cash value that can supplement retirement income through loans and withdrawals. It includes a no-lapse guarantee of up to 15 years on its base coverage. It is the only John Hancock IUL in the guide sold in New York. The current version is issued on policy form series 26AIUL.

Protection IUL insures one person and is built for death benefit protection with some growth potential. It includes a no-lapse guarantee John Hancock calls Death Benefit Protection, which can last to age 121 if you fund it for that. It is not sold in New York.

Accumulation Survivorship IUL insures two people, usually a married couple, and pays when the second one dies. It is built for cash value growth inside estate plans. Its no-lapse guarantee can run up to 20 years. It is issued on the 25ASIUL form series and is not sold in New York.

Protection Survivorship IUL also insures two people and focuses on a lasting death benefit, often to pay estate taxes. It is not sold in New York.

LifeCare is what John Hancock calls a hybrid indexed universal life product with long-term care benefits. It pays a death benefit and guaranteed monthly long-term care benefits, and John Hancock says both can grow if the policy's account value grows. It can be issued without a paramedical exam or labs.

John Hancock also sells accumulation-focused IUL and VUL to employers through executive benefit plans with guaranteed issue coverage. We did not review those.

Index options and how interest is credited

A John Hancock IUL lets you split money between a fixed account and several indexed accounts. The fixed account has a guaranteed minimum rate of at least 1% on all four IULs. An index account does not buy stocks. Its credit is based on how much an index rose over a set term, limited by a cap or participation rate, and never below a floor of 0% on the credit.

John Hancock's design has one feature you will not find on every IUL: a guaranteed multiplier on top of the index credit, usually paired with a monthly index performance charge. On the 2021 version of Accumulation IUL, illustrated in July 2022, every account with a multiplier above 5% carried that charge, and it came to roughly 1.98% a year on some accounts and 4.98% on the enhanced accounts. When the index credits little or nothing, that charge makes the account's return negative for the year. The policy review walks through the math. The 2021 version also offered accounts tied to the Barclays Global MA Index, a multi-asset index with a built-in volatility control, which John Hancock's own illustration says may benefit the company through lower hedging costs. Our guide to volatility-controlled indexes explains that trade.

Current caps, participation rates and charges for all five policies are available on request. They are current rates, not promises, and John Hancock can change non-guaranteed account terms for new segments. Our guide to IUL cap rates explains how to weigh a cap against the charges behind it.

How John Hancock treats existing policyholders

This section matters most, because you will own an IUL for decades after the sale. We looked at caps on older policies, cost of insurance charges, and lawsuits.

Caps on policies it no longer sells

We found no consumer-facing John Hancock document that lists today's caps on its closed IUL versions, so we cannot show how older policies are credited now. John Hancock's illustrations state that, unless an account term is guaranteed, it may change the terms for any segment created after the change, and that it may substitute a different index while keeping the account's guarantees. If you own a John Hancock IUL, compare the rates on your annual statement with the ones in your original illustration.

Cost of insurance increases

The cost of insurance is the monthly charge for the death benefit. A carrier raising it on existing policies is one of the biggest risks in universal life, and John Hancock has done it.

In Leonard v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York (Southern District of New York, case 18-cv-4994), owners of Performance Universal Life policies challenged cost of insurance rate increases that began in 2018 and 2019. The parties settled for up to $123,074,128.32, paid pro rata to class members. John Hancock also agreed not to raise cost of insurance rate scales on the class policies for at least five years. John Hancock denied the claims. The final approval hearing was set for May 17, 2022, and court records show the case closed that day. Performance UL is a universal life product, not an IUL.

A pending case that involves an IUL

In Zaben, LLC v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York (Southern District of New York, case 7:23-cv-08178), filed in September 2023, two policy owners claim John Hancock should have lowered cost of insurance rates after the 2017 federal tax law cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, because their policies say rates are based partly on tax assumptions. According to the amended complaint filed in January 2024, one lead plaintiff owns a Protection IUL 15 policy issued by John Hancock's New York company in September 2017. The proposed class covers owners of John Hancock universal life policies with that tax language, excluding the Performance UL products settled in Leonard. As of September 2026 the case was still open, and the plaintiffs filed a further amended complaint that month. We found no ruling on the merits or on class certification in the public docket. A complaint is an allegation, not a finding.

What we could not verify

We found no public record of John Hancock raising cost of insurance rates on its IUL policies, but in-force rate actions are not always made public, so treat that as unconfirmed. We have not completed a state-by-state review of regulatory actions and market conduct exams, and we make no claim either way. Our guide to IUL lawsuits covers the wider industry picture.

Riders and living benefits

On its single-life IULs, John Hancock offers optional coverage for chronic illness and long-term care, at extra cost. Its September 2023 consumer brochure for its Chronic Illness rider (form 23DBCHR) describes one version. The brochure does not name the policies it attaches to, so confirm which rider and terms come with the IUL you are shown:

• You qualify when certified as needing help with two of six activities of daily living, or with a severe cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer's disease.
• A one-time 90-day elimination period applies, and you must re-certify every 12 months.
• The monthly benefit is capped at the lower of $30,000 or the IRS per diem limit. You can use it any way you like, with no receipts.
• Each payment reduces the death benefit dollar for dollar. There is a monthly charge for the rider, it is not long-term care insurance, and it is not sold in every state.

Other riders vary by policy and state, including a Return of Premium death benefit rider on Accumulation IUL, which shortens its no-lapse guarantee to five years. Ask for the list and the cost of each. Our guide to IUL living benefits compares these designs.

Underwriting and service

We did not find a consumer document that describes John Hancock's current underwriting paths for its IULs, so ask what your application will require: an exam, labs, records or none of these. LifeCare, by contrast, can be issued without a paramedical exam or labs. In January 2026 John Hancock announced Quick Quote, a tool agents use to get a non-binding first underwriting read in about 15 minutes, for people up to age 75 and face amounts up to $10 million. For what the process looks like, see IUL underwriting.

John Hancock lists this contact information for life insurance customers:

Who John Hancock fits, and who should look elsewhere

John Hancock is a strong candidate if you:

• Want an IUL from a carrier rated highly by all four major rating agencies.
• Will actually use a wellness program, and value discounts and possible premium savings for staying active.
• Live in New York and want an accumulation IUL; Accumulation IUL is available there through John Hancock's New York company.
• Want a survivorship IUL for an estate plan, or a hybrid IUL with long-term care benefits.

Look elsewhere if you:

• Do not want a wellness program attached to your life insurance, or would rather not track and share activity data to earn its rewards.
• Weigh a carrier's history of raising cost of insurance rates heavily. John Hancock raised them on Performance UL, and a separate rate case is pending.
• Want charge amounts in writing before you talk to anyone. John Hancock's consumer materials do not publish them; you need an illustration.
• Want a protection or survivorship IUL in New York, where those policies are not sold.
• Mainly want the cheapest permanent death benefit. Term insurance or guaranteed universal life may cost less. See who should not buy IUL.

A word on taxes, since IUL is often sold on them. Income from an IUL usually comes from policy loans and from withdrawals up to your premiums paid. Both are tax-free only while the policy stays in force and is not a modified endowment contract. If the policy lapses or is surrendered with a loan outstanding, the gain can become taxable in a single year, and John Hancock notes that certain withdrawals in the first 15 years can be taxed too. Our IUL taxes guide walks through the rules.

To compare John Hancock with other carriers, start with our list of the best IUL companies.