Manulife Asset Management Becomes a Signatory to United Nations-Supported Principles for Responsible Investment

TORONTO, Dec. 3, 2015 /CNW/ -- Manulife Asset Management has become a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

"We are proud to become a PRI signatory. In doing so, we are demonstrating our commitment to responsible investment by formalizing our approach to integrating environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues into our investment analysis," said Warren Thomson, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer.

"We believe ESG factors contribute to the risk of an investment and good management of ESG risks can lead to long-term sustainable returns. In considering an investment, we have enhanced tools to determine ESG risk exposure, which is increasingly important to our global clients," said Kai Sotorp, President and CEO, Manulife Asset Management.

Manulife Asset Management has a history of strong risk management and its teams have long considered ESG factors in many of their investment decisions.  The firm has been an early adopter in ESG practices, having managed sustainable investment strategies in timber and farmland for many years. Together it manages almost US$14 billion in timber and farmland assets for its clients¹. Manulife Asset Management's boutique structure will continue to empower its investment teams to make decisions in line with its singular investment philosophy and client objectives.  Equity, fixed income, asset allocation, real estate, timberland, farmland, and renewable energy are covered under the ESG policy.  

"Manulife Asset Management's history of using ESG factors to improve their investment decision making processes ideally places them to become a PRI signatory," said Fiona Reynolds, managing director of the PRI. "Increasingly, asset managers have found that looking at ESG to identify risks as well as opportunities may be beneficial over the long-term. We are delighted to welcome Manulife Asset Management to the PRI as a forward thinker in responsible investment."

The PRI initiative is an international network of investors that promotes incorporating ESG factors into investment practices. There are currently more than 1,300 signatories to the PRI worldwide, representing nearly US$60 trillion in assets under management.

For more information on Manulife Asset Management and its commitment to responsible investment, please visit manulifeam.com.

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. ¹As at September 30, 2015, assets under management for Manulife Asset Management were approximately C$393 billion (US$294 billion).

Additional information 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.

SOURCE Manulife Asset Management

BRIAN CARMICHAEL, 617-663-4748, [email protected]; BETH MCGOLDRICK, 617-663-4751, [email protected], http://www.manulifeam.com