Firm awarded assets in excess of Cdn$8 Billion in four fixed income solutions 

TORONTO and BOSTON, Dec. 9, 2015 /CNW/ -- Manulife Asset Management said today it has been awarded a more than C$8 billion mandate to manage assets in four fixed income solutions offered by MD Financial Management Inc. (MD), a Canadian Medical Association (CMA) owned wealth management organization. Ottawa-based MD made the announcement, part of a strategic realignment of fixed income mandates, in May. Manulife Asset Management commenced management of the funds in early June.

"We are pleased to partner with Manulife Asset Management as they have demonstrated that their investment philosophy and process align with ours. Using MD Precision™, our patent-pending proprietary fund management process, Manulife Asset Management demonstrated that their investment strategies can help our clients meet their long-term investment goals," said William R. Horton, Jr., CFA, Chief Investment Officer at MD.

The investment management mandate spans four fixed income solutions: MD Short Term Bond Fund, MD Bond Fund, MDPIM Canadian Long Term Bond Pool, and MDPIM Canadian Bond Pool. The Manulife Asset Management teams that have been awarded this mandate are the Canadian Fixed Income team, led by Terry Carr, and the Global Multi-Sector Fixed Income team, led by Daniel S. Janis III.

"We are honored to be selected for this important mandate, reflecting MD's confidence in our teams' strong capabilities. As with all of our clients, we look forward to a long and productive relationship," said Christopher Conkey, Manulife Asset Management's Global Chief Investment Officer.

Kai Sotorp, President and CEO of Manulife Asset Management and Global Head of Wealth and Asset Management for Manulife, said, "We are extremely proud that MD, an existing client, chose to extend our relationship with this fixed income mandate. Our investment excellence and consistent client service focus has created a strong partnership with MD, and a foundation for continuing to help them achieve their financial goals."

About Manulife Asset Management

Manulife Asset Management is the global asset management arm of Manulife, providing comprehensive asset management solutions for investors. This investment expertise extends across a broad range of public and private asset classes, as well as asset allocation solutions. As at September 30, 2015, assets under management for Manulife Asset Management were approximately C$393 billion (US$294 billion).

Manulife Asset Management's public markets units have investment expertise across a broad range of asset classes including public equity and fixed income, and asset allocation strategies.  Offices with full investment capabilities are located in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In addition, Manulife Asset Management has a joint venture asset management business in China, Manulife TEDA. The public markets units of Manulife Asset Management also provide investment management services to affiliates' retail clients through product offerings of Manulife and John Hancock. John Hancock Asset Management and Declaration Management and Research are units of Manulife Asset Management.

Additional information about Manulife Asset Management may be found at ManulifeAM.com.

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group providing forward-thinking solutions to help people with their big financial decisions. We operate as John Hancock in the United States, and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2014, we had 28,000 employees, 58,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving 20 million customers. At the end of September 2015, we had $888 billion (US$663 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made more than $23 billion in benefits, interest and other payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 100 years. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong. Follow Manulife on Twitter @ManulifeNews or visit www.manulife.com or www.johnhancock.com.

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SOURCE Manulife Asset Management