John Hancock Retirement Appoints Shannon Stiles as Head of Participant Outcomes

John Hancock Retirement, part of Manulife Investment Management, on Thursday named Shannon Stiles to the newly created role of head of participant outcomes. The position was created to enhance participant engagement, education and financial wellness, according to the firm.

Stiles’ role is part of a broader initiative to improve global retirement outcomes, led by Fraser Wiswell, Manulife’s head of global participant outcomes. The firm plans to measure success by clients’ participant savings, utilization of financial advice and satisfaction with Manulife’s retirement services, which serve nearly 9 million retirement participants worldwide.

“We continue to be unwavering in our commitment to our clients and to being their partner of choice in assisting them to achieve their retirement goals,” Wiswell said in a statement. “With this dedicated role, we strive to be well-positioned to partner with plan sponsors and financial professionals to deliver innovative solutions and exceptional support to our participants, and to help them achieve the retirement they have in mind.”

Stiles has more than 25 years of industry experience, including at Fidelity Investments, where she focused on participant communications, marketing and client services. Her most recent role was vice president of employee marketing strategy and operations.

In a related effort to improve retirement planning, John Hancock and its parent company, Manulife, announced in May a five-year research partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab.

The collaboration, which involves a multi-million-dollar investment, will focus on addressing the challenges of longevity through research and the creation of a Longevity Preparedness Index. The goal is to help individuals better prepare for longer life expectancies and related income needs, with researchers accessing John Hancock’s customer data to inform their findings.