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Manulife Asset Management announces significant expansion in Europe

T.MFC | June 14, 2016

Canada NewsWire

LONDON, June 14, 2016

Fund platform and raft of significant European appointments signal planned large-scale distribution growth

LONDON, June 14, 2016 /CNW/ -- Manulife Asset Management, the investment management arm of Manulife Financial Corporation (TSX, NYSE: MFC) has today laid out plans for the expansion of its operations in Europe. The business already has significant scale in North America and in Asia, with global assets under management of €285 billion/£226 billion (as at 31 March 2016).

Europe (and the wider EMEA market) is a strategically important growth market for Manulife Asset Management, and the business is investing in the region for the long term.

Growing in size
Over the last 18 months, the firm has almost doubled its employee numbers in London, including key hires in both distribution and investment teams. The business currently has almost 40 people based in the UK office and anticipates that number to increase significantly over the next year or so. The recent expansion includes notable hires, such as:

Chris Fellingham, Head of Liquid Alternative Strategies
joined June 2016
Martin Powis, Head of Institutional Sales and Relationship Management, UK & Ireland
joined May 2016
Alan Burnett, Head of Wholesale Sales and Relationship Management, UK & Ireland
joined May 2016
Marco Zanuso, Head of Distribution, EMEA ex UK
joined March 2016
Robert Corbally, Head of European Product and UCITS
joined December 2015
Othman Domiati, Head of Sales and Relationship Management, Middle East
joined November 2015
Claude Chene, Global Head of Distribution
joined June 2015
Kathryn Langridge, Head of Global Emerging Markets Equities and Philip Ehrmann, Senior Portfolio Manager, Global Emerging Markets Equities
joined December 2014

Other upcoming significant changes include occupying 15,000sq ft City of London office space as a new European headquarters, at 1 London Wall, to support planned growth.

Kai Sotorp, Chief Executive Officer, Manulife Asset Management, commented:
"We are a growing business with exciting investment capabilities across a broad range of traditional asset classes, multi assets and private markets investments. We have been building our European investment teams and client base over the years and we are excited to be able to make further commitments to our clients and this important market."

Claude Chene, Global Head of Distribution, Manulife Asset Management, commented:
"I joined Manulife Asset Management because of the exciting array of investment capabilities they have built and the distinctive skills they bring to institutional and wholesale clients. The business recognises that to serve the global investor community, it is critical to have a well-developed and robust European presence to complement its growing North American and Asian businesses. With the resources to continue to make the necessary investments in people and infrastructure and the patience required to build a successful business in Europe, this is a unique opportunity for us."

Building a European investment and distribution centre
In support of their European efforts, Manulife Asset Management has established a Dublin-domiciled Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) fund platform, which has 11 funds currently registered for sale in the UK and Ireland. Some of the strategies represented include Strategic Fixed Income, Global Equities, Emerging Market Equities, Emerging Market Debt, US Large Cap Core Equity, and Asian Bond Absolute Return. The business has commenced passporting its funds into other European countries.

These investment capabilities will be marketed to both institutional and wholesale investors in the region, as appropriate.

In London, the firm has also bolstered its research capabilities, adding analysts to its Emerging Market Debt, Global Fixed Income, and Emerging Market Equity teams. It now has investment professionals covering Global Fixed Income, Emerging Markets Equities, Emerging Market Debt, European and EAFE Equities, and Japanese Equities based in its European headquarters.

A track record of successful regional growth
Manulife Asset Management has a track record of expansion in different continents, having, over the long term, created a large regional footprint in the Asian market, where Manulife is now a leading asset manager.

Manulife Asset Management has approximately 100 investment professionals on-the-ground in 10 markets across the Asia region.
Manulife Asset Management's total AUM in Asia amounts to approximately €49.5 billion/£39.3 billion, representing about 17% of the global AUM (as of 31 March 2016).

Global statistics 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.

The firm has:

More than 425 investment professionals.
Offices in 16 countries and territories.
Because of the support and backing of a strong financial services parent like Manulife Financial Corporation, the firm has the financial firepower to provide our investment teams with the resources and infrastructure needed to support them in the development of new and existing investment solutions for our clients. Manulife brings more than 100 years of investment experience in major markets in North America and Asia.
Manulife Asset Management has extensive experience investing in both public markets (equities, fixed income, and asset allocation) but also in alternative assets such as timber, agriculture and farmland, real estate, oil and gas, mortgages, private placement debt, and private equity through our Private Markets business.

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 March 31, 2016, assets under management for Manulife Asset Management were approximately US$325 billion (€285 billion, £226 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 2015, we had approximately 34,000 employees, 63,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving 20 million customers. At the end of March 2016, we had $904 billion (US$697 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made more than $24.9 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.