Manulife Financial posted a C$69 million (around $69 million) net loss in the three months to 31 December 2011 after incurring a C$665 million charge related to low interest rates. 

The non-cash writedown was taken to reduce the impact of low interest rates in 2011, the company said in a statement. Manulife Financial also restructured its US annuity businesses and implemented further price increases on new ones as part of its product repositioning initiatives. The Canadian firm said it will continue to pursue growth of wealth management, insurance and fee-based products in all of its locations. 

For the full year, Manulife recorded a net income of C$129 million, an improvement of C$1.8 billion from 2010. Company-wide sales of wealth products in the fourth quarter remained strong despite market volatility. Wealth sales were down 12 per cent versus the fourth quarter of 2010, but increased 11 per cent from the previous year. 

In Asia, the firm continued to expand, completing a new bancassurance partnership with PT Bank Danamon Indonesia in the fourth quarter, bringing its total bancassurance deals for the year to six. Its agent count across the Asia-Pacific region grew by 18 per cent as of year-end. The strongest performer for the full year was Japan, with wealth sales up 69 per cent from 2010.

The results came alongside news on the planned departure of Michael Bell as chief financial officer. In a press release, the bank said the departure is purely "personal, not business", and that Bell is set to rejoin his family in the US after serving the firm since 2009. He will stay on with Manulife until a successor is named.