Manulife launches new funds

Manulife is expanding global investment options to advisors and their clients by launching 15 new funds.

Of particular note among the new funds are:

Manulife Leveraged Company Class: This fund will be unique in Canada and managed by Dennis F. McCafferty, John F. Iles and Joseph Rizzo of Manulife Asset Management (U.S.), LLC. It seeks to deliver capital appreciation by investing primarily in the equity and debt securities of leveraged companies. Taking a contrarian approach, the managers will invest in companies in challenged industries and/or in companies in difficult circumstances with the potential to rebound.

Manulife Value Balanced Fund/Class: Alan Wicks and Terry Carr will manage this fund, which seeks to provide long-term total return by investing primarily in Canadian and foreign equity and fixed-income securities, with no asset, sector or geographical constraints.

Manulife U.S. All Cap Equity Fund/Class and the Manulife U.S. Large Cap Equity Fund/Class: Walter McCormick and Emory Sanders will lead the team managing these two new funds, following their 7-step process to uncover financially strong companies with sustainable competitive advantages, selling at discounts to intrinsic value.

The U.S. All Cap Equity Fund/Class: Will seek to provide long-term capital growth by investing in a broad range of U.S. equities across different sectors and market capitalizations. The Manulife U.S. Large Cap Equity Fund/Class will seek to provide long-term capital growth by focusing on large cap U.S. companies that the portfolio managers believe are well positioned to outperform over the long term.

Manulife Asia Total Return Bond Fund: Endre Pedersen and Yu-Ming Wang of Manulife Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited, believe credit markets in Asia are under-researched due to limited coverage, which creates investment opportunities. Their team will seek to extract value through proprietary research of the fast developing Asian bond markets. The strategy will invest primarily in a diversified portfolio of fixed-income securities issued by governments, agencies, supranationals and corporations in Asia.

Manulife Global Small Cap Balanced Fund: Managed by Paul Moroz of Mawer Investment Management and Manulife Asset Management’s Dan Janis, this new balanced fund will combine global small cap equities and global multi-sector bonds in one portfolio.

Manulife Global Focused Balanced Fund: Managed by Third Avenue Management LLC. The equity side of the portfolio will invest directly into the Manulife Global Focused Fund while the fixed income side will invest in securities using Third Avenue’s credit capabilities.

Manulife International Value Equity Fund/Class: This fund will leverage the investment capabilities of Wendell Perkins, Peggy McKay, and their international value team which joined Manulife Asset Management earlier this year.

Manulife High Yield Bond Fund: Leveraging the strength of Terry Carr’s fixed income team, this fund will seek to generate a high level of income with the potential for capital appreciation by investing primarily in higher yielding, lower quality global fixed income securities.

Manulife Asia Equity Class: Managed by Linda Csellak, head of Asia Pacific equities for Manulife Asset Management in Hong Kong, this fund will focus on companies in the Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) region, taking advantage of the organization’s on-the-ground presence throughout Asia.

Manulife Diversified Strategies Fund: A new global asset allocation portfolio managed by Manulife Asset Management’s Portfolio Solutions Group, this fund aims to provide consistent returns over the long term as well as downside protection during times of market turbulence.

At the same time, the company announced the Manulife Simplicity Income Portfolio is being renamed to Manulife Diversified Income Portfolio and joining the Manulife Income Family of Funds.

“With the addition of a large number of high quality funds to our line-up, we continue to send a strong message to advisors and their clients of the positive momentum at Manulife Mutual Funds,” said Jeff Ray, assistant vice-president, mutual funds and structured products. “This is part of our on-going commitment to provide advisors and their clients with access to top performing portfolio managers and mutual fund solutions.”

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.

Staff

FAIR Canada applauds Saskatchewan’s OBSI bill

Private equity firm buys maker of hockey rink boards

Scotiabank profits slip amid rising strain in auto loans, mortgages