July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Manulife Financial Corp. and four current and former executives of Canada’s largest insurer are being sued by two pension funds in Quebec and Ontario for misrepresenting the company’s risk-management strategies, the National Post reported.

The Ironworkers Ontario Pension Fund has filed a C$500 million ($463 million) class-action lawsuit against Manulife in Ontario, the Toronto-based newspaper said today. Comite syndical national de retraite Batirente inc. has filed suit in Quebec, the Post said.

According to the lawsuits, Manulife made “negligent misrepresentations about its risk-management practices involving its segregated funds and variable annuities” between January 2004 and March 2009, the Post said.

David Paterson, a spokesman for Manulife, declined to comment on the lawsuits to the Post, saying only that “we believe that our disclosures satisfy all applicable requirements and we are cooperating” with the Ontario Securities Commission.

Paterson didn’t return a call from Bloomberg News seeking comment.

Former Manulife Chief Executive Officer Dominic D’Alessandro; Chairwoman Gail Cook-Bennett; former Chairman Arthur Sawchuk; and Peter Rubenovitch, who was chief financial officer from 1998 until last month, are also named in the lawsuits, the Post said.

To contact the reporter for this story: Frederic Tomesco in Montreal at tomesco@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 31, 2009 08:15 EDT