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SUPPLEMENT TO PROSPECTUS
FOR THE MANUFACTURERS LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NEW YORK
SEPARATE ACCOUNT A
DATED MAY 1, 1999
SPECIAL TRANSFER SERVICES - DOLLAR COST AVERAGING
The following replaces the disclosure under the section entitled
"Special Transfer Services - Dollar Cost Averaging."
"We administer a Dollar Cost Averaging ("DCA") program. If you enter
into a DCA agreement, you may instruct us to transfer monthly a predetermined
dollar amount from any sub-account or the one year fixed account investment
option to other sub-accounts until the amount in the sub-account from which the
transfer is made or one year fixed account investment option is exhausted. A DCA
fixed account investment option may be established under the DCA program to make
automatic transfers. Only purchase payments (and not existing contract values)
may be allocated to the DCA fixed account investment option. If the DCA fixed
account investment option is elected, the amounts allocated to this account will
be credited with interest at the guaranteed interest rate in effect on the date
of such allocation.
From time to time, we may offer special DCA programs where the rate
of interest credited to a fixed account investment option exceeds our actual
earnings on the supporting assets, less appropriate risk and expense
adjustments. In such case, any amounts credited to your account in excess of
amounts earned will be recovered from the existing charges described in your
contract. Your contract charges will not increase as a result of electing to
participate in any special DCA program.
The DCA program is generally suitable if you are making a substantial
deposit and desire to control the risk of investing at the top of a market
cycle. The DCA program allows investments to be made in equal installments over
time in an effort to reduce that risk. Therefore, a lower purchase price may be
achieved over the long term by purchasing more accumulation units of a
particular sub-account when the unit value is low; less when the unit value is
high. However, the DCA program does not guarantee profits or prevent losses in a
declining market and requires regular investment regardless of fluctuating price
levels. Contract owners interested in the DCA program should consider their
financial ability to continue purchases through periods of low price levels. If
you are interested in the DCA program, you may elect to participate in the
program on the application or by separate application. You may obtain a separate
application and full information concerning the program and its restrictions
from your securities dealer or our Annuity Service Office. There is no charge
for participation in the DCA program."
TRANSFERS AMONG INVESTMENT OPTIONS
The following supplements the disclosure under "Transfers Among
Investment Options."
"Where permitted by law, we may accept your authorization for a third
party to make transfers for you subject to our rules. However, the contract is
not designed for professional market timing organizations or other entities or
persons engaging in programmed, frequent or large exchanges (collectively,
"market timers") to speculate on short-term movements in the market since such
activity may be disruptive to the Trust portfolios and increase their
transaction costs. Therefore, in order to prevent excessive use of the exchange
privilege, we reserve the right to (a) reject or restrict any specific purchase
and exchange requests and (b) impose specific limitations with respect to market
timers including restricting exchanges by market timers to certain variable
investment options (transfers by market timers into or out of fixed investment
options is not permitted)."
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT US, THE VARIABLE ACCOUNT AND THE TRUST
The third and fourth paragraph under the heading "The Manufacturers
Life Insurance Company of New York" is amended as follows:
"Our ultimate parent entity is Manulife Financial Corporation ("MFC")
based in Toronto, Canada. MFC is the holding company of The Manufacturers Life
Insurance Company and its subsidiaries, collectively known as Manulife
Financial."
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CHANGE IN HOME OFFICE ADDRESS
Effective August 23, 1999, the address of the Company's home office
will be:
100 Summit Lake Drive
Second Floor
Valhalla, New York 10595
The address of the Annuity Service Office will not change, however.
SUPPLEMENT DATED OCTOBER 18, 1999.
NYVENTURE.SUPP1099
