Clarification of A.M. Best Release On Affirmation of John Hancock Mutual Life Rating.

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 11, 1999--

The following clarifies a ratings release issued June 2, 1999, affirming the A++ ratings of John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. and related companies. It addresses the fifth paragraph of the release, which begins, "A.M. Best also notes..."

First, a workers' compensation pool run by Unicover Managers Inc. is based in South Plainfield, N.J., not London. Neither John Hancock Mutual Life, nor any of its affiliates, is among the five companies that were participants in that pool.

Second, neither John Hancock Mutual Life, nor any of its affiliates, reinsured the Unicover pool. The ratings announcement incorrectly used the term "pool" to broadly describe not only the Unicover workers' compensation pool, but also the retrocessionaires, including John Hancock, that assumed risks from retrocessionaires that reinsured the Unicover pool. Unicover Managers was not involved in any of the subsequent retrocession agreements.

Also, no allegations of fraud or misrepresentation have been made against participants in the Unicover workers' comp pool.

A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is America's oldest and most widely recognized insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at www.ambest.com.